"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"" Isaiah 6:8

That day, I was a few minutes late for school. (I still made it through the doors before the first bell rang, but I mean late as in I was late for my usual self.) This threw me off a bit and frustrated me, because I am a woman who dislikes change with every cell in her body. So I was already frustrated with myself and had no time for anyone or anything to "interrupt" me.
Before I go any further, I just want to share a nightly prayer of mine: For me to serve God with all of my heart, and when people look at me, they don't see me but instead see Jesus living through me.

So I arrived at school and got out of my car, only to discover that the other students hadn't went inside the building yet. Because I'm partially lazy and did not want to get back into my car, I faced my social anxiety and walked up to where everyone else was standing. Out of the corner of my eye I see this girl who I know is a freshman. What I also know about her is that she doesn't have many friends of her own, and a little awkward to talk to. I felt like I should talk to her, but because I'm a naturally stubborn person I literally turned my back towards her. No, I thought to myself. I don't want to deal with anyone else right now. All people will do is get on my nerves.

But Lauren, didn't you say that you wanted to serve me?

And then I stopped in my tracks. This was the clearest thing I had ever heard from God in a very long time, so I knew that I had better pay attention. Sighing, but also shameful that I didn't do this in the first place, I went up to this girl and began a conversation with her.

The exchange was simple, but would you believe me if I told you that it turned my day around? I was happier. Not as focused on the negatives of the day. All I could focus on was God reminding me that I had prayed that specific prayer I mentioned earlier, and I could not shake it off.

I do not know if I impacted that girl's day, but she certainly impacted mine. The fact that I literally turned the opposite direction from her shows just how cold my heart can be sometimes, and is only a small sample of the true evil in this world today. Here I was the night before, praying that God would work through me, yet the very next day I was pushing the opportunity away. Why have so many of us become so harsh? I'll never understand it. B

ut what I do understand, now at least, is that whenever you pray a prayer, expect God to hear you (whether He answers it with a solid yes, a definite no, or a simple "not right now"). Do not be afraid to pray those scary prayers, the ones that make your skin crawl a little bit and your stomach do flips like it did before you went on your first date. Whatever may happen, do it to serve God. And I promise It will change your life.