Go Home, Charles

One of God's most precious gifts that He gave to us is that ability to create with our words. Our words are so aggressive that we really need to be careful about the things that we speak, especially if we believe that our tongues are creative forces. Trust me when I say that you will have exactly what you say. Allow me to give you a personal illustration of this.

One day near the end of my work day, I had an overwhelming desire to go out. Out to dinner, out for a ride through the city, anywhere...just out. For those of you who don't know, I'm fairly newly divorced and single for the first time in over twenty years. Although the marriage is behind me, I do miss having someone close to talk to, to share my fears and dreams with, someone whom I can be completely vulnerable with in hopes of not being judged or looked at sideways. And I don't always want to talk to my female friends, I desire male companionship. Anyways, this particular day I decided to make my requests known to God so after about seven minutes of ranting, I began calling out every attribute in a man that I desired to have at that time. I was very specific, or so I thought.

After I wrapped up my mini tirade, I decided to take a break from work to go for a walk to clear my thoughts and get some fresh air. I have a path that I normally walk for exercise throughout my community, but this particular day I heard the Lord say to me to go the opposite direction. Reluctantly, I did. As soon as I made it just a little ways down the sidewalk, I heard a man's voice call out to me. As I turned to see who the voice belonged to, I was stunned to see tall, dark, handsome...and a baby! Really, Lord? I kept walking but he walked faster to catch up with me. As I looked this kid in the face I thought surely he'd see that I'm old enough to be his mother, apologize and go on about his business. As he introduced himself as Charles and as I stood there stopped in my tracks with a blank stare on my face like a deer in headlights, Charles continued to speak. Within the 30 or 40 seconds that it took me to process what was happening, I heard him name every characteristic and trait that I had just called out 20 minutes prior in my rant. He was into real estate, an agent pursuing his broker's license and investor. He thought I was beautiful and wanted to take me out on the town to just hang out and enjoy dinner and good conversation. As he continued with his failing attempt to sell himself to me, I stopped him and asked, "You do realize that I am old enough to be your mother, right?" As he opened his mouth but before he could answer I very sarcastically said, "Charles, go home. The street lights will be on soon and your mother will be looking for you." And I walked away as quickly as I could without actually sprinting.

When I got far enough away to reprocess and access how I had just been set up, I came to the conclusion that God clearly needed a laugh at my expense; I just didn't really find it funny. Okay, maybe I did...but just a little.

So here are your takeaways from this:

1) When you pray, expect to receive what you have petitioned for...this is faith- I got exactly what I asked for.

2) Be very specific as you speak in faith..like very, very specific- again, I got exactly what I asked for, just forgot to specify an age.

3) Faith-filled prayers that are backed by the Word will be answered expeditiously- like T.I., God gets things done quickly. And He really likes that word.

4) God has a sense of humor- Petty, humorous...you decide which and be careful what you ask for.