I believe strongly that it is important to share openly and publicly when we see God at work.
To that end, I have a few stories to share about my youngest daughter, AJ.
In the last several months I have been praying some very specific things for her. Things that I had to be honest with myself about the fact that I had no power on my own to make them happen.
The first thing, and the most significant, was for AJ to choose Jesus as her Lord and Savior and pray to dedicate her life to Him. After a few conversations in which AJ clearly indicated she just wasn't ready to do this, which I accepted, she came to me one morning and told me that she had prayed to be in God's family on her own in her room. We celebrated and rejoiced and reinforced what that meant. And I give God all the glory for working in her heart and for her eternal salvation. He Moves! And only He Saves!
The second thing, is the curing of some wounds on AJ's legs that were the result of a bad habit of picking. I was banging my head against a wall with an endless cycle of putting band aids and ointment on, punishments for picking, and inducements or bribes for not picking, only for her to rip them off as soon as she was left alone. I persisted in asking others to join me in prayer over the healing of these spots. But I got more and more frustrated and desperate to just fix it on my own. I finally paused long enough to let God speak to me. The small voice that I attribute to God suggested that I quit the band-aids, and leave them be. While it was a leap of faith, I stopped the daily band-aid party. AJ picked at the spots a couple of times but started leaving them alone more and more. It took some time, but those spots have healed and her picking is dramatically reduced. I give God all the glory. No band-aid or creative efforts on my part can take any credit. He Moves!
Finally, I have a story about an attitude. As a mom, I find that I can be brutally honest and aware of what I consider to be character flaws in my girls. One of the things that has bothered me the most in AJ is her sense of entitlement and ingratitude. If you are familiar with the "If you Give A (Mouse a Cookie, or Moose a Muffin, or Pig a Pancake and so on)" books by Laura Numeroff, then you have some idea of what AJ is like. It doesn't really matter how awesome of a thing you give her, she can come up with something wrong with it, or something else she needs within a matter of seconds. While I can do some basic things to enforce gratitude and be careful about how often I give in to dramatic begging so as not to indulge the princess, I am powerless to change her heart. I've been specifically praying for this in her and for God to grow in her a heart of gratitude.
Recently, AJ had a playdate and used up an impressive amount of toothpaste making slime. So she needed some new toothpaste. I also picked up some fruit flavored floss sticks for her. She used them and promptly declared how awful they tasted. But, she quickly followed that up with, "Thanks for trying to get me something that tastes good. I'm going to be grateful for what I got." You could have knocked me over with a feather. And that is not the only time recently that AJ has expressed gratitude rather than complaints after being given something. I give God all the glory because only He can change a heart. He Moves!
In short, I shouldn't be surprised when the things that I pray for start to come to pass. I should expect them. Because God Moves. He works in our hearts, and in our lives, and He is present and cares about even the details.
Three principles to hold onto:
1 - Pray - motherhood can feel overwhelming and hopeless when you are stuck in situations of bad habits, bad attitudes, or things you desire for your children more than they desire it for themselves. But if we know God, we don't need to know hopelessness. We need to pray! Invite God in. Ask Him what if anything we need to do. Take time to listen. And then keep praying!
2 - Expect results. He Moves. Watch for him to move in the areas that you are specifically praying over.
3 - Then, be sure to give Him the glory. Sure it makes me sound a bit like a crazy person to say that God told me to stop putting band-aids on my kids' leg. But I have no business taking the credit for something that God did. It wasn't my persistence or creativity or wonderful discipline or selfless 24/7 supervision that kept dirty fingers out of leg wounds and allowed them to heal. God did it, and he deserves the glory. So, crazy person or not, I tell my story.
Because I want others to not feel hopeless in whatever situation they find themselves in. And I want to give glory and honor to God for all that He does around us, often without us even bothering to pay attention to it.
Keep praying friends. He Moves!
