A New Year, An Old Vow and A New Resolve

"...and unto Thee shall the vow be performed, O Thou that hearest prayer..." Psalm 65:1b-2a

In the words of Rodney Dangerfield, "it feels like dejavu all over again." Denver has once again been eliminated from the play offs in the divisional round. It's incredible to think that a year ago, God used that elimination game to bring about one of the most incredible prayer journeys of my life.
     I most definitely did not think that a year later we would still be praying for the opportunity to meet Tebow. I certainly thought it would have been accomplished long before now. Of course, I also thought that we would be meeting Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos starting quarterback, but God had different plans, very different plans...for us as well as him.
     The start of a new year always brings reflections of the year just ended. We remember the good things as well as the not so good and this journey has been filled with both. I have seen God move in some amazing, spine-tingling ways. Stephanie and I have seen the moving of the Holy Spirit in our prayers numerous times. I have witnessed God move in the hearts of my friends to join us and cause this thing to grow much bigger than I ever thought it would. I have seen God draw my teen agers into a closer walk with Him. I have learned, rather painfully, how to submit my will to His, to keep going when I would rather quit and to wait in the agonizing silence when He didn't appear to be working. I have also learned to turn my prayers over to the Holy Spirit and to allow Him to guide them. I have had to endure the heartbreak and humbleness of telling my kids I did not know why God didn't answer when it seemed He would, but I have also seen those same kids learn that God's timing is more important than ours and have heard them pray for His timing so that He gets the most glory and honor.
     New years bring with them new resolutions as well...what promise did I not keep last year that I will this year; what can I do differently in this new year or what can I accomplish this year that I was unable to in the last. God impressed upon me in my prayer earlier this week that the new year in this journey should be no different. I witnessed and learned a lot about God last year, but what new things do I want to see, what new things can I learn?
     God brought a second year to this journey for a reason. There are things I still need to learn and there are still things God wants to do. I am not sure what those things are, but I have begun to pray for them. And after getting over the disappointment that we are indeed in a second year of praying for this, I even find myself excited at the prospect of what those things are. God is still in this. God still has big plans for this or we would have met Tebow by now.  If you have faltered along the way, let the new year bring new determination and a renewal to your commitment to pray with us. If you are still praying with us, resolve to continue on with us and be determined to be a part of God doing something utterly impossible and completely amazing.