I do not doubt God hears my prayers and responds to my needs. Now, that doesn’t mean everything I have prayed for turned out as I had hoped. Indeed, there were times when it seemed as if there were only crickets chirping.

Ultimately, I would come to understand the silence and like the Garth Brooks tune goes, I thanked God for unanswered prayers.

While answered and unanswered prayers certainly serve as a means of communication between God and me, I also think he reaches out to me by way of signs — be it through a person, place or even a thing.

I don’t always notice these signs or messages right away, leaving God to have to work extra hard to get my attention. I also feel confident there have been times when a message he was trying to convey wasn’t even realized.

That was not the case this week. After several attempts, God finally rallied a result and I recognized he was trying to convey to me that I needed to make a couple of adjustments as to how I was living my life.

Not that I was doing anything terrible or horrible, it was mostly about pointing me in the direction of taking advantage of each day.

I feel like God’s initial nudging started with the death of Alderman Mayfield.

I didn’t personally know the alderman, but obviously by working at the paper our paths had crossed.

Mayfield was practically my age — young — when he died, and this got my brain churning and for the next few days, I began asking myself what I would do if I thought I had only one more day to live.

This cerebral exercise eventually quieted down, only to be replaced with a thought-provoking message on an Instagram post. I was watching a video of a woman styling her home with moody colors and daring décor. The video also had the woman’s voice in the background talking about how people had warned her about being so bold with her design and how it would affect the resale value of her home. The woman concluded that this was her home, at least for the time being, and she wanted to enjoy living in it, surrounded by the things she liked, not what others might like if she were to ever sell.

It takes Miss Conservative here months, and in some cases years, to even decide about a paint color for the wall for fear of choosing something others would think unappealing. So, yep, this was definitely an attention-grabbing concept for me.

But, still: Like God’s first attempt, I was still not grasping his message.

It only came after the birth of a child.

Are you seeing the pattern yet?

This week a friend of mine had her baby.

When I looked upon that sweet little face, I finally saw the light.

Life is fluid, nothing stays the same therefore, I need to start living my life in a way that embraces change, adaptability, and flexibility. God’s message was telling me to approach life in a way to enjoy it fully each day.

So what if I pick the wrong paint color. I can paint over it with another shade the next day if I decide “I” don’t like it.

Three times was the charm for God. But he finally got me to hear him. And I am so grateful I was finally able to pick up on this important message — this message that he has had to nudge me about before. But, hey, a little reminder never hurts anybody.