Yesterday was pretty busy day in our family. With the family visits wrapped up for the day, and the baby snoozing, Brenda and I tried to get some sleep. The nurse helped Brenda get out of bed and helped her get refreshed a bit, we checked on Hailey one more time and then at long last, lights out. Brenda and I had only slept for about 3 hours the night before, and aside from a couple of very brief cat naps, we were up all day.
So with the lights out, we laid down to sleep... for about 20 minutes before Hailey cried out. The poor girl was pretty gassy and just wanted to be held. Brenda was wiped out from all the days activities and after trying in vain a couple of times to get her to settle back down, I picked her up and rocked her in the glider in our darkened room so that Brenda could try to get some rest.
When you are tired and the baby is restless and your options are limited (we can't very well take her for a drive to help her fall asleep or take a walk around the block), this is the ideal time to pray. As I held her and rocked her and loved on her it occurred to me that this was my opportunity to pray over my daughter. Mind you, all day long in small pockets of time, I had thanked God for this precious gift, and countless times during Brenda's pregnancy I had prayed over Hailey's development, but this was the first time, with Hailey in my arms that I could pray over her and for her.
I am sharing this incredibly personal time because I feel that there may be a few parents out there who aren't sure "how" to pray over their children. I can't imagine a more powerless position as a parent than simply wishing and hoping that our children grow up well. And while this may not be the perfect prayer to pray over your children, maybe it will spur some ideas for you. This is the prayer that I pray over Grace every night, and the prayer that I got to pray over Hailey for the first time last night.
Holy Father, thank you for the gift of this day
with my precious daughters. Grace and Hailey are jewels in Your crown,
hand-crafted, special gifts of Your creation that You have entrusted to me.
Thank you for such a lavish and magnificent gift. Tonight as they sleep, help
them to grow physically, mentally and spiritually that they may grow to be
strong women after Your own heart. I pray Father that they will come to know You
at an early age, that they may serve You all the days of their lives. Help me to
grow as a daddy too. Give me a lion's strength to protect and defend my family.
And give me a soft spirit, able to lift the salty sting of their tears from
their faces and able to hear the soft words of their hearts. Give Brenda the
strength to demonstrate Your grace, wisdom and service as they grow. Protect us
as we sleep tonight. Send your angels to camp in our home, and watch over us. In
Jesus name, amen.
It is a pretty simple prayer, a prayer that recognizes some things that we take for granted, such as the fact that each day is a gift. It also reminds me that God is an artisan and a craftsman. Both of my precious daughters were lovingly crafted, not from a mold, but from a plan that He drew up for each of them personally. It is a constant amazement to me that He entrusted these gifts to our care, and that He determined that Brenda and I have, or will have every tool, resource, talent and gift that will be needed to help Grace and Hailey grow. It also reminds me that such a perfect and wonderful gift is attractive not only to me, but also to an enemy that seeks to destroy God's perfect creations. My role isn't an onlooker role, but rather my role is to shepherd them, to train them up and to protect them. What an awesome responsibility. Nobody other than God himself can enable me for that job.
On a much, much lighter note, I am very proud to share the first photo of our newly expanded family. One day soon, a professional photographer will take dozens of pictures of my family and we will select a print that includes the perfect lighting, a couple of well placed props and probably well-groomed, happy smiling people. But no image on that day will be able to capture what this image does, because this image shares a proud daddy, a beautiful bride and mommy, a wide-eyed amazed big sister and our new bundle of joy just a few hours into her life.
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A Joy