"I am filled with joy, when I call to remember the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice...."
2 Timothy 1:4-5
Thinking a lot about my grandparents this morning.
(my maternal grandmother at Hannah's wedding, telling her how to love her husband when he's un-loveable. Her advice...ignore a lot!)
Over the summer I read a book entitled "Moms Raising Sons to Be Men" by Rhonda Stoppe. This book made a profound impact on how I view motherhood overall, but one of the things that keeps coming back to me from the book is the author's note on how the prayers of our ancestors before us have kept us in God's favor and protection.
While the bible teaches that - I never really thought about it much until I took the time to write down all the things that I have seen God's hand on in my life that could have turned out so poorly had it not been for God's protection, which I truly believe came from the prayers of my grandparents, parents and aunt's and uncles - who thank God stood in the gap for me when I was quite literally "raising hell". They hit their knees and interceded for me when I didn't have the sense to pray for myself. And trust me, I gave them PLENTY to pray about.
They never stopped praying, and I know one of their prayers had to have been that God would send godly friends into my life. Let me just say one thing here, I don't care how big and bad your friends think they are - giving lip service and acting too cool - the ones that you end up calling when you're in serious trouble are the ones that you know hit their knees for you, crying out to God on your behalf.
There are no atheists in foxholes.
I only need to look at my Facebook page and see how those prayers started taking effect at a very early age - pretty much from the time I started elementary school, God started planting the right people around me, and kept them woven into my life throughout present day. It was not a coincidence that my closest friends I played Barbies with, or cheered with, had praying parents. It wasn't a coincidence that at a job where I stayed the longest and loved every minute of it, I was surrounded by people of faith. It's not a coincidence that it's where I met my current husband. It's not a coincidence that 16 years later, I start working with the homeless ...and that lay minister who oversees it? He's from that same company.
To quote my pastor, God is an amazingly PRECISE God. He places people where they are supposed to be, at the right moment.
I would even like to think that someone else's mother's prayers put ME in their child's life, to keep that hedge of protection and faith going.
Don't stop praying for your children, and yes, even pray for the grandchildren you don't have yet. A mother's prayers are powerful weapons, and it took me a good 44 years to realize the impact of them on my own life. Our children need us to stand in the gap for them, and there are children that have no praying parent - stand in the gap and pray for them as well. Then stand back, and watch God perform a precise miracle.
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