It's a Christmas Miracle...?

I had only one prayer yesterday...well, 2...well, really 3. Ok, I had lots of prayers, as I do every morning, but I bargained w/ God and put 3 on the priority list (not sure if I'm allowed to do that but oh well--there it was!). Tops on the list was that I received the students stipend checks before 12pm. Their usual payday is Monday but since we are off for the next week, it was crucial that they come Friday.
Back up to last Friday...I had completed all the check requests, memos, etc. and delivered them to my boss to review on Monday (I was off Monday) and they were to be overnighted to our finance department in Newark=arrive on Tuesday, processed Wednesday, then sent back to AC so I'd have them in time for Friday. A sound plan. Except...
The kids began bugging me Monday..."Are we gonna have our checks by Friday?" "I need money for Christmas", "I need to pay my rent", etc. For the last few weeks I have been promising nothing. I even told them the payday for these checks would be Tuesday, December 27th and they would have to go to a different location to pick up their checks since YouthBuild would be closed but I would TRY to have them by the Friday before break. By Wednesday they were irking my last nerve..."Are they coming?" "What percentage of probability is it that they will be here?" "Ay, yo! When I'm gonna get my check?"
I called finance around 2:30pm Wednesday..."Hey! Just checking to see if the checks have been processed." Finance responds,"Uh, we never got the check requests. Even if we get them today, there is probably not enough time to review them, process them, and then sign them all". WHAT!? I text w/ a fury...Turns out instead of overnighting the requests on Monday AS PLANNED, a Newark staff person had taken them home, intending to deliver them to finance...and was now on vacation. Oh my gosh...
Texts, phone calls, and emails went on behind my back to resolve this situation. I was told that the checks would be there Friday. Hmmm...
So now it's Friday. It's a lax day at YouthBuild. We have allowed the kids to come "dressed down"...I announce in our morning meeting that I am waiting for the checks to arrive but NOT TO COUNT ON IT. It's a festive mood anyway. It's a non-academic day. We gather the kids together and put on a Christmas movie. The movie begins...in Spanish. No one knows how to change the language settings on the TV. Yikes...Turns out it's not the language settings but the movie itself (!?) We rush around...We have a copy of The Blind Side which the kids enjoy...I even overhear one of the kids remark about Leanne Touey,"That's Ms. Jen, yo..." I leave mid-way through the movie to go back to the office to see if the checks have arrived.
They haven't. I wait...I do dumb busywork. Every time the front door opens I jump up to see if it's UPS. Nada. Around 11:30 I go back over to the site. The kids are full of pizza, soda, and Snickers bars. They are getting ready to go roller skating and their mood is cheerful. As soon as I'm spotted they start,"Are the checks here?" "Where our checks at?" I tell them to go skating and pray for a Christmas miracle or for Santa to show up early w/ the checks, trying to keep a positive spirit.
I go back to the office...no dice. I get an email from finance asking if the checks had arrived--they were guaranteed to be there by 10:30am (it's now 12:45pm). I say no...Finance responds a few minutes later saying that they called UPS and they could offer NO guarantees because it's the day before Christmas Eve. The pit in my stomach grows. The guy who took the checks home is included in this email exchange and responds that the checks still should arrive before the end of the day...in my mind I'm wondering what that means...by midnight? By 5pm? The students are scheduled to come back from skating at 2:30 and then leave at 3:30pm...?
My boss arrives...we pack 29 giant Christmas bags into cars and head over to the site. I have left my cell phone number with the staff at my office with instructions to call me if the checks arrive. I set up the bags (full of the kids new uniforms, hats/scarves/gloves, umbrellas, and stockings filled w/ hygiene products=Merry Christmas!) while my boss goes out to get food for our party. I now have nothing to do. I am DONE. I ache (I currently have a broken/cracked/bruised rib from a tumble down the stairs a couple of weeks ago). I can't imagine having to tell the kids the checks aren't here.
2:15pm...my boss comes back w/ treats and begins to set them up on the table. The kids will be back in fifteen minutes. I go into the kitchen at the Rescue Mission to get a platter for cookies and my phone rings. The checks have arrived! I exclaim with joy in the middle of the kitchen,"It's a Christmas miracle!" (which I don't really believe--Christmas had nothing to do with it--but it sounded cool in the moment). I tell my boss the checks are here! I zoom back to my office, grab the checks, zoom back to the site. All this in and out of the car has my body in great pain but I don't care. I go in...kids are everywhere, happy, cheery, enjoying cupcakes and cookies. Oddly, no one asks me anything about the checks!? We give out awards, we give our "Make sure you behave over the break" speeches. The Ms. Jen gets up to say a few words...
They are all looking at me like I hold the answers to all life's mysteries. It's kinda funny. I blab about nothing and then pause and say,"One, two, three--YOUR CHECKS ARE HERE!" The joy that erupts is ridiculous. Kids are jumping up and down. I can't hear anything but, "Yay!" "Yes!" "That's what I'm talkin about!" We wrap things up, exchange hugs and Merry Christmases, and all ends well.
Why do I share this...I know God well enough to know that sometimes He chooses NOT to answer prayers the way I want them to be answered. If you recall, I had 3 on my priority list for the day. 1 was the checks (and I had said "Please have them come before 12pm" so I got a bit of a "No" with that one), 2 was that I'd be in my car and on my way home by 4pm (=3:55pm, so I got a 5 minute bonus there) and 3 was answered with a "No, not yet" or "No, because I love you too much". As I was going through the day stressing about the checks I kept tabs on my spirit...Is God trying to teach me patience? Is God going to NOT answer this prayer the way I want it to be answered and I have to deal with the disappointment and frustration of the kids? What is the lesson here? And then when it was answered, I thought,"Well, why not? Why am I surprised at this?" I know we are supposed to pray believing He will answer...and He always answers, right? If the checks hadn't come, it wouldn't have meant that God didn't answer my prayer...just not in the way I had wanted it.
Whatever your prayer priorities are, know and assure yourself that every day, every moment they are being answered...either with a "No, not yet", "No, because I love you too much", "Yes--I'm glad you finally asked!", or "Yes! And here's more". And believe me, after I'd announced to the kids that the checks had come, I told them they were hot off the UPS truck, looked up, raised my hands and said, "Thank You!" to which the majority of them also gave a "shout out" to God (as I trust many of them had joined me in prayer that their checks would come!)