Saturday, December
30, 2017
O Holy Night. O
Night Divine. This morning, I am sitting here meditating on the Lord and I just
can’t get this song out of my head. This Christmas, my grandmother who took a
very intimate role in raising me as a child, reached out to me for a special
piece of custom art work. I recently began to share my scripture-based brush
lettering artwork with family and friends. Last year, Grandpa underwent open
heart surgery. He is in his late nineties, and has always been full of life and
vigor. Grandma has always been an amazing caretaker for him, making sure he has
a healthy and balanced diet and educating herself and by proxy our entire
family on natural herbal supplements for every need. Their relationship has
been an inspiration for me over the years. While this is a second marriage,
they have lived a devout and God-honoring life for the past 47 years. Grandma
has the most devoted heart for Grandpa I have ever seen. Two years ago, at
Christmas, Grandpa heard me singing O Holy Night in the kitchen at their home.
We are a family of musicians, and I am an opera-trained vocalist. Grandpa was
one of the original pipe organists, hailing from San Diego County originally
and deeply involved in the pipe organ community throughout his life. When he
built his dream home, it was built around the lifelong desire to have a pipe
organ in his walls. After overhearing me sing, he asked me if I would practice
singing with him as he played his organ the next year. I was ready when
Christmas came, but the chance never did. We all spent weeks on pins and
needles, praying that Grandpa would make it through the surgery. Thank God he
did, and has lived this past year with Grandma’s amazing vigilant care and the
help of my aunts and skilled caregivers. I did sing for Grandpa in his hospital
bed, and he was blessed. When Grandma reached out for the piece, I was and am
deeply honored. It was our plan to deliver the work personally so that I could
sing for him and he would be able to make the connection. Today is the day of
our family Christmas party, and I am not able to attend because we have
sickness in the house and can’t be around Grandpa and Grandma when we are sick.
I mailed the work to Grandma, and she reported that when she shared it with
him, he lit up and said, “That is beautiful.” There is something about the
blessing of my grandfather that brings something alive in me. It is like the
blessing of our Heavenly Father. Knowing that I could bless my grandfather with
my voice and with the artwork that flows from me feels like being a blessing to
God. Every heart of every little girl and boy has this desire. If you are
joining me today in prayer, it is likely that you have a child with intense
parenting challenges, whether it is a strong will or a special need. Though it
may not seem like it, our children have this same desire to please us. In their
heart, it stems from a desire to be pleasing to their Heavenly Father. It can
be so easy to lose sight of this reality when we are in the trenches, but today
I desire and hope you will come along with me to shine our faces upon our
children with favor and with approval. I promise, I did plenty over the years
to earn my grandparents’ disapproval and disappointment. Yet, like the Lord,
they always kept their doors and hearts open to me, and through kindness God
used them to draw me back to Him and shine His heart and approval over me.
Let’s allow the Lord to minister in us today, and may the Holy Night divinely
shine through us to our children as we pray!
Prayer:
Thanksgiving:
Gracious Lord, I bow
before You and thank You for this amazing gift of life. I praise Your Name. I
extol Your character. Every good and perfect gift comes from You, Lord, and You
are not changing or fickle (1 Peter 5:17). You are good, and Your love and
mercy endure forever (2 Chronicles 5:13). You are a mighty warrior, Who fights
our battles (Exodus 15:3, Jeremiah 20:11). I bless You today and I honor You.
fConfession:
I bring my
confession to You today and every day. I thank You for the place of safety that
You have given through the Blood of Jesus Christ, that I can walk in Your love
and Your truth every day with a clean heart and a clear conscience. I release
pride that might keep me from walking in the light and living a confessed life
before You. I ask for courage to allow You to examine me. (Take time to allow
the Lord to minister to you, revealing any attitudes, habits or clear sin. The
Lord is faithful, my friends. He is kind and desires truth but is not angry
with you. He desires to restore and heal, and draw us in to a right standing
with Him as we confess. Jesus died for every sin.)
Supplication:
I lift my needs to
You today in preparation for parenting well. It is so easy for me to try to
“handle things” on my own, instead of allowing You to manage my problems. I release
control over my circumstances to You. (Journal needs, concerns of the day, and
requests. Make note of progress and victories!)
Intercession:
I lift my children
to You today. I thank You that Your heart toward them drips with favor, and
that You love them more than I ever could. I ask that You will continually woo
them throughout their lives into deeper
intimacy and knowledge of You. (Take time to lift individual needs for
children. Make note of progress and victories here as well.)
Thanksgiving and
Consecration:
I thank You again
for Your heart of favor over us today, Lord. I thank You for this time in Your
Presence so that I might lean on You for our needs. Seal this time for Your
Kingdom and Your glory. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen!
Blessing and
Benediction:
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is
able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all
that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Today, be blessed in
every thing you do as parents!
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