Friday, September 11, 2009

Prayer for My Son


It's that time of year when I have to take off my imaginary cloak of security and let my only son engage in activities that defy gravity and rattle my sensibilities about the nurturing and protective nature of a mother.

I woke at 4:30 a.m. to take my son to the airport. He's flying to Grande Prairie with his ski team buddies to train at the water ramp. They ski down the ramp at ridiculous speeds, do their aerial maneuvers (flips, spins, spread-eagles) and land in a pool. They practice and perform their freestyle tricks for a coach who will "qualify" them so that they can perform the tricks in competition this winter. More pictures and info can be seen here.

Since he nearly lost his spleen during a competition last year (Jan. 31) and was out for the remainder of the season, a mom tends to think about the risks of sending her son 550 kilometers away for the weekend. The dad thinks more about the cost. Airfare, hotel, shared car rental, food. Pretty expensive recreation, but it keeps him happy, healthy and busy.

Rather than spend my weekend worrying, we started the morning with prayer. In her recent simulcast, Beth Moore said, "Pray that your children will be protected from everything except God's glory." We can pray for protection until we're blue in the face, but we must recognize that we are not exempt from injury or accident simply because we are followers of Jesus Christ. What matters is how we respond in the crisis.

After I dropped him off at the airport and he was ready to clear security, I headed home and read the prayer of Jesus for his disciples in John 17. There I saw it. The very prayer I can pray for my own child:
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Protect them from the evil one. We can ask it. Specifically. And that is the truth.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for this post, and particularly the quote from Beth Moore. We, along with another couple, have been praying 2x month specifically for our children and grandchildren. After more than 15 years, our prayers have become just the same as what you are saying. We want Him glorified in their lives — and ourselves to be simply and totally delighted by His glory.

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