The Hulahoop

This is a story of faith. Faith is the main issue - and it's the main thing that God has been speaking to me about and really helping me to grow in.

The Hulahoop:

When we first got to this DTS, my thoughts were everywhere and I was getting settled in - just like all the other students. There was so much to look at - it took us about a week to notice some of the smaller details of our surroundings. Naturally, at first, we didn't notice the hulahoop stuck in a tree about 5 stories (or 50 feet, or about 36 meters) above the ground right next to the church we're staying in.

When we first noticed, it was pretty funny. "Hey look! There's a HULAHOOP in that tree! What the heck is it doing there?!? How on EARTH did a hulahoop get stuck in the tree so high!?"

Next to our school/church is a building under construction. Guys come every day to work on it. This will come into relevance later, so take note.

Well, my and some other students' first thoughts were, "How can we get that hulahoop down?" - so we started thinking about ways to get it down, and some of them were okay, but most of them were NOT easy. It was obvious that climbing the tree was out of the question. The tree was just too high and the hulahoop was way out on a branch.

One day, some of the students and I were standing on the stairs just outside the building.

We began to look up at that hulahoop and some people, again, began discussing ways - "how can we get this down?" Well, at that time I was learning a LOT about faith and what it means to trust God and believe. I have always known that God wants to hear about the little things in our lives, but rarely have I applied that knowledge to bother an all-powerful God about the "stupid" things.

This time, however, I cared. So I said, "Hey, let's pray for God to bring it down." And everyone looked at me. So I said, "He's powerful enough. He can do it. He can do anything He wants. I feel stupid for not asking sooner!"

Everyone looked at me for a moment longer, then brushed that idea into the trash bin and continued discussing other options. Needless to say, I was a little disturbed. I wanted to pray about it - I don't know why but I really had a STRONG desire to pray about this. And I beleive God gave me that desire. He was telling me what to pray for. I wanted to pray WITH somebody, though, and I didn't want to ask anyone nearby because I don't think they believed in the cause or purpose. I don't think they had faith in what I wanted.

Just then, another student (Simon) walked by and I said, "Hey! Simon!" So he stopped, and I asked him for a big favor. Then I led him down the stairs and around the corner where nobody could see. "Simon! Please, I need you to pray with me! I want to pray about that hulahoop!" I pointed up at the hulahoop in the tree. It was located about where the red circle is (the white circle is the hulahoop. This picture was taken later).

Simon agreed and we began to pray. I told God how stupid it was, but also how much I wanted it to come down! I told God that I knew He could bring it down, and I told Him all the reasons why it would be a good thing! I asked God to do it, not for me, but for His glory, as a testament that He cares and answers prayers - even the "stupid ones." Simon agreed, and also prayed. Then we waited.

We waited, and waited, and waited, and didn't say anything to the students about it. I also prayed a few times after that - I was absolutely confident that it wasn't a matter of IF God would answer this prayer... but WHEN. Later, when Brian (our Guest Speaker who spoke on Jesus and the Cross) came, I explained to him and Mona (one of our staff members) about the hulahoop. They laughed, and couldn't stop staring at the hulahoop - as if it would fall down any second, right in front of their eyes. But it didn't.

We had to wait a week and a half. One day when I got up for breakfast, looked out the window and noticed it wasn't there. So I just stared, making sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me - but it WASN'T in the tree!!!! At that moment, I knew EXACTLY where it was! "God brought it DOWN!" So I knew it would be right below the tree. I ran out, and sure enough, there it was on the ground. I don't remember any big storm or any big wind - but even if there was - I know that's what God used to bring it down and answer our prayers.

That morning, I asked to make an announcement, and I told "The Hulahoop Story" to everyone. It is still an AMAZING testiment to God's faith and glory! God hears EVERY SINGLE ONE of our prayers! If you can't find your keys, if you lost some money, if your CAR won't start - God wants to know! He wants a relationship with us! Don't forget to include Him on everything! Of course He won't always give us what we want when we ask for the wrong reasons, but if it's good and glorifying to Jesus - God WILL answer the prayer! Other times, He'll answer it in HIS good timing, not ours!

Well, it turns out that the "hulahoop" isn't a hulahoop. It's a peice of PVC pipe curled around and wrapped into itself. I think the workers that build the building next door did it for fun! Hahahhaha - but it STILL works as a hulahoop (quite well!).

This taught me one more thing. I knew that God would bring down "the hulahoop" - and I had this image in my head of what that would look like. Well, God was faithful to my prayer - but in the end, it didn't look like what I thought! And I think that's how it is many times. From far away and in our imaginations - we have this picture of how things will look when God answers our prayers, but it's not actually like that all the time. It's not always exactly how we think it will

be.