Ministry Moments:
Money Miracles --
The bedroom of Lori’s dreams
by Lynn Ridenhour
The Lord hears the prayers of our
children. They are precious in his sight.
I didn’t know it, but Lori, our teenage daughter, for some time had been
praying for "the bedroom of her dreams." At the time we were living
in a much too crowded duplex. She was telling the Lord in her prayers,
"Lord, I want a bedroom with a walk-in closet, a big bathroom with a
Jacuzzi tub. And I want a walkout deck where I can walk out at night and look
at the stars."
One evening we were having our family prayers before bedtime. My wife and I
had gone into Lori’s room with her to pray. All three of us were sitting on
her bed. The Lord really moved on my heart that evening. I began praying in
tongues and the interpretation came. "And Lori, you will get the bedroom
of your dreams."
The Lord spoke other things as well. I asked her when we were finished,
"Lori, what did the Lord mean—you will get the bedroom of your
dreams?"
"Dad, I’ve been praying for a bigger bedroom, and those are the
exact words I’ve been using in my prayers."
"O," I remarked, and forgot about it.
I didn’t know how moved my daughter was by the Lord’s prophecy,
"And Lori, you will get the bedroom of your dreams." She took Him at
His word. The next day she immediately went house shopping—unknowing to me,
of course. For the next few days she and her boyfriend were driving around the
community looking at houses.
Sometimes as adults, we get so locked in. Locked in to the way things are.
Or seem to be. For instance, "in the natural" the timing seemed way
off for us as a family to start looking for a house. Here we were, living in
an eleven hundred square foot apartment, and making our monthly payments. It
certainly wasn’t on my mind to begin looking for a house.
O, to be child-like again.
A few days later, Lori came home and said, "Dad, I’ve found
it."
"Found what?" I asked.
"Found us a house. And dad, it has the bedroom of my dreams in
it!"
I could see the excitement in her eyes.
"Please, dad. Come with Jason and me."
I’ve always had a weakness. How do you say no to your children? So her
mother and I followed her in her car. We pulled up in front of this beautiful
brand new house with a nice yard. I said, "Lori, how did you find
this?"
"There was a ‘For Sale By Owner’ sign in the yard, dad, and I
called the owner. Here, I’ve got the key."
Linda and I get out of the car and follow our daughter into the house. It
was indeed a beautiful house—four bedrooms, three baths, three-car garage,
family room with a fireplace, dining & living room, a huge kitchen with
lots of solid oak cabinets. The woodwork was gorgeous—lots of wood floors. I
love wood. An upstairs and basement.
"Dad, come upstairs. I want to show you the bedroom."
I followed my excited daughter as she almost ran up the stairs.
We looked into the bedrooms. And finally, came to the bedroom of Lori’s
dreams. It was up over the garage—seven hundred square feet. And yes, it had
a huge walk-in closet, a big bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub.
"And dad, look at this."
She opened the door that led to a walkout deck overlooking the sky.
It was indeed the bedroom of Lori’s dreams.
But then reality set in. This home was over a quarter million dollars!
You know what, when God says a thing, no matter how impossible, He always
provides a way. The Lord miraculously (I mean—miraculously) finds a way
for us to purchase the house. He doubles our income over night. Very
unexpectedly, of course. I mean--out of the blue.
And Lori moves into the bedroom of her dreams.
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask of think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be
glory in the church by Christ Jesus without end. Amen." --Ephesians
3:20-21
