Leftovers

I have such a hard time getting my family to finish leftover food. I cook regularly, and there are usually several dishes in the fridge on any given day. I try to push these dishes on my family, but they prefer new, freshly-prepared meals. The leftovers keep getting pushed to the back of the fridge till I finish them myself or give up on them and throw them away.

I have a bunch of leftover prayers that I’m not sure what to do with. Some prayers are answered quickly, while other ones are answered in surprisingly indirect ways. Yet there are some prayers that I have been pushing forward for so long, but God seems to have lost interest in. I feel hopeless and tempted to give up.

I’ve heard prayer described as ‘being conscious of God’s presence’ and ‘lifting mind and heart to God.’ My prayers are mostly pushing petitions up to God. I take my list of requests to the counter every day, in the hopes that if I am persistent and consistent—my prayers will be answered in the order in which they are received. Yes, I treat prayer as if it’s a customer service line!

This morning, I was feeling especially hopeless and dejected. I looked at all the leftover prayers. I sighed. I asked God: “What are we going to do about these?” I went for my run--which is what I do when I feel stuck.

Here are some thoughts that came to me: Lord, thank you for the progress—however miniscule. Each of these situations is a tiny bit better than they were a few months ago. I trust You to take care of these issues as you see fit. Transform my mind to adapt to whatever You have planned.