MamaPrayer

My husband grew up in a Pastor’s home his entire life and it was a great experience for him.  I too was so blessed to grow up in a Christian home where God was our focus and love. My love for Jesus grew and so did Randy’s and we never felt like our relationship with Jesus was pushed on us or expected by our parents or outside sources.

That was truly a blessing and gift from God. And that’s why I pray almost every single week that God will help our children develop their own faith. That God will allow them to see His hand at work in their life personally with their own eyes. Satan would love to make them think because they’re the “pastors kids” they have a built-in faith. Or that it’s wrong to ask hard questions about God and life and grapple with their faith.

Being a pastor’s kid is not easy. There are pressures and comments made that can be challenging and make them feel different from other people. Statements like, “You can’t do that, you’re a pastor’s kid.” or, “I expect more from you since you’re the pastor’s kid.”

We’ve taught our kids to let it roll off their back. They will hear things like that especially being in a Christian School that is associated with our church. There’s a built-in expectation that isn’t on everyone. I’m not whining. It’s just true. My husband faced the same thing growing up.  We tell our kids often that they don’t answer to man’s approval but to God. And we aren’t concerned with what other people think but we do live and die to bring glory and honor to God. They can choose to let the pressure of well-meaning but tactless statements weigh them down or they can know who they are inside and roll with it. And of course, we want them to be a good role model and good examples…. but that of a growing Christ-follower. Not an example just because they are the pastor’s kid.

So my prayer for both our kids continues to be, “God, let them see you at work in their life personally and help them to know and love you more.” That’s my Mamabear Prayer for them. I pray specifically for them too but that’s my overreaching prayer for them.

A marriage and family therapist that I met at a conference last week said, “As parents, we do most of the talking for the first 12 years and then we need to take more of a back seat and let them form their ideas and conclusions.” It was well-timed words. That doesn’t mean I’m going to go strap some duct tape over my mouth as much as our 12-year-old would probably love that. But I’m watching her come to a place of owning her own faith. Cultivating her own relationship with Jesus and watching him work in her life.

I recently made this umbrella prayer for us Moms and in it, I asked for God to help our kids see him at work in their life.  *Don’t get creeped out by that one graphic that turned all wrong in the bottom right corner. It was supposed to be an eye but it looks more like a killer centipede that might be watching us.*

This week when Sophie hopped in the car from school she shared with me a situation that happened that day. It was a bit of an ongoing saga that we’ve been praying about for a few weeks now. She shared with me how things came to a head and she ended up in the bathroom crying and asking God to help her because she didn’t know what to do. On her way back to class her teacher struck up a conversation with her and they were able to talk some things through and work out a resolution.

I was able to say, “Honey, that’s awesome. Do you see how God heard you right there in that bathroom with tears strolling down your face? He soon after sent your teacher to talk to you and help you work through this. That’s our God responding to his children. Keep calling out to him.”

Pointing this out to my girl helped her see where God was at work in her life. God didn’t need me to point this out but he used me as her Mamaprayer to help her see it. And it was a such a well-timed delight for me to see my God reveal himself to my daughter and his daughter.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be praying this same prayer until my last day on this earth. That God will reveal himself to my kids and let them see him at work in their life. That they will know and love him with all their heart, soul and mind and bring him glory. That’s my deepest desire for my kids. I can’t imagine walking this life in anyone else’s hand other than my Jesus.