A child's ability and desire to learn cannot be taken for granted. Even while our child is still in the womb we can pray, "Lord, let this child be knit perfectly together with a good, strong, healthy mind and body and be taught by Your forever." (Power of a Praying Parent, Stormie Omartian)
I read this devotion a few times before I could agree with it. The part that I was getting hung up on was "..knit perfectly together with a good, strong, healthy mind and body..." because I know that while this may be our expectation and hope; it's not always reality. Having a child with special needs was especially challenging initially because I was disappointed with what I thought would be limitations. On the contrary, our son has blessed us immensely by forcing us to look at how God uses situations to bring out of us what we never knew existed...good and not so good. For example, before I found out my son had a disorder which caused him to have behavior issues; I would be the first person to whisper about a child acting out in public. "That couldn't be my child" or "he/she better be glad I'm not his/her momma"...life and death is in the power of the tongue! God reminded me of the times that I, in ignorance, judged and shook my head. Now I get those looks and instead of being upset; I'm humbled that I/we were chosen to handle the ignorance in a different way...a transformational way.
The other thing that was brought back to my remembrance when I read the devotion was a story about a mother's acceptance of her children's ability. In the story, there was one child that was a straight 'A' student who always excelled in school. The child always had great aspirations and was eventually very successful. The other child received average grades, even though he tried his best and struggled with academics throughout school. This child went on to serve in the mission fields, participated in philanthropic activities and served others in the community. The mother was reflecting on how hard she was on the "average" child because of what she thought he should be...because of her expectations.
Lord, while it's OK for our prayer to be that our children are "knit perfectly together with a good, strong, healthy mind and body"; let us not forget that You look at our hearts. Your word says that "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly" (Proverbs 20:27). We pray not only for their ability to learn, but most importantly; we pray for their spirit and acceptance of You. Help us to always desire significance in Your kingdom over success in this world. In Jesus name, Amen!
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