I Didn't Know, What I Didn't Know...
Father, I lift up to you, this morning, parents of adult children. It’s one thing to be a young parent - to wonder if you’re “doing it right”; if you’re making the right decisions for your children - for their present and their future. But Lord, as I am now a parent of adult children, I can see, “I didn’t know, what I didn’t know…”
I didn’t know what my parents were feeling and worrying about when I became an adult. I didn’t know how they still worried and prayed for me when I was no longer the child. I didn’t know how difficult it was to completely trust You, while having absolutely “no say in the matter” of my decisions.
God, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
But, now I know…
Father, I thank You for our children, for the Christians they are, and the sound decisions they are making. I pray for them Lord, that they would always turn to You, listening for Your voice and then serve You.
And Father, I lift up to You, young adults all around us, yes, indeed, all over the world, but particularly those we know. I pray for their safety, and their choices, and their relationships with You. Though I pray for teenagers, I mean now, those who are clearly “adults” with lives, marriages, children and careers of their own. Those who are, where we’ve so clearly been…
But Father, I especially pray for their parents. I smile Lord when I think of the phrase, “I are one, now…” And, most all my friends “are one”, too.
How Lord, do we turn them over to You; totally and completely to You? When our children were young we “said” we “gave them to You”, but still, we were responsible for their daily care - for making the decisions about that care.
But now Lord. We’re no longer responsible for that care, and we truly have to turn them over to You. For some it is easier - they have found their soul-mates, they have careers and are settled into “life.” It’s easy to say, “Lord, I give them to You…
But for some, Lord, it is a very difficult statement to make. Some are making bad decisions that we know will come back to haunt them. Some are in bad relationships that break our hearts. Some have turned their backs on You, or if not outright rejection, then lackadaisical attitudes and apathy. Lord, some are lazy, some are indifferent, some have difficult and dangerous jobs and some, oh God, some are going off to war…
How in the name of all that is Holy, how, do we turn these over to You? How in the world did Abraham do it? I thought I understood his story. Indeed, even now it’s still mostly a “mental” understanding, because “I” am not having to commit “my” children’s lives to you - well, I am, as they could be in harm’s way at any given moment, but not like this, Lord. Not in the way that my friends are.
God, I can’t even imagine the anguish they feel; the sheer sense of “help-less-ness.”
Once, I had a child lying near death. And the complete surrender I had to make to You is the only thing that carried me through that, but, that was an “instance”, a “happening” that took place in a matter of days - but this Lord, this is a way of life - this is their “job”, this, will be months…
How have the parents of soldiers always felt, Lord? My mind began at Vietnam, then drifted back to Korea, and the “Great” wars. But then You carried me (in this moment of prayer) back further still to the Civil War, the Independence War, and indeed back through the ages, for every war, conflict, “police action” or confrontation that has ever taken place - for every young person who went into battle - there has been a parent crying, worrying, praying… for their care.
How did our parents do it? I didn’t know, that I didn’t know they were struggling to “let go, and let God…”
How did Mary watch Jesus on the cross? How in the world did she do that? If I think of it literally, I can’t even imagine…
How did Abraham raise his arm with the sword in his hand? Again, if I think of a sword, literally in my hand, poised over the heart of my child, I can’t imagine…
Thankfully, we don’t know what we don’t know… And when the time comes for us “to know” then You are there - as the song says, “Just when I need Him most…” “Just when I need Him, Jesus is near; just when I falter, just when I fear; ready to help me, ready to hear; just when I need Him most…
Father, I lift up to You, “parents of adult children”. God! It’s so hard to give them to You. “God I believe, help Thou my unbelief…”
In Jesus’ name, Amen
I didn’t know what my parents were feeling and worrying about when I became an adult. I didn’t know how they still worried and prayed for me when I was no longer the child. I didn’t know how difficult it was to completely trust You, while having absolutely “no say in the matter” of my decisions.
God, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
But, now I know…
Father, I thank You for our children, for the Christians they are, and the sound decisions they are making. I pray for them Lord, that they would always turn to You, listening for Your voice and then serve You.
And Father, I lift up to You, young adults all around us, yes, indeed, all over the world, but particularly those we know. I pray for their safety, and their choices, and their relationships with You. Though I pray for teenagers, I mean now, those who are clearly “adults” with lives, marriages, children and careers of their own. Those who are, where we’ve so clearly been…
But Father, I especially pray for their parents. I smile Lord when I think of the phrase, “I are one, now…” And, most all my friends “are one”, too.
How Lord, do we turn them over to You; totally and completely to You? When our children were young we “said” we “gave them to You”, but still, we were responsible for their daily care - for making the decisions about that care.
But now Lord. We’re no longer responsible for that care, and we truly have to turn them over to You. For some it is easier - they have found their soul-mates, they have careers and are settled into “life.” It’s easy to say, “Lord, I give them to You…
But for some, Lord, it is a very difficult statement to make. Some are making bad decisions that we know will come back to haunt them. Some are in bad relationships that break our hearts. Some have turned their backs on You, or if not outright rejection, then lackadaisical attitudes and apathy. Lord, some are lazy, some are indifferent, some have difficult and dangerous jobs and some, oh God, some are going off to war…
How in the name of all that is Holy, how, do we turn these over to You? How in the world did Abraham do it? I thought I understood his story. Indeed, even now it’s still mostly a “mental” understanding, because “I” am not having to commit “my” children’s lives to you - well, I am, as they could be in harm’s way at any given moment, but not like this, Lord. Not in the way that my friends are.
God, I can’t even imagine the anguish they feel; the sheer sense of “help-less-ness.”
Once, I had a child lying near death. And the complete surrender I had to make to You is the only thing that carried me through that, but, that was an “instance”, a “happening” that took place in a matter of days - but this Lord, this is a way of life - this is their “job”, this, will be months…
How have the parents of soldiers always felt, Lord? My mind began at Vietnam, then drifted back to Korea, and the “Great” wars. But then You carried me (in this moment of prayer) back further still to the Civil War, the Independence War, and indeed back through the ages, for every war, conflict, “police action” or confrontation that has ever taken place - for every young person who went into battle - there has been a parent crying, worrying, praying… for their care.
How did our parents do it? I didn’t know, that I didn’t know they were struggling to “let go, and let God…”
How did Mary watch Jesus on the cross? How in the world did she do that? If I think of it literally, I can’t even imagine…
How did Abraham raise his arm with the sword in his hand? Again, if I think of a sword, literally in my hand, poised over the heart of my child, I can’t imagine…
Thankfully, we don’t know what we don’t know… And when the time comes for us “to know” then You are there - as the song says, “Just when I need Him most…” “Just when I need Him, Jesus is near; just when I falter, just when I fear; ready to help me, ready to hear; just when I need Him most…
Father, I lift up to You, “parents of adult children”. God! It’s so hard to give them to You. “God I believe, help Thou my unbelief…”
In Jesus’ name, Amen
posted by Betty Newman at 10:34 PM
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