I distinctly remember one spring morning in 2000 when God whispered to me, “Begin to pray for the children you will one day adopt.” It was a Saturday. The sliding glass door to the living room in my apartment was open, a cool breeze gently washed over me as I rocked in my rocking chair. I had been praying through some things and out of no where He whispered that simple command.
You see, I hadn’t been talking to Him about children. I thought those days were behind me with the miscarriage 3 years earlier. And being divorced with no plans to ever remarry, I truly believed being a mom was not in my future.
That ever so quiet whisper awakened in me the dream of adopting. It fanned the flame that God had lit when I was 14. Could it be true? Would I really adopt and be a mom? Obediently, I began to pray. And not only did I pray for my children but I also began to pray for my grandchildren.
Across the Pacific Ocean somewhere in the heart of China, my oldest daughter was born in March of 2000. I wonder if God whispered on the very day she was born. How I wish I journaled then like I do today. But nonetheless, sometime in the early part of 2000 I began to pray for her and her sister and my grandchildren.
Fast forward to last week, when I held for the first time my granddaughter, Tate. My heart exploded. I was holding one of God’s miracles. It was a fulfillment of what He had whispered when I was 14 about adopting, then again at 26 to pray, and again at 31 when I stood in a hotel room in China. All of His promises and whispered culminated in that moment. What a might God we serve.
How the human heart can love so deeply is a mystery to me. We are created in God’s image and I can only imagine what a perfect form of love looks like, but this grandparent love gives me a good idea.
As I held her close to my chest I whispered to her, “Oh, I have been praying for you for a long time. God has great plans for you. You are loved.” Mark Batterson writes in his book Praying Circles Around Your Children, “Our prayers never expire.” I know my prayers for Tate will not expire. Nor will the ones for her possible future siblings or cousins. I will keep praying.
Today, after having met this little miracle, I’m not just praying for my girls and their children, but I have started praying for their children, my great-grandchildren. And that blows my mind. I’m praying into their futures.
Friend, you may be in the middle of the hard part of parenting. May I offer a word of encouragement to you? Don’t stop praying. Don’t stop believing the beautiful promises God gives us in His Word.
Pray for your children and their children. Pray blessings over them. Pray wisdom over them. Pray a deep love of God over them. And listen to what the Lord lays on your heart to pray for them. I can tell you after holding Tate, my prayers have shifted. I’m praying specific things that I know He whispered to me. It’s the same whispering voice I heard 20 years ago. Listen for it. He has great plans for your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.
