Kids, School and Prayer - But Not How You're Thinking

I always wanted kids. From the time I was a senior in high school I began praying for my future children. In those days, I was praying they would be healthy babies, grow to love the Lord, meet and marry Christian mates, etc. worthy prayers indeed but more on this in a bit.

After I got a small degree from a local college, I went to work in a nearby slightly larger town at City Hall. I was rubbing elbows with the mayor, city manager, and the council members. I did occasional work for the police and fire chiefs and became well known in the city circuit for being well organized and dependable. I put the city’s disaster plan on computer and in book format, which took months to accomplish. I could have been mayor one day! Okay, I am kidding about the becoming mayor part because I was carried away by the memories; but truly, I did have a great job. I saved my money and only occasionally splurged on designer wool suits and silk scarves, stiletto heels in assorted colors, and coordinating accessories. Ahhhh, the memories! I was a working girl and I had to look GOOD! When I finally decided to marry MDH, which is a story in itself, I worked for only a few months and decided to quit my power job. We wanted to adjust our lives to one salary so that someday when we had children (those that I was already praying about); I could stay home and be a full time mom. OK all you feminists quit gagging and calling me ignorant. I realize that is not a worthy goal for some women, but it was for me and I was happy with the decision. The only problem --- it took me four years to get pregnant and it was not for lack of trying, wink, wink. On the positive side we had made our little old house a home and we were ready for the new addition. To by-pass a lot of stuff, let me just say it was an easy pregnancy, easy birth, and then a lot of crap with postpartum depression and finally joy in motherhood.

One of the best things I did as a young mother, was to get involved in a local chapter of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). They not only had a wonderful program for women but also for children, so when Big C was about three years old we began attending a Wednesday morning group every week. To keep you and me from being bogged down in the details of my past, it suffices to say BSF helped me mature first as a Christian, then as a wife and mother. It taught me how to set goals for my marriage and my family by following the standards of God’s Word rather than the world’s standards. One of the greatest lessons I learned occurred when Big C was ready for Kindergarten. Although MDH and I had been led by the Holy Spirit to send Big C to a private Christian school, I still could not help feeling I was sending my baby to the wolves. We happened to be studying Moses during this stressful period of my life and our teaching leader discussed how much faith it took for Moses’ mother to place him in a basket and set him adrift in the reeds along the banks of Nile River. The possibility of crocodiles, large snakes and drowning were real but probably paled in comparison to watching her baby’s throat being slit by an Egyptian soldier. Anyway, she lined that little basket with tar and pitch which would have made it waterproof and gently placed Moses inside. With faith in the “Great I Am” she served to provide protection, she set that basket in the reeds on the banks of the Nile and told her daughter to wait and watch to see what happened. (For the rest of the story read Exodus 2). Her heart would not let her stay and watch. She probably went back home, crawled in bed, covered her head, cried and growled every time someone spoke to her and I bet she felt like slapping her husband for getting her into this mess in the first place. Wait! That was me on the first day of Kindergarten and no less than how I felt this morning when Big C left to attend his college classes. The whole point of this mess is to say, prayer is my tar and pitch that I cover my children with everyday and it has never been more important than today as I watched Big C leave for the pagan college world. He is grounded in his faith, comfortable in his skin, relatively intelligent and not afraid to bounce his ball to beat of his own drum (or something like that). Every hour, every minute of every day, every day of the week I cover Big C and Little I with a thick coating of tar and pitch to protect them from humanistic false teaching, bad friendships, and poor decisions (crocodiles, snakes and water) and trust the same “Great I Am” to lead their baskets to safety. Charlton Heston would be so proud!

I know some of you are thinking, "that poor simple minded fool," and you would be right about the simple minded part, but I am no fool. I have experienced the power of prayer and God's faithfulness too many times in my life. The only foolish thing would be for me not to share with you what I believe to be the Truth. If you know God through His Son Jesus, then you have the supernatural power of prayer in your hands. If you are a mother stressing over sending your baby to kindergarten, middle school, high school, college, etc. then coat that baby down with tar and pitch. Pray with your child every morning and then throughout the day and watch God work in the life of your child. He may not work in ways that you expected, it will be a much greater work than you or I could imagine, and it will be the kind that "works together for good."

Golly I feel better! How cleansing it is to bare your soul to the world! I should sleep great tonight and wake up with renewed energy. I might wipe down my kitchen cabinets or mop my bathroom floors tomorrow because of the lightness I feel. NOT!