On Being Desperate For Our Children

Last Thursday was our communities pregnancy center's (Legacy Pregnancy and Resource Center) annual fundraising banquet with Pam Tebow as the keynote speaker. I, along with the core planning team, had the privilege of joining Pam for brunch last Thursday morning and I was intent on gleaning what ever I could from this amazing woman and mother. Although I am not posting today on the points of her presentation for the banquet, I am writing on what she left me personally in the few minutes I had small talk with her.

In telling Pam how I respected her as a mother and wondered what advice she would give a mother like me, she gave me these two nuggets:

1. Be desperate for your children
2. Pray scripture over your children

You know, you almost have to be desperate for them...


This resonated with me and I loved that she affirmed it.

In our culture, I feel like we're taught not to be desperate for anything, except all the wrong things. We've got to have it together and when it comes to our children, we play  it cool. We want to feel normal, fit in and we want our children to fit in.

But to me, being desperate for our children means desiring the very opposite of normal for them. Rather, we desire that they be different, that they stand out, that they will make a difference in this world and leave a legacy for the next generation.

Being desperate for our children to me means fighting for their hearts everyday. Fighting against all of the counter-active messages our children are receiving. Guarding their eyes, ears, and hearts while they are cocooned in our care. Making necessary sacrifices. Doing what is inconvenient and even unpopular.

Being desperate for our children to me means that we are drawn to our knees and there is simply no other way to parent than on our knees because we know that what we desire for them is more than what we have offer. But God empowers us and ultimately draws our children to Himself as we pray for them. He alone is in control of the legacy they will leave.

The first definition I found for the word desperate was, "to lose all hope." In other words, we need to lose all hope of our own capabilities as parents and the ability to have it all together. Lose all hope in order that we fully entrust our children to God, drawing from his Spirit constantly to parent them.

Pray Deuteronomy 30 over them...

The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. Deuteronomy 30:6

I don't always know how to pray for my children; how to put this sense of desperation into words. Without hesitation, Pam gave me this verse.

This resonated, too, because I recognized that I don't have to have my own words. I can, with all my heart, pray scripture and truth over my children.

When we invest our hearts, time and prayer - pouring into these children, we are not only raising up the next generation, but we are making an eternal impact.

Pam's succinct words resounded in me that, once again,we don't have to settle for mediocre. We certainly don't have to be perfect. We just have to be desperate enough for our children, for their hearts, and for them to leave a legacy of passion in Christ Jesus for generations to come.

 How does the idea of being desperate for your children resonate with you?

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