And this is my prayer...

Being a mother definitely ignites your prayer life. Since learning of my pregnancy with my son, Nicholas, I have been praying more and more for the future of my children. I can't watch the news without being reminded of not only how much I need to lift my children up in prayer daily, but how I need to lift this country up in prayer, too. Suddenly, the gap between the ways of the world and God's ways is becoming even larger and more clear to me. It was one thing to know, as a woman without children, that the world was a crazy place - but now, the craziness is even more visible to me. However, as a wife and mother, I am also reminded daily of God's blessings and, to use a cliche, what is truly important in this life. What difference am I making for the Lord? How am I living for him? When my husband looks at me, does he see a Proverbs 31 woman? When my children look at me do they see Christ's love and grace reflected for me?
How humbling is it to consider the fact that I am to be a witness of Christ's grace and love to my children each day - I, along with my husband, am the first person that my children will have as an example of Christ's love. Boy, does that make me stop and think - how am I portraying the love of Christ? My prayer is that I will be able to say, as Paul wrote to the Philippians (4:9), "The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do..." That means that I must teach, give, speak, and act in a way that exemplifies Christ. So, I better be praying about that because I need the Lord's help!
I pray that Nicholas will be a husband who loves his wife "just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it," (Ephesians 5:25) and that, when it comes to fathering he will adhere to Paul's instruction in Ephesians 6:4 where it is written: "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord". (In fact, I also pray both these things for my husband.)
I pray for Katelyn, that she will have an "incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God" (1 Peter 3:4). Also, that she will be a Proverbs 31 woman who is a virtuous wife whose worth is far above rubies. (Yes, I pray these things for my own life as well).
These things I pray and am confident and thankful that the Lord will answer these prayers that he may be glorified.
And this is my prayer.