Remember the story of the widow who persisted in prayer for what she needed (Luke 18)?

Nine months of prayer and petition finally paid off for a $2K office folding machine I bought in November 2007. It arrived damaged from UPS who had refused to pay for its replacement or provide a refund. The bible tells us to be thankful in and for all things. Think I should be thankful for loosing $2000 in a bad investment? Well, I did--thank God for that broken machine and a broken relationship with UPS, who didn't seem to care. And I prayed that God would repair the machine or get UPS to refund the full cost. But nothing seemed to get UPS to budge.

Nine months later, I go fishing in Colorado where I failed to catch anything while learning to fly fish. Ugh. Another lesson in thanking God in and for all things (look up Ephesians 5: 20 & 1 Thessalonians 5:18).  But, when I arrived home in Atlanta, after 9 months of prayer, and learning how to mend the line; hold a tight line; hook it in faith and praise; and reel it in; a full UPS refund check finally arrived! What a catch!

Furthermore, God blessed me while flying home to Atlanta from Denver when I was bumped to the next flight, given a first class ticket and a $400 voucher for future travel.  Praise and prayer work together with persistence.