Families With Grace

Helping Christian moms create homes filled with grace, love & faith

Month: October 2022

Prayers for your children: Part 2

Posted on by Stacey A. Shannon

7 More prayers parents can pray for their children

Prayers for your children: Part 2

As Christian moms and dads, we have a responsibility to our children in so many ways from teaching them and caring for them to praying for them. In fact, prayers for your children is one of the most important tools you have as a parent.

While I pray daily for my children, I sometimes can get stuck in a bit of a prayer rut. I can find myself praying for my kids in the same ways or about immediate needs of theirs. However, I want to be intentional about praying for all aspects of their lives and their futures.

So, I am continuing with two weeks of prayers for my kids. And I’d love for you to join me on this journey of intentional prayers for your children. Today is part two of the prayers. Prayers for your children part 1 includes seven Bible verses and prayers just like this post does. You can pray them in any order. Combine them to end up with two weeks of intentional prayers for your children!

Why we should keep praying for our children

As we are continuing on with prayers for our children, I want to encourage you to keep going and keep praying. In my life, discouragement is one of the tools Satan uses most to get to me. Through the years, I have learned the best way to combat that is with prayer. I talk to God when I’m feeling discouraged about what I’m doing and whether it’s even worth it. I’m honest with Him and ask for help, wisdom and discernment.

And sometimes we can even feel discouraged in our prayer lives. I have prayed for situations and people so many times and am not able to see God at work. Yet, through faith and what His Word tells me, I know He is working even when I cannot see. So I mustn’t give up and neither should you!

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Colossians 4:2 (NIV)

The Bible constantly reminds us to pray without stopping. As we continue on with intentional prayers for our children this week, may we devote ourselves to prayer, be watchful and be thankful that God is working all the time.

Their mental health

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

God, I ask that you be at work in my children’s minds. Lord, help them with their mental health. Cast out any anxiety, fear and self-doubt they have. Replace it with goodness and strength that comes from you. Fill my children with your peace and calmness so they may live fully in your power and love. Protect them from any influence that brings harm to their mental wellbeing. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Their relationship with God

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5 (NIV)

Father, be with my children. Open their hearts and minds fully to you. If they do not know you as personal savior, help them to come to know you as personal savior. And if they do know you, Lord, strengthen and deepen their faith. Help them to stay connected to you in spite of all they have going on and the temptations in the world. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Their relationship with siblings

“Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.”

1 John 2:10 (NIV)

God, grow my children’s relationships with one another. Help them to love each other and treat each other with kindness. Give them grace and compassion for one another. Build their relationship with each other so that they may be friends as well as siblings. Lord, keep hard feelings from growing and festering among them. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Their relationship with parents

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
   and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
They are a garland to grace your head
    and a chain to adorn your neck.”

Proverbs 1:8-9 (NIV)

Father, I ask that you help my children to have a good relationship with my spouse and me. Lord, give us wisdom as we parent them to be the kind of parents they need to raise them according to your will and plan for their lives. Help both our children and us to show grace, love and compassion to one another. Keep us close as they grow. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Their physical health

“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”

3 John 1:2 (NIV)

God, please be with my children physically. Meet their physical needs and help them to remain healthy in every way. Lord, let their bones continue to grow strong and their bodies function well. Help them to enjoy good health. And if they do have health struggles, Father, help us to turn to you and remember that you are always in control and always good. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

A prayer for your children's safety: Father, protect my children. Keep them safe when they are with me and safe when they are without me. Put a hedge of protection around them to protect them from the evil one and his schemes. Keep them safe in every way, everywhere they are. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Their safety

“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV)

Father, protect my children. Keep them safe when they are with me and safe when they are without me. Put a hedge of protection around them to protect them from the evil one and his schemes. Keep them safe in every way, everywhere they are. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Their future

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

God, give my children wisdom and discernment as they grow and decide the path for their lives. Help them to seek and find your will and plan for them. Lord, renew and refresh their minds so they can be open to what you have for them. Open and close the right doors for them according to your will and plan. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Find prayer cards with these prayers for your children on Etsy

Why breastfeeding in private works best for me

Posted on by Stacey A. Shannon

How privately breastfeeding my children is the right choice for us

I wrote these words originally back in April of 2013 when my youngest was a couple of months old and my oldest was 3. This is part of my story of breastfeeding and what worked best for my children and me.

Sometimes I read something that really irks me. This was the case last week when I came across a link to an article titled “If you don’t support breastfeeding in public, you don’t support breastfeeding” on Huffington Post. It made me roll my eyes. And it made my blood pressure rise a notch or two.  Let me explain.

First, I’m proud that nursing is working for my son and me. I had to exclusively pump milk for my now 3-year-old and that left me with many mixed emotions. Forming a working nursing relationship with my son has been precious to me, even during the times when I’m exhausted and seriously doubting my decision to nurse. (I’d wager every nursing mother has had those moments and powered through them.)

Why breastfeeding in private works best for me

However, I don’t feel like I have to nurse my son in front of everyone to be proud that nursing is working for us. It’s our own private journey we’ve taken together. Sure, at home I nurse him in front of my 3-year-old and my husband. I’ve nursed discreetly a couple of times in front of my mom, but that’s where I draw the line. If anyone else is at our house I go to another room with the door closed.

