"Be joyful always; pray continually." I Thessalonians 5:16-17

I had a wake-up call this week about how "continually" I really do need to be praying. I won't ever write too many specifics about Ryan and what he's doing in Iraq (mainly for safety reasons), but I have to share what happened this week. Ryan emailed on Wednesday and sounded SO beaten down, frustrated, and exhausted. His job right now is really testing him and is keeping him too busy to eat, sleep, or relax even for a little while. And to top it off, he's in a combat zone, which just adds more stress to the mix! The sole purpose of his job is to make things run smoothly for about 200+ people, and in order to do that, it's taking more energy than he alone can muster right now. His mom and I truly believe that he was experiencing some major spiritual warfare. When he is with Marines, he is alone in his faith for the most part. It's not the "Bible-belt" anymore where it's odd for someone to not be a Christian. He is definitely set apart from just about everyone he works with. It's not like him to let his guard down and tell me how hard things are while he's away. He always tries to protect me from worrying about him, but I'm glad he opened up this time because I learned a profound lesson!

I started praying extra-hard, right then. I don't think I stopped until I fell asleep that night. When I woke up at 4 am to let the dogs out, I prayed again. I woke up at 7:45 and prayed. I prayed on my way to the post office. I prayed while I drank my coffee. I prayed while my piano students were playing their scales. I prayed in the car on the way home. I prayed for his endurance. I prayed for his patience. I prayed for him to find REST. I prayed continually. Not only that, but I knew Ryan was praying too. When I got home that evening, I checked my email and Ryan had written again. This time he sounded like a new person. He said that the way his day had gone could only have been a miracle. He had only gotten 4 hours of sleep throughout the night, but he felt completely rested. He was in a good mood, and little things weren't getting under his skin as badly. He made progress with some "people issues" he was dealing with. His mind was clear for the first time. This all happened in less than 24 hours.

Now, I know that sounds so simple. We prayed...God answered. I don't know why I was the least bit surprised! Why does it take my husband literally hanging on to his sanity by a thread for me to pray that hard? Why do I not do that EVERY DAY? I can't imagine how much easier things would be. So, that's my challenge...to myself and to you. Lately, my prayers happen to be for Ryan most of the time, but whatever it is you are facing, God answers. It's that simple.