Guest Author - Anonymous
PRAYER FOR PARENTS
This is for all the parents who froze their buns off on metal bleachers at games instead of watching from cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.
This is for all the parents who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey, I’m here."
This is for all the parents of Kosovo, Katrina and 9/11 who can't find their children.
This is for the parents who gave birth to babies they'll never see. And the parents who took those babies and made homes for them.
For all the parents of the victims of the Colorado shooting, and the parents of the shooters. For the parents of the survivors, and the parents who sat in front of their TV's in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.
For all the parents who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the parents who DON'T.
What makes a good parent anyway? Is it patience? Compassion? The ability to feed a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your child disappear down the street, walking to School alone for the very first time? The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?
Are you a parent because you have the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a school bus accident, a baby dying?
This is for all the parents that sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the parents who wanted to but just couldn't.
This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then reading it again. "Just one more time."
This is for all the parents who mess up. Who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired two-year old who wants ice cream before dinner.
This is for all the parents who taught their kids to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the parents who opted for Velcro instead.
For all the parents who bite their lips -- sometimes until they bleed -- when their 14-year-olds dye their hair green. Who lock themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop.
This is for all the parents who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their clothes and diapers in their briefcases. This is for all the parents who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.
This is for all parents whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls "Mom? Dad? " in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home.
This is for parents who put pinwheels and teddy bears on children's graves.
This is for parents whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.
This is for all the parents who sent their kids to school with stomachaches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse and hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.
This is for young parents stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature parents learning to let go. For working parents and stay-at-home parents. Single parents and married parents. Parents with money, parents without.
We lift you all in prayer. God bless you.
