Prayers I prayed, praying for the little things.
There was something I did not forget with these two pregnancies, something I got right; I prayed. There are many prayers I prayed. I had a book that I wrote down the things I wanted to see in my children’s life, excerpts from the Bible, dreams I had for them, people in the Bible I wanted to them to emulate, God’s standards I wanted them to abide by. I learnt to pray for the little things. My husband had a good laugh when he saw my book. Why? You ask.
I prayed for their complexion, their hair, their heights, and their speech. I prayed that they would know God. I prayed that they would have an excellent Spirit like Daniel, have a heart that pants after God like David, wise like Solomon. I prayed about their destinies. I prayed about how I wanted my labour to be. I even prayed that they would be left handed. I can hear you asking why? It’s so terribly cute when you see left handed people eating or writing with their left. I just wanted my kids to be cute.
I prayed for their nannies to be. I prayed that God would send me someone with a teachable heart and who genuinely loved my kids. I prayed for the driver, I prayed for everyone that would work with me or be a part of my household. It seemed funny but I prayed as often as I could.
Now, I’m sure you want to hear if all my prayers got answered. It depends on how you look at it. It was either No, Yes or Wait. I can tell you though that majority of my prayers got answered.
Nemi came out cute with loads of hair, started sleeping through the night early. He was an easy baby. (I realized this when I heard other people’s stories). But he was not chubby as I prayed him to be. My labour was not pain free. Fedo, on the hand came out with almost no hair, but was chubby. I was able to breastfeed. She refused to sleep at night and had a voracious appetite. My labour was forty-five minutes and No! They are not left handed. Nemi’s nanny was incredible. She was like his mother and I could trust Nemi with her. I had a few run downs but she was not bad. I almost had a fit when she didn’t come back after Christmas. The nanny I have now is incredible. At first I was standoffish because I could not believe Nemi’s old nanny didn’t come back, but my husband encouraged me not to let anyone stop me from being who I really was so I loosened up. She has been Heaven sent and I’m grateful. I got someone else to assist her and they make a good team. The drivers I had before then were one story after the other but the one I have now is a work in progress but incredibly loyal. The people that work for me are not perfect, but they are God sent to me and I think we are becoming a family. Fedo’s hair has begun to grow and she is so pretty.
Now, what am I saying? God answered my prayers. Some were immediately answered, some weren’t. But there was a difference because I prayed. Sometimes even though I was disappointed, I held on and somehow God compensated for it. My journey so far has been made a lot easier because of the prayers I prayed.
I fear though that I’m beginning to make another mistake. I think because I prayed so much then, those prayers  should somehow cover my children for the rest of my life. I’ve found out that I’m wrong. I’m entering another season. My children are no longer babies, they are growing pretty fast. Their destinies are beginning to take shape, their personalities are coming out. Each day, I see a new display of a battle for relevance and importance. How do I teach obedience? How do I teach that you can’t always have your way? How do I teach the value of hard work or ethics?
This new season requires new strategies especially in prayer. With raising children, prayer is a lifetime commitment. It’s down to the serious stuff. We’ve gone past cute faces, we’re dealing with destinies. Therefore I have decided to pick up prayer where I left it because to raise this little army, I’m definitely going to need it.
You know what my assurance is? If God could indulge me and answer my seemingly ridiculous prayers about my children, silly things like the length of their eye lashes just because he loves me, then the big things that have to do with destiny is a given if I ask Him. So guess what? I won’t stop asking.
Contributed by Sola Adugah photo source: newser.com
