Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: RELATIVES (02/15/18)
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TITLE: Swing with a Purpose | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dianne Janak
02/22/18 -
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Like the clouds, our grandchildren are in constant motion, the colors of their moods shifting swiftly from dark to light and back again, bumping into each other some moments, and rushing away to seek their own private space the next.
Out of the hunger for God’s voice today, and asking Him for His plan for me, He put one word on my heart. Legacy.
What am I going to leave them with when it’s my time to go?
Jordyn, Nathan, and Matthew were answers to persevering prayers for the ten years of infertility my daughter and her husband had experienced. The triplets were miracles of modern medicine’s progress, and we still stand in awe of God’s goodness to us, but there is super stress with raising multiples, and it takes its toll.
Daily prayer for them was a desperate necessity, because two years after their birth, their father could not handle the responsibility and left. My husband and I, our two other adult daughters, our church and friends have all pitched in to help. Parenting multiples truly does take a village.
My main focus for them was to experience God’s love and comfort for them through prayer time. We often had Nana Camp at my house when their mom was working. We began with a race to the art room to the prayer pillow. The first one to hold it prayed first, until of course I taught them that the ' first shall be last and the last first". That messed up our game, but they got the message. At my house, our days will start with prayer.
Their sweet short and shy ramblings to God back then were always for the birds, or our dog, Gus, or for a boo-boo one of them incurred from another of course. The boys, Nathan and Matt, would copy each other, so we made a new rule. No copying. Jordyn, our only granddaughter, always had a few more meaningful sentences, because she had been watching me.
Watching me. Watching us. What legacy can I leave them? Time is running out. What is it God?
The wonderful season of praising prayer came when the trips turned eight. A sweet man named Ivan, a single parent of Natalee, a year older than our triplets came into our lives, and God formed a blended family that is still in the beginning stages of the hurdles, the joys, the awkwardness a blended family can bring.
God has been good. Watching the process of blending as they find their way to the family dynamic of unity with six very different personalities and expectations, is an exercise in self control for a grandmother. They need to find their own way.
When I visit, I have made this outdoor swing my prayer closet to continue the prayer journey for them as they work out their new life together.
I long for one -on -one time with my four grand children, as same age siblings tend to move and act in a group, not as individuals. How can I get that precious time with them now living out of state when they can really open up?
So I have named this new swing the Prayer Swing and I’m using it to visit with them individually to see how I can pray for them. i told them when I’m gone they need to see this swing as their safe place where they can talk to God about anything bothering them, because He waits for us and praying is listening as well as speaking.
I just saw it. Now I get it. Legacy. What will I leave them? The joy of taking to God is a gift from HIm. I want them to remember they had a Nana who knows God answers prayers and He waits for us to come to Him.
Answered prayers, learning prayers, desperation, persevering,and emergency prayers along with praise, or just being still with Him watching the clouds out on their new porch swing with a purpose. That legacy is eternal.
True Story
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