How God didn't answer my prayer

At the beginning of the summer I entered a photography contest in hopes of winning the grand prize of cash in order to upgrade to a DSLR (digital single lens reflex, a camera with the ability to interchange lenses). A friend of mine was telling me about a sermon her pastor had preached on prayer and he'd said to ask God for specific things. So, I decided that I would pray that God would provide me with a specific DSLR.

I love photography and I want to use it to bring the Lord honor. So, why would it be out of His ability or desire to provide the specific camera I was asking Him for?

Well, the contest came and went. I didn't win the grand prize, however I was a finalist of about 14,000 entries! My photo will be published in the Best of Photography 2011! That is pretty exciting and I'm very grateful for it, however, the Lord didn't answer my prayer for the specified DSLR. 

The beginning of September I was quite discouraged. I have a little point and shoot Nikon that I really like, but it doesn't shoot like my beloved Nikon N80 (35mm). As much as I do love film, I've really been enjoying stepping into the digital world. It's also more practical because of where I live. My favorite photo lab back in Illinois closed down and I haven't found one in South Dakota that I really like. So, I've had to mail my film into an online lab. I do like this lab, but I still end up paying more because of the shipping.

I opened an online store at etsy.com selling handcrafted jewelry and some of my photos, in hopes that I could make money to purchase the camera I'd been praying for. I haven't made a single sale to anyone outside of my family. The Lord must not want me to have the Nikon D7000. Sigh...

Before going on my resent vacation, I received an email from someone asking me to take some family pictures. Oh how nice it would be to be digital! I told her that I would love to and would she mind that I was still shooting 35mm. My husband then informed me while on vacation, that since our ag business has done very well this year he wanted me to have that specified camera. I was quite shocked! I'd never expected him to purchase such an item for me and it wasn't even my birthday! I found a photography store near where we were staying and inquired about some information that I didn't completely understand about the Nikon D7000. I'm still a little new to the digital end of photography and knew that there are some differences in the 35mm vs. a certain line of Nikon DSLRs. I learned that the D7000 has a smaller image sensor compared to a 35mm camera. Specific lenses have to be purchased for the D7000 and those cameras that are similar, unless I was willing to lose some focal range with my current lenses. I didn't want to have to purchase a whole new camera and new lenses. I love the ones that I have and they work incredibly! 

I realize this is a lot of information you might not care about, but I promise that it will come to an end and it does have a point. :) 

So, my options were to purchase the D7000 and new lenses. Purchase the D7000 and use the ones I have and lose some focal range (which is a BIG deal in landscape photography). Or, purchase Nikon's DSLR version that has a full frame sensor (equal to that of a 35mm). This makes perfect sense! I won't have to purchase new lenses, the image quality will actually be much better than the D7000 even though it's a few mega pixels less. However, the downside to all of this is that the camera I was now looking at was twice the price of the D7000.  

I went back to my sister's house where my husband awaited me, empty handed. I couldn't ask him to let me purchase this camera. I'd been praying that God would provide me with a camera. I couldn't expect my husband to hand over his hard earned money for my hobby that I'm trying to turn into a part-time job. I told him what I found out and just left it at that. God will provide for this camera if He wants me to have it, right?

Well, apparently He does want me to have it. It should be arriving tomorrow. No, I didn't win a cash prize in a photo contest to pay for it. I was so sure that was how God was going to provide a camera, but instead, He chose to use my husband to bless me. It's funny, really. I'd been praying for the Nikon D7000 all summer. God didn't provide it for me. He provided something better, because the Nikon D7000 would have ultimately been useless to me. 

Isn't He amazing? He does care about things we would normally think were "too small" to pray about. I sometimes catch myself only praying for those dying of cancer, or those living in darkness, or that my son would learn who Jesus is. Never for cameras. Isn't that silly? No, it isn't silly. Especially when the very reason I wanted this camera was to bring Him honor. I do want to get my little business rolling, but not with the sole purpose of making money. I want to use this camera to take photos of God's incredible creation. Whether it be the mist on an fall morning or the faces of a family laughing together. To show that world glimpses of Who God is, that maybe they will see and bend the knee before Him.