The main reason I breastfeed in private has to do with myself.

Here’s the important message why: I do this for my own comfort. My OWN comfort. I think my extended family would be supportive should I stay near them and nurse my son. However, I’m not comfortable that way, even with a nursing cover. For now, at just over two months in, I find the nursing cover almost creates more trouble than help. I still need to see him and what he’s doing. I would be too uncomfortable to nurse sans cover in front of others for my own modesty reasons and just plain comfort. (Just so you know, my own modesty includes not showing my breasts, cleavage or even bare belly.) And so, my boy and I head off on our own during feeding times.

Not everyone needs to be part of my breastfeeding journey.

Second, random strangers are not invited to be part of my breastfeeding experience. I long ago had to get over the judging looks I’d sometimes get in public when I gave my daughter a bottle. At first I wanted to scream at those people that I was giving her breastmilk. I wanted to scream even louder that they should mind their own business and just be happy I’m feeding my child. Please know that I have no problem with formula-feeding moms. We all do what is best for our babies. Keeping them fed is most important no matter how we do it. I worked through those feelings last time and I refuse to let them they creep up this time. My choice is to either nurse in the car, which I’ve done a couple of times, or to pump and take milk with me.

And I know that pumping and taking a bottle gets some moms in a tizzy. They decry the torture of the breast pump. As someone who has logged hours upon hours upon hours upon hours hooked to a breast pump, I can say I’ve never found it torturous. In fact, the pump has been kinder to me than my baby. It never turns its head away while still attached to me. It never gets mad and bites down. My breast pump just stays attached and keeps a steady rhythm.

They also decry supply issues. These are the same kind of women who would say that you can’t build and maintain a milk supply with a breast pump. They irritated me last time around, too. I have the proof that’s possible since my daughter got breast milk from me via a pump and bottle for her entire first year and just beyond. Yes. It can be done.

I know that right now my milk supply isn’t completely established, so I have to be careful. Supply is established at 12 weeks; I’ll hit 10 weeks tomorrow. I know these things even more so based on my previous experience. Because of that, I’m careful about pumping and making sure that if I miss a feeding from the tap with my little man that I’m pumping enough around that feeding time so my supply doesn’t suffer.

Just last week, for example, my husband and I had a chance to go to dinner and a movie. I took my pump along with the car adapter. We parked behind the movie theater so I could pump before we went in since my son was getting a bottle at home from my mom. This time around I’ve pumped extra milk to have a bit of a stash built up. So I’d daresay that pumping has actually helped me build and increase my supply in conjunction with nursing. And it gives me a bit of a cushion to know I have milk for my son in case something happens and we need it in a pinch.

My baby drinks faster from a bottle.

The other benefit to giving my son a bottle is that feeding him goes faster. He takes a bottle in 10 minutes. With nursing, he takes twice that or more by taking at least 10 minutes per side. Having 20 minutes to sit anywhere in public is often a challenge. So, I’m more comfortable with a bottle. Thus far he’s had a bottle at church, two restaurants and two doctor’s appointments. He’s not minded. He’s had a chance to actually get his fill before we had to switch activities, and I’ve pumped within an hour at most of each of these bottles. We’re both happier.

Most importantly, this makes me most comfortable and at ease so it benefits my baby the most. We’re both more relaxed.  I know how I’d feel nursing in public. The thought of it makes me feel antsy. That’s never a good feeling to associate with nursing. And it’s sure not helpful to my son who picks up on my emotions and reacts to them.

I don’t owe it to society to breastfeed in public. It’s not going to further advance breastfeeding. I only owe it to my baby to make sure he’s fed. And I will choose to do that in a way that feels most comfortable to me.

Breastfeeding in public doesn’t change anyone’s mind.

To say that I don’t support breastfeeding because I don’t nurse in public is offensive and downright incorrect. I have proven that I support breastfeeding by tying myself to a pump for a year to make sure my daughter got breastmilk. I have proven it by allowing my son to latch on and use my breasts for sustenance when, quite frankly, sometimes I’d rather be doing something else — like sleeping. It’s not about me, though. It’s about my children getting breastmilk. I’m happy to provide that for them.

What I support most is feeding babies however works best and is most comfortable for them and their mommies. For some that’s with formula. For some it’s with pumped milk through a bottle. Others nurse directly at the breast. Still others use a combination of methods. For me, I am most comfortable giving a bottle in public or going to the car. If a nursing mama is comfortable nursing in public, she should go for it. I don’t have an issue with anyone else nursing in public. I just know that it’s not for me and I don’t feel I should be chastised for that.

And I am not keeping nursing on the back burner by not nursing in public. Seeing me nurse in the middle of the mall is not going to change anyone’s mind about breastfeeding just as seeing political posts on my Facebook News Feed is not going to change my mind about my own political views. I don’t owe it to society to nurse in public. It’s not going to further advance breastfeeding. I only owe it to my baby to make sure he’s fed. And I will choose to do that in a way that feels most comfortable to me.