Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Speak Your Words

No one knows the way you move or work, or how you call and stir our souls, but your smallest whisper is greater than any powerful force we can raise.

Lord, speak your words into the life of my child.  Draw this one quietly, powerfully, and forever to you.  Make yourself irresistible to him.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Nature

The big one is off on a school camping trip today.  My prayer for her and her classmates is that through nature, they would see you.  May being out of the city, in a natural setting, cause them to feel at peace, to feel whole, to feel as though it were easier to get along and be kind.  May you speak to them through the fresh spring green, through the sights and smells and sensations.  Draw them to you through this experience.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Worship You Only

I pray that these children would know what other idols are, and choose not to worship them.  May they understand that you are the true only God and nothing else is worthy of pursuit - money, popularity, looks, shopping, other people...  May they worship you only and serve you only.

2 Kings 17

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Thankfulness

Half a calendar away from Thanksgiving - I pray that being grateful would be a lifestyle for these children.  I pray that they would know how to be truly thankful, and not just know it the thing to say so they don't get reminded to say it.  I pray they know how fortunate they are to have enough.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Blooming

May this one bloom in spite of what she's seen or what he's experienced.  May each one of these know that just because something has been does not mean that it needs to continue.  Heal emotional scars and create beauty where there has been hurt and pain.  May they bloom in spite of - and perhaps because of? - the negatives they have experienced.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Character

I pray today for strength of character. 

My greatest prayer for each of these children is salvation - that they would truly know you and love you. 

My second is that they would live lives through which you truly shine. 

May their character be strong, true, faithful, pure, loving and kind.  May they be aware that the choices they make define who they are and form their character.  May they make their choices based on an inner strength that comes from you, and may their character be strengthened each year as they do.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

What You Value

I have been reading a friend's blog that chronicles their family's 3 month trip to Africa, and how she hopes it will impact their two boys.  May all of our children have experiences that reveal you to them - your heart and your care for others.  May they have experiences that shock them out of their consumer mindsets, and may they understand what has true value in your eyes.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Mothers

My prayer for my children this morning is one of gratitude and thanksgiving for them.

Psalm 113 is a Psalm of praise, and one that I read not long after Nolan was born.  It has a phrase at the end that has stuck with me - "He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord."  A happy mother of children.  I was not childless before, but with Nolan's arrival, this plural - children - is now my status. I am happy with my role as their mom and am grateful to the one who has given me these two gifts to enjoy and to mother.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Love

"I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning.  I ask that we love one another.  And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.  As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."
(2 John 5&6)

A great circle - love by obeying, and the command to obey is to love.

So much comes back to love; I pray that these children meet Jesus, who IS love, and learn how to love others.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Fruit of the Spirit

May someone in her world today show love to another.
May someone express true joy that in turn delights those around them.
May someone today be a peacemaker and heal instead of cause conflict.
May one of their classmates show patience to another.
May they all be kind.
May gentleness diffuse anger in their class.
May they be faithful to their friends, not changing loyalties to search for popularity.
May they choose to be generous and choose to be good.
May someone today in her world exercise self-control.
May your spirit be given good soil to grow these things in these kids.

(The 'Fruit of the Spirit' are found in Galatians 5:22 & 23)

Monday, May 7, 2012

Losing or Winning

May this child develop a healthy attitude toward winning and losing.  May they both challenge her to work on weak areas and to inspire her to try harder.  May her treatment of the other team or person be with the same respect either way.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Discipline

...we have all had parents who disciplined us and we respected them for it... Our parents disciplined us for a little while as they thought best... No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  - Hebrews 12:9-11

May we as parents persevere, and may our children be trained well by our careful discipline.  May theirs truly be a harvest of righteousness and peace.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

At Peace With Everyone

Make every Effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  - Hebrews 12:14

May they be peacemakers in their schools and in their homes, and value a peaceful life.