So Many Hopes and Dreams

So many prayers for my children are continually running through my head.  So many hopes and dreams.  Not necessarily dreams of success, but dreams of peace, joy, love (and more love), grace, and mercy.  I hope and pray that they will stay close with each other; this life can be so tough and we need our loved ones.  Life can chew us up and spit us out.  When that happens, we need the comfort and safety of those who have loved us for so long.  True, we find family in many different places, but God has given us a family from the beginning.  I watch my children play, work, eat, and build together.  I see them fight and then forgive and I envision that this will always be so.  Let them always love each other.  Let them always be there for each other.  Help them learn to forgive one another because there will always be a need to do so.  There are some friends who are truly like brothers and sisters to us and that is a wonderful gift, but I long for my children to be friends also!  Let them remember that a true friend loves at all times! 

I hope that they can learn how to extend grace and mercy to one another.  I am well aware of how often we let others down.  We disappoint those with whom we are so close, those who we love--sometimes without even realizing this.  We fall down, make poor choices, forget what we were taught, forget to extend the love, grace, and mercy that we ourselves so desperately need.  Let my children never become so full of themselves that they forget to extend love, especially when it is undeserved.  Let my children see in others--in one another--the God who loved them so much that he breathed life into their physical bodies.  Let them never forget that we rarely deserve the love we are so freely given; it's a gift and we are responsible to give it back.

I hope that my children will grow to see beauty all around them...because it's there!  I hope that they will approach life with curiosity, creativity, laughter, and vitality.  Life holds so many possibilities.  Allow my children to see the potential in their own lives and the lives of each person they encounter.  You never know when you may meet your best friend, see the most breath-taking sunset, make the deal of lifetime, or encounter an opportunity that changes everything.  I pray that my children will awaken each day of their lives fully aware that opportunities are all around and that they come in many forms.  Sometimes our greatest triumphs are born out of our weakest moments or worst nightmares.  No matter what life throws at my children, I pray that they will learn to live free from regrets.  I hope that they learn to release failures, forgiving themselves.

I hope that they experience love, joy, and laughter.  Laughter truly is such a medicine for our soul.  Some of my most tender and difficult struggles in life have been lightened by true joy and laughter.  We are never promised, in this life, to be without pain or struggle.  If we find those with whom we can laugh and experience true love and joy, we have found a treasure.  In every season of my childrens' lives, I pray that they have the closeness of friends and loved ones with whom they can laugh.  May they learn to love life!  May they learn to embrace the storms of life just as much as they welcome the joys.  I truly hope that my children will always know how to play.  How much more wonderful is this life when we can find ways to play and gulp it up!  Let them find joy in the simple pleasures and delights; let them learn to be content at all times.

The Mom in me, who loves my children so purely and so deeply, could go on and on and on.  And I will...in the privacy of my own thoughts, dreams, and prayer times.  No one can love your children better than you.  There is a reason they were placed in your care.  Never doubt this.  While reading a fiction book earlier this week, I stumbled across a truth that spoke volumes to me.  No matter where we go or what we do, we are connected to our children.  This fictional character--a mom--looked around the room full of strangers where she was, alone, and noted, "These people here, they looked at her and thought she was alone, she whose children were with her even in her dreams."  That is what it's like to be a mom.  We are never truly alone.  We are never apart from our children.  Our hopes, dreams, and prayers for them are the purest ones because God entrusted us with their precious lives...for a time.

(quote from Erica Bauermeister)

Resting in One Who Cares For Me

Every now and then it feels as if my world is shaking...a bit more than I'm used to...or comfortable with. My mind may feel restless, my thoughts erratic, my emotions close to the skin. When this is the case, the everyday dealings can even feel overwhelming. A situation earlier today will bear witness to this. I had to pick up my 5 yr. old from morning preschool. He had gotten a bump on his lip from an accidental fall. And, as soon as I arrived he started asking, no begging, for his friend Emily to come home with us. I already knew I had to run to the store for a few things and it was simply too last minute, so I said "no." Luke began pleading, then crying. I realize he was mostly tired (from a later bedtime than normal) and a bit shaken from his earlier accident. I escorted him out of the school and he became more and more upset and resistant. As he got into the car he swung his school bag (thankfully mostly empty) at his sister on the way back to his seat...simply because he was upset.

If that wasn't enough, my baby was extra tired and fussy since she avoided a morning nap. I still had to get gas (as I was on empty), and pick up a few things at the store; later there would be soccer practice and a birthday party. I still had some school work to complete with my oldest, who was continuing to remind me of the Boba Fett costume he so desperately wants for Halloween (which costs more than I care to spend). Ella was upset over Luke's actions, and complaining of a bit of a belly ache. As I pumped gas into my car, feeling the cool autumn air, I spoke a soft prayer: Lord, please help me at the store. I realize that this could be a disaster. So much could go wrong with each of my kids. I need your help even to go to the store. I need your help in something this menial. I really cannot do this today...without you! My eyes welled up with tears. I really needed help from my Helper to do something so simple as shop for a few minutes with my children.

We got through our shopping experience without a hitch. I was thankful and relieved! Earlier, while my kids were resting, I opened my Bible to seek and write down a few scriptures related to encouragement for raising my children. Here is what I found:

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7

I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1

My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62: 5-8

Truthfully, these are not the kinds of scriptures I thought I would be reading. I was surprised that this is what God revealed to me. But it made sense--so much sense--for so many reasons! God is concerned with everything that concerns me. He heard that prayer I sincerely uttered as I pumped gas. And He is aware of all that is unsettled in my mind and my heart. He knows about my world. He knows what concerns me yesterday, tomorrow, and right this very minute. I am so comforted to be reminded that He cares for me; He cares for us. I am choosing today to rest: to quiet the thoughts, feelings, questions, and concerns inside me. I will just hope in Him. I will wait for God to do what He sees fit to do. And I will never, ever cease bringing my cares to Him!