Mindful Ramblings

Welcome to the Easter Egg Blog Hop! Today I am hosting the final stop!

What’s the Easter Egg Blog Hop? Learn more about it here, and join the fun! You will have a few extra days to gather your eggs for a chance to win. In fact, you’ll have until Sunday, March 10^th at 11:59 pm, so get hopping!

Though we have spent the last two week celebrating Lisa Tawn Bergren’s God Gave Us Easter, today she is sharing a glimpse into another one of her books. Recently, her devotional of prayers for parents called Upside-Down Prayers for Parents was released by WaterBrook Press. Today we’re getting an exclusive excerpt! So read on and enjoy!

Today’s Easter Egg: What does the devotional, Upside-Down Prayers for Parents­ address? (You can summarize or copy/paste the answer!) Hop on over to the entry form and let us know!

Here is an excerpt from Upside-Down Prayers for Parents by Lisa Tawn Bergren

“As Christians, we’re called to take the lead when hard times hit. To stand and be counted among those who place their confidence in a God who is completely good, even when life feels bad. Yes, life is rough. At times, brutal. But it’s also amazingly, achingly beautiful. Full of hope and potential and possibility. And if we want to raise children whose faith can thrive in difficult circumstances—children who live in a loving, wholly trusting relationship with their God, who are able to see the beauty even in the midst of the fire and smoke, who remain alert for signs of hope amid the rubble—we have to model that kind of relationship with our God. Come what may.

As parents, we want to equip our children to be strong and courageous disciples. But we can only teach them what we already know for ourselves, right? So this devotional addresses both our personal relationship with God—to make sure we have his priorities clear in our heads and hearts—and our role as parents who seek to trust our loving God with our precious children, knowing he only seeks to be closer to them. Come what may.

We feel responsible to protect and shield our children from harm. So it seems odd to wish upon them anything but peace and prosperity. But if you’re like me, the adults you admire—the people you’d like to befriend and emulate—are people who live life deeply, richly, and in a holy fashion, regardless of what life throws at ’em. They have the spiritual stamina to make it through the fires of difficulty and maintain a sense of optimism and hope. To press on through the darkness, which in turn somehow helps them better appreciate the light.

It’s understandable and right to pray for our children’s protection, health, and well-being. But too often, we slip into spiritual timidity. We like to stay in that safe zone—and we definitely prefer to see our children in that happy place, right? But if we wish to be warriors for Christ, resilient disciples of the Way, we’re after more depth in discipleship, knowledge of the Holy, and a full-on trust of the One who loves our children best. And if we’re to trust him with everything in us, we have to lay our lives—past, present, and future—in his hands. Perhaps most challenging, we have to lay our children’s lives there as well.

This is not a sweet and gentle devotional. It wrestles with thirty-one issues that will most likely drive us to our knees, praying ourselves or our children through them. But I believe God redeems the time, the effort, the pain, every time. And when you fully absorb these truths and make them a part of your prayer life, I believe you will see a harvest in your own life and in your children’s. Because this is rich, dark, moist, fertile soil, post-fire stuff. Growth stuff. The kind of stuff that initially leaves you grasping for words and gasping for air. But after the smoke clears, when you can rise and take a deep, unencumbered breath, you will feel stronger for the experience, knowing that you’ve witnessed yet again the faithfulness of the One who loves you most.”

Hope you enjoyed participating in the God Gave Us Easter Blog Hop!  

Before you go, don’t forget to hop on over to the entry form!