Prayers from the Past

I was looking for something the other day in my bedside dresser and ran across a picture frame.  There is nothing special about how the frame looks.  Inside is a simple poem about waiting on God to bring you to the man you were meant to marry.  A poem about trusting God while you are single and not wasting away that time.  Most people would pass over that frame without a second glance, but I knew what was behind that poem.  It was a list.  A list that I made when I was a freshman in college.  It was a list of the characteristics that I wanted my husband to possess. 
This simple frame sat beside my bed from 1996-2003.  For 7 years, I prayed over this list daily.  There were times when I thought I should just give up.  I felt as if God would never bring me the man that was to be my life mate. 
There were also times that I would enter into a dating relationship or find someone that I thought was "the one".  I would pull out this list and inevitably, there would be at least one characteristic that he would be missing.  I would compromise with myself and think there was nothing wrong with a man that met 90% of my wants.  Inevitably, God would always move them on.  Then I would begin the prayer process over again.
Then one summer night in 2003 I attended a singles bible study at a friend's apartment.  It was packed with over 30 people in one tiny space.  It was so packed, that there were people sitting in every nook and cranny.  A question was asked(I for the life of me can't remember what it was) and a male answered.  It was like a lightening bolt hit me.  I couldn't see who the response came from but I knew that he would be my husband.  I was later introduced to Bryan and discovered he was the man that answered the question.  A friendship formed in a group setting.  I kept my little secret to myself and began observing him.  It wasn't until my grandmother died and Bryan and another friend, Leanne, traveled close to 3 hours to come to the visitation and only stayed for 15 minutes that I realized that there may be more than friendship forming. 
We began dating shortly after and as we dated, I realized that Bryan met every characteristic on my list.  A short 16 months later, we were married.  God did grant my every desire.  Here is my list:

Christian (Romans 10:9)
Spiritual Leader(Ephesians 5:23)
Humble and Gentle(Philippians 2:3)
Hard Worker(1 Corinthians 15:58)
Generous(Tither) (2 Corinthians 9:6-7)
Ambassador for Christ(2 Corinthians 5:20)
Courageous(1 Corinthians 16:13)
Supportive (Galatians 6:2)
Prayer Warrior(Colossians 4:2)
Understanding(Proverbs 24:3)
Respectable(Proverbs 22:1)
Fears God(Ecclesiastes 12:13
Servant's Heart(Mark 10:43-45)
Seeks God First(Jeremiah 29:13)
Loving( Romans 12:9-13, 1 Corinthians 13)

I love looking back on this an realizing that God heard my prayer every night for those 7 long years.  That prayer did not return void.  God was simply working it out.  He had to get both Bryan and I to Madison, AL.  He had to get us both to the same church.  It had to be at the right time.  If we had of met any earlier, we would not have been on the same page in life and it would not have worked. 
I am so thankful that God heard not only my prayers, but the prayers of a godly mother that prayed for my mate every day since I was a little girl. 
So, for that reason, I am already praying for Eleanor's and Henry's mate.  For the parents of my future son and daughter in laws.  I pray that God will be with them and that they will raise their children up in the Lord.  I also anticipate the day that I am able to sit down and show this list to Eleanor and Henry and encourage them to make a list of their own.