Prayer for my kids

*Jace - you came in so angry today. I try all morning to figure out what's wrong, to no avail. Then we're getting ready for the bus and I tell everyone to show your papers to mom and dad. You burst into tears and shout, "I don't have a dad! He's in jail. Mommy said I don't have a dad anymore." The bell rings, we have to get to buses...

Jesus, You are good, and You only do good. Let Your goodness flow now...

Sonia - such a beautiful little girl, trapped in a body that is almost completely out of your control. We got through most of the day, then it happened again. Your back arched and you let out a scream as the seizure hit. I stroked your hair as I watched the seconds tick by and sang to you under my breath.

Jesus, You are good, and You only do good. Let Your goodness flow now...

Jamie - the "demons" in your family have come with you to school. I wrestle with my own temper through the biting, scratching and kicking as I try to teach you to tame yours.

Jesus, You are good, and You only do good. Let Your goodness flow now...

Jorge - you sat on the floor all day long today, not talking to anyone. I let you. I know what happened to you before you got out of diapers and you were taken out of that home. I wouldn't trust me either.

Jesus, You are good, and You only do good. Let Your goodness flow now...

Jersey - you're on your 2nd round of chemo, and the poison being pumped into your body to kill the cancer has also poisoned your ability to talk and walk.

Jesus, You are good, and You only do good. Let Your goodness flow now...

It's been 8 months; it felt like forever, yet raced impossibly by. How can I express what I've seen?

Sometimes the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the mute sing. And sometimes the broken learn to laugh, the shattered trust again, and those shuttered away in darkness get a new light in their eyes.

For all of you, Father has promised me, "You're teaching them security and stability so that when I bring them to it again, they'll recognize it."

I am continually humbled and awed by what You do, Jesus.  You are good, and You only do good. Let Your goodness flow now...




*These are "composite stories" drawn from years of teaching experience in many varied locations. Every identifying detail has been changed for obvious reasons.

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