Yes, God, I hear you!

Tim and I had goosebumps the moment we walked into church this morning.

We have been praying and talking ...and if I'm being honest, hesitating, with the answer God had given us.  So many times in our lives we've seen the good that God provides.  We've been the recipient of "God gifts" only He could know about and send to us.  We trust God and we know he always, always provides. 

Sometimes though, we doubt.  We wait.  We question.  We test. 
And even when He shouts, we still don't listen.

Today, we heard him loud and clear.

We walked in on mission and set out to complete a task God had laid on our hearts for many weeks.  It was something we should've been obedient in doing awhile back, but given the events life dealt us this past summer we just wanted to make sure we could handle the commitment.

Bending down to sign up on a list, I noticed a gap on the page.  An obvious line had been skipped.  At first, I was just going to drop to the bottom and write our names in the next slot, but I glanced back up and questioned why there was a hole.  Moving my finger, I noticed the number in front of the blank line.

#23.  _____________________________

We both just stood there for a moment in shock, awe, and thankfulness for God     (and Austin) smacking us upside the head with grace.

You see, #23 has always been a significant number for our family.  Even more so now that Austin is gone.  It was his favorite, his jersey number, and just a short sweet symbol that has always represented him.  Since losing Austin, we've been blessed with so many signs from him using that number.  Many times it is to let us know that he is ok or he is near, but we also get the number, almost as an Austin hug, to let us know he approves or is proud of whatever we're doing. 

I know God uses the number too, because it always gets our attention. 
And it certainly did today. 

Praying He doesn't have to throw a brick at me to get it next time...