After I had 2 miscarriages, I call them pregnancy losses,
the thought of getting pregnant again scared me. What if another baby was lost? What would I do then? During the losses I had read several books
looking for comfort to fill this empty pit deep in my stomach that still held
no life. I think this was the first time
my heart actually had a longing for something so badly that it ached. One thing these books had in common was
prayer. They each encouraged me to pray and
be specific about my prayers.
When I found out I was pregnant again I was so afraid. I remember not wanting to flex my abs or
cough, like doing those things would pop that little life out of me. So, I began to pray. I would pray about EVERYTHING to do with this
kid. That their eyes would be good,
their ears would hear, their brain would work, their lungs, their heart, and
more to do with the heart I would pray that this little one’s heart would be
open to all things Godly. That they would
be sensitive to God’s voice and His prompting and that they would say, “Yes,
Lord. I’m yours.”
Fast forward 7-1/2 years later and we find little Gem…now
not so little anymore. This girl
stretches me like I’ve never been stretched before. God is really using her to make me more like
Christ, and I am far from being there let me tell ya. After all the prayers, Gem has accepted Jesus
as her savior, and she is attending church and singing in the children’s
choir. She prays at night when we ask
her to, but there is always that question of…is all of this really going to
stick?
Well…
Last night was a busy night with family visiting, meeting
her new baby cousin, showering, homework, dinner, playing with her sister and
the new baby. She was all over the place
with excitement over everything. Getting
her to bed is always a struggle let alone when we’ve been so busy with
wonderful things like babies, but after we prayed last night as I was getting
ready to walk out of the room she called me again asking if we could pray for
one of her friends. I walked back into
the room and sat on her bed, and she told me of a friend that has been saying
false things about herself. Gem told me
that her friend keeps saying that she’s stupid.
Now…how many times have we had that same mental conversation with
ourselves saying we’re stupid or dumb?
Self-talk is so important. This
is something that I stress in my challenge groups trying to encourage women
towards their health and fitness goals, it’s not something I’ve ever stressed
at home that much, but this little gem picked up on the prompting in her heart
that her friend calling herself stupid is something that shouldn’t happen. We prayed for her friend and I encouraged her
to tell her friend the truth about herself.
Tell her that God says she is fearfully and wonderfully made and she’s clothed
in dignity and strength. (Psalm 139
& Proverbs 31). Then Gem asks this
question, “What do I do if she keeps calling herself stupid?”
Can we just take a moment here…like…she 7 people…I can’t…I
was not even thinking these things when I was 7, I wasn’t thinking these things
when I was 27! Ok…
I told her to just keep telling her the truth of what God’s
word says she is. Even if it takes many
years. After another few minutes of
asking, what if it takes 1 year, or 5 years or even 10 years, I said, “Sometimes,
Gem, it takes a lifetime for people to see and understand who God has made them
to be. All we can do is love them the
best we can, and keep telling them the truth.
God loves them and they are wonderfully made.”
Praise God for this little Gem.
I can’t know for sure that I would have had
the same conversation with her last night if I had not prayed over her heart
when she was in my tummy, and over the past 7 years. What I do know for sure that I did have that
conversation last night because I have prayed for her and still do.
Prayer is powerful.
Do it.
#jesus #prayer #children #girlmom #mom #momlife #powerful
#bedtime #cousins #sisters #god #psalms #proverbs #gem #gemma #gemfromgod
Beautiful !!! <3
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