Well it’s a new year and time for a new road. What road will you be on? It’s resolution and goal setting time of the year. I’m sure there have been the popular ones like exercising more and quitting some habit, but have you done any thinking about your parenting? Have you thought about yourself as a parent and resolved to do anything different? What about your kids? Have you reviewed this last year and thought about some things you’d like to see changed in the lives of your kids and then set a goal to make that change happen?
Personally, as I’ve reflected on my parenting and what I’d like to see changed in the upcoming year, prayer is what surfaced to the top for me. Yes, I pray for my children, but I want to pray more. I want it to be more of a priority in my life. I want my prayers for them to be more specific.
On top of my personal goals to improve my prayer life for my children, I want to be more intentional about teaching my children about prayer–the importance and its power. This need for improvement in this area came to light for me in the last few months. As our adoption has picked up speed again and God has dropped a specific child in our lap, one of my closest girlfriends has exemplified to me what prayer should look like in the lives of me and my children. She has been a rock to me through this whole adoption and from the moment I told her about the possibility of this child, she and her children were on their knees for us as we prayed for God’s direction. Did anyone catch that? It wasn’t just my friend who was praying–it was her children alongside her. From day 1, my future daughter’s picture has been on their refrigerator reminding them to pray and it has given me confidence each day, knowing that she and her 6 children have faithfully lifted us up in prayer.
Once I was able to get my head above water, since I’d been swimming in paperwork on top of our already very full life, I realized that I was lacking in that area. I was so swamped that I had not even gotten my own children involved in praying for their future sister! My friend and her children were being more faithful that we were! What a moment of conviction. That’s when I knew my resolution for the new year. I knew that I would be on a new road of setting an example of how important prayer is.
Again I ask you, if you are “parenting with the future in mind”, what changes will you be making this year in order to affect the future?
Amen! What a great resolution!