Answered Prayers

Sometimes, I feel as though God doesn't hear my prayers when they aren't responded to immediately.

As many of you remember, last year, when I traveled to Japan for the first time, my biggest concern and prayer request was that I would sit next to someone on the plane who I could talk with. Neither of my plane rides were bad, but I did not have the opportunity to talk to any of the people sitting next to me. To be honest, I was really discouraged, especially on the plane ride back to the States, because I wanted to share about my trip--and what better time to share than on a plane with someone who has to listen to you for all fourteen hours? I mean, they're kinda held hostage... The only other option is to exit the plane mid-flight. Yet, all the people who sat next to me slept.

This year, I was so excited to go back to Japan that I didn't think once about who would be sitting next to me on the plane... Then again, I assumed it would be my brother, Zach, who accompanied me on the trip. The flight to Japan was peaceful. I listened to my music (Les Misérables, of course) and Zach slept. I expected that. That month spent in Japan, I was able to see God work in miraculous ways, and really did not want to leave. Thankfully, God provided me an opportunity to prolong my stay. There were no people working on grounds crew the week after my original departure date, so I chose to stay an extra week and help out at Okutama Bible Chalet.

Finally, my time came to leave. Leaving this year was a million times harder than last year. All that I had experienced in Japan caused me to fall in love with that country even more. When I got on the plane (around four hours after I left Steve and Belva's house), I was still crying. Like I said, it was REALLY hard for me to leave. However, my blubbering caused the person sitting next to me to inquire whether or not I was okay. He was a Japanese man traveling to Taiwan for business, and happened to speak English. We talked for the three hour plane ride to Taipei, and I had the chance to share my faith with him! Before we parted ways, he told me, "I believe...but not enough. I still need to learn more." Hearing this left me encouraged, but that was only a glimpse of what God had in store for me.

On the plane from Taipei to Los Angeles, I sat next to a girl who looked to be around my age. She was wearing a shirt that seemed vaguely to be hinting to something Christian. (I don't remember what it said.) I decided to ask her what her shirt was about. It turned out that it was a Christian t-shirt, and that she had just come back from a mission trip to Cambodia.

That little question sparked a fourteen hour discussion between the two of us, sharing the joys and sorrows of our mission trips, vocalizing how God had changed us through those trips, and just learning more about each other. Cheyenne (the girl I sat next to) and I spent time praying together, doing a mini Bible study, and learning/teaching random words from the Cambodian and Japanese languages. She had a list of questions that her group was asked to answer in order to help them talk about their trip when they returned back to the States, and we went over those questions together. At the end of the flight, we were tired, but extremely blessed by each other, so we exchanged information and found out we live only two hours away from each other. Cheyenne and I still keep in touch, and hope to meet up sometime soon.

Looking back on the events of that day, I realized that God knew that I needed a person to talk to more this year than I did last year. With this knowledge only He possesses, He answered my prayer in a way I never would have imagined. I didn't even think once about who I was going to sit next to on the plane this year, but God loves me so intimately that He answered my long-forgotten prayer from a year ago. We truly serve a remarkable God who hears our requests and knows when to answer them.

Cheyenne and me looking very tired after staying up fourteen hours to talk.