Prayers and Hopes for My Children

What started out as a soulful list of thoughts for my children ended up being something I needed as well. This is an ongoing list of prayers and hopes that I keep in the notes section of my cellphone in hopes of one day sharing them with my children.

• May you find a friendship so enduring that even when evil threatens to break it apart, love overcomes.
• May you find relationships that don’t leave you comfortable but instead push and pull you and show you your flaws and your beauty.
• May you realize that happiness is not the ultimate goal. That the one who came before you saved you for eternity but didn’t leave a smooth path here on Earth.
• May you place your hope and trust in the one who is not of this world so that when the proverbial $h!t hits the fan, you know that you stand on unshakable holy ground.
• May you know that what this world calls useful, powerful and beautiful may look a hell of a lot different than God designed it to be.
• You’re not a fish; they get distracted by shiny things. Don’t be a fish.
• May you know that you are wonderfully made. That your body, mind, and soul are God-given property and that YOU have the ultimate say over who gets access to them.
• May you die to yourself every day and realize that most conflicts can be settled with a big dose of humility.
• Lean in and listen to the people you disagree with the most. Invite them to get a coffee, maybe even dinner, more than once.
• Be a student more often than you are the teacher it’s more fun, and your mistakes get taken less seriously.
• May you know that approval from your parents, teachers or coaches, friends or spouse can bring you momentary happiness but the only validation you need is from God and he has already given it to you through grace.
• If you meet the darkness of depression, anxiety, death, despair or any other beast born of this fallen world may you fight with everything inside of you. Know that you have a purpose here and you do not walk alone.
• May you realize early in life that your parents are flawed, fleshy, and at times dismally disappointing humans. And while we love you with love so fierce it sometimes feels like it will consume us; the most authentic, purest love of our Savior makes a parent’s love look like a 4th-grade girl’s first crush.
• Don’t be afraid of therapy. It will be scary at first but I promise it’s freaking amazing.
• And may you learn to forgive. To forgive me, your friends and your spouse and neighbors and coworkers. And the man who cut you off right before the light turned red. And yourself. Practice forgiving yourself daily because you deserve it and you will need it.