How to Stop Missing Miracles | Susan Merrill Blog
When my kids were young, we lived in a small house Mark had bought when he was single. Each day when I’d take the kids in the yard to play and ride bikes, I’d worry because there was no sidewalk separating them from a busy road. This may seem like a silly thing, but I began praying for God to give us a house with a sidewalk.
Soon enough, I saw our dream house. In a nearby neighborhood, I just happened to drive by a beautiful older house on a corner surrounded on two sides with…the perfect sidewalk. That day my prayer changed from desiring a house with a sidewalk to asking God for THE house with THE sidewalk.
It wasn’t long before I felt God urging me to stop and introduce myself to whomever was living in the house of my dreams. And knowing God’s sense of humor, I shouldn’t have been surprised when this tug came on the day I was wearing a crazy safari outfit from being a part of our church’s Vacation Bible School. I uncomfortably rang the doorbell in my bandana, khakis, and big ol’ boots to find a lovely older couple on the other side of the door. They graciously asked me in! That was miracle #1—people rarely invite crazy, safari looking strangers into their home. After a sweet conversation, I explained my reason for coming. They were flattered that I loved their house and promised to let me know if they ever wanted to sell.
Over the course of a year, we visited them on bike rides and I wrote a note or two. Then I got the call. The stairs in the house were becoming difficult for them; they were moving to a condo. Mark and I crunched the numbers and realized that the best we could offer them was $200,000 less than what the house was appraised at. Devastated, I let Mark go alone to make the offer—knowing I couldn’t bear to hear the couple turn us down.
Mark explained our situation and the offer. The wife looked at the husband and he said to her, “You’re either going to take it, or you’re not.” She looked at Mark and said, “We would really like you to have the house.” Miracle #2—they chose us. There was another couple that had expressed interest in the house and it wasn’t even on the market yet! They could have gotten so much more money than what we offered.
We are still in our dream house. And it has miraculously grown and changed with our family. What a blessing it has been to me. Even now I am amazed at how one small act of awkward obedience to that small nudge from God to stop and ring the doorbell could lead to such a miracle.
But that wasn’t the only miracle God had in store for our family. Ever since I was young, I’d always dreamed of adopting. So when we finally got the opportunity to adopt from Russia, my heart was so so full! But then doubt began to sink in. The ages of the two kids were extremely close to the ages of my biological kids. While everything around me was screaming no, my heart was whispering yes. So by obeying the small voice of God, we were given our two biggest miracles: Hannah and Grant. (If you’d like to hear the full story of how that crazy miracle came true, you can read it here.)
Ultimately, God has shown me an amazing truth through all of this: Miracles are made when our hearts are obedient. Imagine all the miracles we’ve missed because we’ve been too scared to take any action! The truth is that it takes more than wild hopes and deep desires to make our dreams a reality. Prayer is the means through which God keeps our eyes focused on Him and our ears tuned in to whatever act of obedience to which He may be calling us.
So looking forward, I encourage you (and me) to be bold and obedient to stop, listen, and respond to the miracles in front of you! And I challenge you to keep track of all your miracles, big and small, so that your confidence may grow in knowing that He is a miracle maker.
My miracle list is below, what’s on yours?
- Surviving a cardiac arrest at 17
- 5 pacemakers
- Surviving 11 surgeries
- Faithful friends who helped our family when I was sick
- The ability to give birth to 3 children
- A husband who loves me
- Adopting 2 older children
- The house
- The flood that destroyed the inside of the house but provided for a beautiful renovation
- The early diagnosis of Emily’s Addison’s disease
- Faithful friends who have helped with our adoption transition
- A crazy career change from finance to iMOM
- Small insights on my children that helped me guide them and protect them (secrets on that I cannot tell—but O my word, God is good!)
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