"Friend Request"

by Kay Heitsch

Have you ever prayed for something for a very long time, wondering if your prayer would ever be answered? I know that I have many times. 

I try to pray in a way that whether it's answered the way I think it should be, I can still be okay. I tend to think I know what I want. Sometimes we find out what we thought we wanted or needed to know; we wished we didn't. For the last several years, I've told the Lord what I would like, but add, "If this would not be good for me, forget the request." Then I trust the Lord to do what's best for me. If the prayer request comes to my mind again, I say, "Thank you, Lord, for working on my request." 

Many years ago, we had several foster children living with us, eleven to be exact. Over the years, I've wondered how their lives turned out. I've prayed that if it would be good for them and me, that I would hear from them. 

This last week after I came back from my road trip I got on the computer. I was happy to be back in touch with many of my friends that I hadn't talked to while I was gone. I'm on Facebook, and I saw that I had a "Friend Request" from a name I didn't know. I thought I'd see if this person knew someone I knew. Sure enough, I knew someone that she did. I clicked on the "Confirm" button. It wasn't long until I had a note. In this note, Patti wondered if I'd been the foster parent to her younger brother, Brock. Sure enough, I had. A few days later, I heard from Brock. It was wonderful to hear from both Patti and Brock. 

A few days went by, and I had another "Friend Request" on Facebook. This time it was from our first foster daughter, Danyelle. I was overjoyed! I'd prayed many times for all the children, but I had especially prayed to be in touch with Danyelle. I answered back right away. It wasn't long, and Danyelle was sending me pictures of her wedding and her daughter. I sent her pictures of our family as well. I was so happy to see that she was a beautiful wife and mother to a darling little girl. Danyelle sent me a wonderful letter thanking us for the "unselfish act" of bringing her and her siblings into our family. She told me she was thankful for the many things we showed her, and our "influence" still sticks with her today. I don't have to tell you how happy I was to know that our "influence" had helped her.

Danyelle was around eight when she came to live with us, and now her own daughter is around 8 years old. As you can see, this prayer seemed to take a long time to be answered, but suddenly it was and came as a "Friend Request."