Your Child’s future partner (and their parents)

Wedding coupleA month ago I read a blog post about a mum praying for her baby’s future partner’s mother. The mum writing this was in the midst of late night/early morning feeding of a baby etc and was using that time to be praying for her child’s future partner’s parents. It is a fantastic read and well worth it for anyone with children no matter what their age.(www.teachmetobraid.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/if-my-child-marries-yours.html )

This really impacted me. Why? Because I had never ever considered praying for them. I have prayed numerous times for my children’s future partners. Princess is currently aged 11 and I have prayed for her future husband, for his being brought up as a christian and knowing God as a young boy, accepting God into his heart at an early age and not departing from that. I have prayed for him to be protected emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, sexually, etc. For him to keep pure sexually and for Princess to be his first and only sexual partner and it to be within their marriage. I have prayed for him to have big dreams and to reach his full potential. Likewise for Matey, currently aged 8 and his future wife.

But it had never occurred to me to pray for their parents. For wisdom, for anger and stress management, for how they are bringing up their children, for the values they are installing in their children and future grandchildren, for the way they discipline, for the choices they make, for the priorities they choose, for the words they say when they are under pressure, for the stuff they are burning onto their children’s hearts and souls and spirits, for their integrity in how they live the christian life and worship God.

I realise that our upbringing impacts us greatly. Our parents, and likewise us in our parenting, are not perfect. There are scars that are left on the children as they enter adulthood. Likewise, people usually parent either in an extremely similar manner to their parents as that is their default setting, or in a completely opposite manner as they were so traumatised by how their parents brought them up that they throw everything out ‘ie throw the baby out with the bath water’.

For my children to have a successful marriage and to be on the same page as their spouse with bringing up their children (& my grandchildren), I suddenly realised that how they are parented is important. Let’s be honest, we want our children to fall asleep beside these children every night for at least fifty plus years!!  I also realised that I struggle, that I get tired and cranky and have stressful moments sometimes. I don’t want things said or done during those times to leave a lasting negative impact on my children. We lead an extremely busy life sometimes when it can become so easy to leave God out of our family time. Surely my child’s future spouse’s parents are the same. What better gift could I give them than to pray for their character, their choices and how they parent their children?

Something to think about. Let me know what you think.