Prayers Never Answered

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 

Awhile back I was driving with my six year old grand-nephew riding in the car with me. He is quite the conversationalist; out of nowhere he says "Auntie didn't you ever want kids?"  Giving him the quick answer I said yes. Then he proceeds to ask me then why don't you have kids? Realizing this is a topic he wants to dig deeper into.

This is a painful subject for me as I had always prayed I would have lots of kids, it had been in my life plan. I was to get married and be a stay at home Mom. I had babysat throughout my school years and knew what I wanted. But life didn't work out that way, none of my relationships blossomed into that perfect life. For years I battled endometriosis and after many procedures and surgeries my chances of being able to conceive diminished. I think that's why I concentrated on my career in management, making my career my life plan. But with a few exceptions, my nephew was born during all this struggle and I had been blessed with a sister who allowed me to become "Auntie". She let me take my nephew on vacations, be involved in his school activities, be involved his upbringing. I am as close to my nephew as if he were my own son. He is now married and has two children.

I turn to my grand-nephew and say sometimes life doesn't turn out the way we plan, I don't have children of my own, but I have you and your sister to love. He said are you sad?  I said I was but I have you and you make me happy. He said I love you Auntie, but I think I am going to have lots of kids, maybe 200. I laughed and said I hope you do have kids but maybe not quite that many.

Prayer: Thank you Father for my nieces and nephews. Thank you for those heartwarming moments they come running from across the room yelling "Auntie" with arms wide open and a big smile on their faces. Thank you for answering my prayers in a way I could never have dreamed. I pray for all those hurting with prayers unanswered, that they find their blessings in your plan. Guide us to the life you have planned and give the understanding and vision to see it. In Jesus name we pray. Amen 

 

Lori Hood (reprinted from 2017)