Prayers Are Answered

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Ever since I met him, Mr. Brown Eyes has wanted to be a firefighter. In fact, that desire is what brought him here to Arizona and into my life. His uncle used to work for one of our local departments and offered to help Mr. Brown Eyes through the fire academy if he moved to Arizona. One of my very first dates with Mr. Brown Eyes was his fire academy graduation.

Mr. Brown Eyes worked his butt off to get hired (not literally, of course. That would be a tragedy). For five years he went on ride-alongs, worked reserve in a nearby town, studied, tested, interviewed, and prayed. He even furthered his education by taking an intense six-month Paramedic course the first year we were married. But no matter how hard he worked or how many departments he applied for, Mr. Brown Eyes could not get hired. I can't count how many times we both got our hopes up only to have them dashed to dust, how many times I felt so sure "This time he'll get it," only to hear that someone else got the job. Someone far less qualified than my amazing husband, in my completely un-biased opinion.

Mr. Brown Eyes was hesitant to start our family before getting hired with a fire department, thinking, I guess, that it would allow him to better provide for us. I convinced him (and deep inside, he already knew) that the Lord would bless us for having faith and starting our family before the perfect job came along. Three months later, I was pregnant. We had done our part, and I knew that the Lord would do His. As my belly swelled bigger and bigger, I was sure that it was only a matter of time before Mr. Brown Eyes got his dream job.

But Baby Brown Eyes came, and still the firefighting jobs eluded us. Finally, just a few months ago, when the perfect job slipped through Mr. Brown Eyes' fingers for what felt like the millionth time, he decided that he had had enough. He had already started going back to school, and he felt that the time was right to set his firefighting dreams aside and pursue a different career path. So that's what he did.

Until just last week, when the chief from the little department where Mr. Brown Eyes used to work reserve called him up and asked, "Do you want a job?"

"Um, yes?"

And just like that, no studying, no testing, no stressful interview, Mr. Brown Eyes is a firefighter.

The answer to our prayers did not come right away, nor did it come in the way we had imagined it would. But come it did, just as answers to prayers always do.

And now I am the proud wife of my very own firefighter.

Amen, 

The Brown-Eyed Girl