A blessing on the class of 2013

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.
1 Chronicles 4:10

I learned a very valuable lesson raising my son though the years of our grief:  the reality that our children do not have the same experiences in life as we do. I learned early that God actually protects our children by placing a covering over them just long enough for their parents to work through the grief process.  You see, God wants us to recover from our grief so we can be there to help him.  

While we were working on our grief our son had a good time in school learning from his middle and senior high teachers, being involved in band and choir, going to chapel services and playing sports.  My wife and I enjoyed being in the stands watching his team play and living vicariously through him. 

 While he was having fun with his teammates we were in the stands sharing our grief journey with those who knew us. His reality wasn't the same as our reality. 

I realized this morning as I recalled the verse from 1 Chronicles 4:10 the importance of praying a blessing over our kids. No matter what path your child may be on, whether destructive or the positive path we would like them on, God can show them the way. Pain may be part of the process, but in time God will use that pain for the child's good.  God never really intended for my wife and I to go through this painful grief journey, but he used it for good.  

I remember as a child  never having any memories of my dad's father and realizing later that his dad was so profoundly impacted by the effects of world war 1 and the traumatic experience of losing his wife  that he was simply unavailable to raise his two boys.  Did it impact me? Not really.  My reality was growing up in a two parent home, going to school, playing outdoors at the sand pit and having fun with my friends. My reality was certainly not  my dad's reality.

My son was blessed being part of Legacy Christian Academy in Andover, Minnesota. His reality were the memories of learning, playing in the band and choir and performing in sports. His memory were the friendships he made and being able to stay connected in this Facebook world as his classmates ventures off on their own journey of discovery.

As parents we should be praying the prayer of Jabez over our children. Our God is a God of blessings. Our God can take our worst pain in life and make it be a blessing on our children. I discover the story behind the prayer of Jabez. He is a man with a pitiful past and no hope for the future. He is a man who struggles to find meaning and significance in life.He is a man who was desperate to be accepted by his fellow man. Most importantly, he is a man who craves a relationship with God.

As our class of 2013 enters the world our prayer should be the one Jabez made to God.  As our children learned to place their trust in the living Savior, Jesus Christ, God is going to do remarkable things in their lives. No matter what path your child has been on God will use that path for his good. Our children will be in good hands because of our living Savior.