Imagine yourself as a child, making a list at Christmas of things you want. You give the list to your parents, and every year you get everything single thing on that list. You already know everything you’re getting though, so nothing is wrapped for you to open. Still cool to get everything you want though, right?!

Now imagine yourself again as a child, making your list, and giving it to your parents. In this scenario, you know you’ll get *some* of the things that you asked for, but you normally don’t get every single one. Instead though, you end up getting things you never even asked for; things you maybe wanted but assumed you wouldn’t get, so you didn’t even ask to avoid the disappointment. Or maybe it’s something you’ve never even seen before, but your parents know you so well that they know you’ll love it, so they get it to surprise you. Maybe, still, there are things on your list that you don’t get. That toy might look cool, but your parents have read the reviews and know that it was cheaply made and won’t last long, or that it has pieces that could come apart and harm you. Though not getting that toy is disappointing, there’s likely a reason that your parents decided not to get it.
[By the way, most of these gifts are wrapped, making each one a mystery as to what’s inside, to add to the excitement of opening it.]

In both cases, Christmas would probably still be special. But how much *more* special is the second scenario? Each gift carefully thought out and curated to your individual-ness.

For the last few days, I’ve been thinking about the experiences of Christmas that make it feel so special. Since becoming a parent and feeling the pressure of making Christmas magical for our littles, I try to remind myself what we so often hear; that they won’t remember the gifts so much as we they will the experiences. Thinking back to childhood, while I can certainly remember some of the gifts I was given, I mostly remember the feelings of love and home while spending those days with my family.

But I also remember the anticipation of wondering what we’d get that year.
And that has had me thinking about the anticipation of things that we pray for.

Sometimes we get what we ask for.
Sometimes we don’t.

When we’re a kid and don’t get what we ask for, [especially if everyone else seems to have gotten it], we feel disappointed, or angry, or misunderstood, or forgotten.
It’s easy to feel the same when we pray for something that we desire so badly, and then we don’t get it.

Trust me when I say, I know that’s easy to say about some things, while others feel impossibly hard to sit with: how we can pray for something so fervently, and yet our prayers either weren’t answered, or were simply denied. On my sister’s deathbed at the hospital, we prayed that God would let her live. That didn’t happen. While we know that He is good, that certainly doesn’t feel good. In fact, it hurts like hell. We can trust that He had Lindsey and our best interests at heart; if we prayed for her to stay, and instead He took her Home, it must have been the better option of the two in His opinion. (Only God knows, but maybe if she got to stay that day, she would have lost her life in a horrible accident later on, or at the hands of someone cruel, or some other terrible, painful way.) Even though we don’t understand, all we do is trust Him. So again, trust me, I get that it’s hard.

But just like my sister was possibly spared from a horrible accident, maybe the unanswered prayers you’re experiencing are really blessings in disguise?

Maybe the man you’re praying will ask you to marry him has a secret that could negatively impact the trajectory of your life.

Maybe the job you’re not getting is because the company is going to go under in a few months.

Maybe the house you’re not getting is in an area where you’ll never meet your future best friend or spouse.

MAYBE, your parents didn’t get you that gift for Christmas, because they want to surprise you with it on your birthday. Or maybe you asked for a Mickey doll but that inspired them to want you surprise you with a *trip* to Disney, and you’ll get your doll there with Mickey!

Our parents usually have our best interests at heart, and as the perfect Father, we can trust that He always does.

One of my favorite scriptures currently is this:

“I know the plans I have for you”, says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. When you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14

I don’t know what you’ve been praying for. But just as I’m reminding and encouraging my own self, I want to encourage you:
His plans for you are good.
And He can be trusted.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6