Whispered Prayers . . .

This morning as I walked into the classroom here in Guyana, I noticed there were several flags hanging around the room - some familiar to me and others were brand new. I recognized the Guyanese flag on one wall from the welcome packet I had received when I arrived. “Lord, I’d like to get a Guyanese flag, I casually whispered under my breath” Then I began to ask a few of the students if there were shops in town that sold flags. Different opinions responded, “yes, there were”, “not sure what size”, til finally the consensus was that “you need to go to Georgetown, the capital to get one”. I found my seat and began to unpack my computer, when Winston, one of the Guyanese staff came over to me and handed me a large Guyanese flag. “Here” he smiled - I looked at the wall, the Guyanese flag was still hanging, this was a different one, brand new. He smiled and said - “here, it’s a gift”. I thought wow, that was a quick answer to a whisper of a prayer. I smiled as I remembered that right before leaving for this trip, I was waiting for some books to come that I need to read for my Master’s degree. I ordered about 10 books and was hoping a few of them would come in so I could take them on this trip. I wasn’t sure which books to start with so a few mornings before I was to leave, I whispered a prayer - “Lord, I would really like at least a few of the books to come in . . .I’ll take the first 2 that come . . . “ Just a couple hours later - my whispered prayer long out of my mind, I went out to the mailbox - you guessed it - 2 books shoved tightly into the box awaiting a trip to South America! thank you Lord, for listening to that fleeting whisper of a prayer . . . Those books reminded me of a few weeks ago when I was speaking up in Central Jersey. On the way home late in the afternoon, I found my stomach gnawing at me for a coffee and a donut - the perfect tie over til I got home and could get some dinner. Mom and I were in the car and she was also up for a donut stop - so I said out loud - “Lord, I really would like to find a Dunkin Donuts before we get on the Parkway” . . . the last word was barely out of my mouth when I looked to my right and saw the pink and white sign with DD. Mom and I both were taken back - a quick whisper of a prayer for something so eternally insignificant - and there it was . . . He Heard my whisper - and boy did it taste good! The coffee and donuts reminded me that earlier that week another whisper was heard. I was considering the assignment for my Master’s of a 24 hour Silent Retreat. Hmmmm, I thought, where can I go that is conducive to a silent retreat. I know, I will contact Mrs. Kane, a member of our local Catholic church and ask if she knows of any places associated with her church where silent retreats are hosted. I made a mental note to myself to try and remember to call her in the next few days. Later that day, I headed over to the local supermarket. As I wandered through the produce dept., who is standing somewhere between the romaine lettuce and green onions, but Mrs. Kane. After the usual hellos and how are yous - I jumped right in with my request. Sure enough, she was my lady - knew exactly the right place and called me later that night with the contact information. Another whispered request - another immediate response. So, here I sit - looking at my Guyanese flag and remembering that God DOES listen. He not only hears the cries of my heart - He also hears the soft, under-my-breath-whispers. I hope today He hears me whisper - THANK YOU!