Whenever I ask my nephew Andrew about work, he responds with his lazy drawl, “Well, Aunt Peg, I’m at least two days ahead of schedule!”
Wow! Two days! I can’t imagine!
I must be my mother’s daughter, because I tend to be, and I quote her, “A day late and a dollar short.” However, with inflation, make that at least ten dollars short.
So goes the story of this particular blog…it’s a day late.
For those of you who checked in yesterday, please accept my apologies.
Recently, I’ve spent some significantly wonderful time with some of my adult children, and some of my grand-treasures. I’ve said it before, and I make no apologies saying it again – these people are my happy place. How I love each and every one of them.
Because of time spent with these enjoyable people, my mind is on them as I’ve been reading through the Old Testament.
Especially in the stories of the Kings.
Have you ever noticed how many of them started out well, walking closely with the Lord, standing strong in their faith, then began to falter…?
Bring that down to today, have you ever noticed how many (even, sigh, pastors!) start out well, walk closely, stand strong, then seem to follow suit…?
I’ve talked recently with many mom-friends who are hurting more over some of the doings of their adult children, far more than when their kiddos were small, or in those “rebellious teen years.”
Those aren’t my stories to tell.
Yet, as we all know, just because our kids make it to adult-hood, there are no guarantees…
It’s reminded me of the importance to keep good prayer coverage.
I relied heavily on prayer when my children were young.
I’m so thankful for a local Mom’s-In-Touch group, which allowed me to gather with like-minded mothers who met weekly just to pray specifically for one-hour for our kids and their schools.
Those prayers were passionate and intense.
Meaningful.
Answers were often miraculous!
However, it dawned on me this week, maybe, just perhaps, I had developed a temporary-prayer-mind-set.
Almost as if the intensity of my prayers need only be for a season.
If I could just get my children to adulthood…
Whew!
Then…their walks with Jesus would be smooth sailing to the end…
Don’t get me wrong, I knew their lives wouldn’t be easy.
I have always prayed for them, particularly about life situations…
Yet, it’s almost as if where their Jesus-Stories were concerned, in this season of life I could breathe a little easier.
As if I’d taken for granted that their Jesus-Walk was guaranteed.
That’s not true for any of us, and some of the stories I’ve heard and read about lately, have caused me to take pause and do some re-thinking, re-structuring, re-wiring of my prayer-priorities.
That’s when the Lord dropped this little gold-nugget of a verse in my lap this week…right when I was pondering these things.
What a laser-beam prayer focus!
These words – this is what I desire for my children, and now my Grand-Treasures – because what I want more than anything is for them to finish strong in Christ Jesus. Because, what I want is exactly what the Lord wants: their own good!
So, this is as far as I’ve gotten this week.
Next week, I hope to generate a very specific prayer based on this passage that will be my prayer-outline, as I pray God’s words back to Him regarding those that make up my happy place.
I’m returning to a more specific, intense season of prayer for my children….and grand-treasures….and I’m anticipating the miraculous.
