What do you pray for?

So you know how everybody updates their Facebook status' with the "Day 1: thankful for" during the month of November?  Well, I tend to be the anti-band-waggoner when it comes to things like that.  In fact, if you post something that says you will know I'm your friend if it is copied and re-posted on my wall, then their is a 150% chance that you will think we are no longer friends.  I think these types of things are the equivalent of those spam emails that claimed you would have 77 years of bad luck if you didn't forward it to 46 people in the next 13 minutes, lions and tigers and bears oh my! But that is not my point at all.  Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. Whew. I lost just lost 10 lbs.

As much as I am against doing the "thankful" thing on Facebook myself (I am obviously still reading them), my MOM's post this morning reminded me of an awesome story of the power of our prayers.  Here is her post:

"Today I am thankful for my son in law and daughter in law: Ace and Kya. Robert and I prayed for Paige and Neil's mates even before they were born, so to have these two enrich our family has truly been a blessing. They make our family times a blast! Ace is a wonderful dad to Evan and Lacy and Kya is so loving in her way of keeping Neil in line. She has a big job. LOL. Thank you Lord for sending us these two."

My mom always told me that she was praying for my future husband.  I assumed her prayers were for him to be tall, dark, handsome, smart, funny, witty, charming, and a Christian of course (you know, because that's what I wanted).  But I never actually asked her the details of those prayers and I still haven't to this day.  But, I KNOW one prayer that was answered: Protection.

You see, at 13 my husband was a very confused young man.  He had family issues he was dealing with and was at that age where he was on the cusp of being able to choose a path that would lead to either destruction, rebellion, and heartache, or that of achievement and success.  He chose the latter (thank you Jesus).  Even though he would deal with family stuff waaaaay into his adulthood, he chose sports and school and good friends to keep him grounded.  He wasn't what you would have called a "church kid" but he knew Christ and wanted him to have a purpose in his life.  As Little Man gets older, I've asked Ace so many times what kept him from turning his anger into excuses for drug use or worse.  His answer is that he always knew what he DIDN'T want in life.  But that is all the explanation he can offer.

Here is MY explanation. You see, when Ace was 13, I was born.  My precious Mom and Dad had been praying for  6 years for a healthy baby (me) and praying for that babies spouse.  I know without a doubt that God was placing a hand of protection over my husband as a young man.  And when I was born, those prayers became more specific and more real than they ever could have ever imagined.  Think about it:  A 13 year old boy making good decisions despite not good circumstances??  Doesn't generally happen in the world I live in, don't know about you. But with a God like ours, these things can and DO happen.  My parents were praying for Ace to be protected from bad influences and God answered those prayers BIG TIME.

Here is my prayer for Evan and Lacy's spouses: 

Dear Lord, please watch over those precious children tonight wherever they are.  Help them to grow with a passion for YOU!  Help them to know that the God who created everything is the same God who loves them more than anything.  Please allow only loving hands to touch these babies.  Please show them love through their own family and though the body of Christ.  Mold them into the perfect partners for my children, as Ace and I strive to mold Evan and Lacy.  Lord, show them the plan you have for their lives.  Amen. 

What is your prayer? 

And PS- I am thankful everyday for God's blessing in choosing Mom and Dad to be my Mom and Dad. (There I did it. But I'm NOT updating it everyday.)