Raising three boys.  I am BLOWN away at this task that God has given us.  I never could have even imagined the beautiful blessings that I receive daily from these three little men.

So daily I try to remember to pray.  No, I’ll admit it,  I am not always great at remembering, so when I do remember I pray HARD.  TRUST ME…oh so HARD!

For these three young men I EXCLAIM these HUGE proclamations:

Lord make them confident.  So confident in Your word, Your love, Your grace so that no one can break their foundation.

Lord make them courageous.  So courageous they want to fight for all they love and for all they believe in.  No matter the cost.

Lord make them compassionate.  So compassionate no one can deny their love of You…compassion that will flow all over they come in contact with so that none can deny their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Lord help them die to self.  Help them learn and daily walk in service to others.  Make them selfless and generous.  So generous that they have to ask God for their next portion and provision.

Lord give them such a thirst for you that nothing else can satisfy.  Make them men that desire and cling to Your word…men so content in friendships and community that no woman in their life will feel used, mislead or hurt.

Lord help them always try their hardest, to the best of their ability…and in that proclaim Your gifting in their bodies.

Make them wise.  Wise in Your word, wise in decisions, wise in relationships, I exclaim that wisdom will pour from their souls.

Big words.  Yes, I do pray HARD for these things.  I know that God will help us raise up mighty men.  I KNOW.

I know this because  all these things I proclaimed above I see in their daddy.

An amazing example of a man who does all of the things above to the best of his ability. He loves 100%.  He gives all he can give 100%.  He rarely complains. He never boasts.  He is so generous.  He is so compassionate.  He is so wise.  He always puts the needs of everyone else above himself.  He daily dies to self.  Daily!

Does he fail?  Yes, he does.  But does he try his hardest?  Always.

Will our boys fail?  Yes.  Will they mess up in these things?  Yes.  Does God have these three in the palm of His hand?  Yes.  This I am certain.  This I have confidence in.  This will be their only saving grace in being able to even come close to being any of the things mentioned above.  Am I asking too much?  No.  I know that this world hurts for men of all of these things.  I know that men exampling all of these things exist.  You can read about them in the bible.  You can meet them around you now.  Unfortunately you have to really search.  Why is that?  Why don’t we as mom’s exclaim these things boldly in our babies?  I hesitated in even posting this post out of fear.  Fear of people thinking I’m crazy.  Fear of man and the thoughts of those of you reading think I am being too proud.  Fear of boasting for man and not proclaiming these things out of glorifying The Lord.

Yup, this is my total distrust.  Total lack of faith.  How am I to raise up men of God who bleed these things from their pores if I am not a mom who proclaims these things in them?  So this post is for you Jake, Brock and Holt.  I have been singing these things over your bed at night, but now I show them to the world and claim these things in you.  I am so blessed in watching God mold me into the mom that you need to have these character traits in you.  You have no idea how blessed you are to have the daddy you have.  Thank you for following us.  Thank you for making us want to be a better man and woman.  Thank you for holding us to a standard.  Thank you for forgiving us when we mess up and then allowing us to show you how to walk in grace and carry out.  Thank you for every day forcing us to rely on God and His perfect plan for all of our lives.

And…now I ask you:

What do you call out in your kiddos?

Call it out loud.  Then proclaim it in them.  As much as you can.  Why do we keep quite and why is it so hard to be emotionally invested in our children?  I challenge you mom’s AND dad’s tell your children what you see God has put in them…let them know how special they are in His eyes, the Godly gifting’s He gave them, then let’s continue to show them examples of this in our own lives.  Isn’t that the WHOLE point to parenting in the first place?

WOW.  That was a hard one to write.

Thank you Brooke Schwab Photography for the beautiful images of my incredible boys!!