Prayer for people in the parenting trench
Payton Garland
Bible Reading:
“The Lord will always guide you. He will fulfill your needs in the sun-covered land and strengthen your frame. You will become like a watery garden, as in spring, where water will never fail.” – Isaiah 58:11
Listen or read:
I was not a plant woman until I was pregnant with my son. Perhaps all the excess estrogens had taken my maternal role of “bringing” to a whole new (leafy) level. In the middle of my pregnancy, our local plant store sales representative convinced me to bring pothos home in a beautiful, evil hanging basket. The baby thrived and I decided it was for me to collect plants!
One thing I discovered after becoming a plant woman is that each plant is different. They have a personality. Some are shaded, and some don’t want to face the naked sun. Others long for bright sunlight all day long. Some guzzles water can be easily dried. Some plants need shallow stains to make their surroundings wider. Because the roots run vertically, some require deep soil.
Did you know that there are also plant hacks for raising children? No matter how deep and dry your muddy and terrain, or even your teenager like a tornado or mouth, you can plant flowers in the trench where you raise your child. If we don’t confess how difficult it is to give our best to everyone except ourselves, we’re kidding. Our time, energy, resources, smiles, smiles and kind words are reserved for youth padding through our homes. When a long day is over, all we leave are harsh words of criticism and a two-second shower.
Ignoring the trench will not teleport you. Therefore, in the hard season when you are stretching your elbows in the mud of raising your child, you plant flowers there. Is it easier than you say? Probably at least on the front end. Sounds like another chore, but the other on your to-do list is at most half. But behind the scenes, planting those trench flowers may save your home.
What do these trench flowers look like? Where do they come from? How much does it cost? They look like you, come from you, sacrifice only your pride.
These trench flowers will look like you who tell your child that your parents are not perfect, regardless of their developmental stage. In my home it often appears to say, “I love you! And Jesus loves you the most!” Sorry when I’m wrong, but it reminds my little kids that Mom can’t do it all because Mom is just human. When you set the expectation that Mom is not perfect and that God’s love will always be better, you lift the weight of the proverb that you are making operational out of shame and guilt.
Meanwhile, these trench flowers are planted by your vulnerability and watered with your integrity. Make your child understand your greatest fear and recognize your inadequacy. Tell us to take these things to God in your prayers. When you are real in front of your children, they learn that they can also be real. When mom and dad are around, there’s no need for a fear of secrets or imperfections!
Remember that these trench flowers cannot do it all, as you are pride, willingness not to save the day, and know that you cannot. This does not mean that you don’t do your best or that one day doesn’t feel like a victory. You plant and harvest hope only in Jesus.
Let’s pray:
God the Father, just as you make beauty from ashes, you allow us to plant thick and lasting seeds of hope for parenting. Thank you for raising God-fearing children on our harsh days, and for letting us roam the mud with us, and see your faith bloom in our homes. We praise your immobility and love. I pray with the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Jacoblund
Payton Garland is an author, editor and boy mama who lives in the beautiful hilly areas of eastern Tennessee. Subscribe to her blog with ucured+OKSOK to encourage more.
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