Prayers of Healing
It was a while before I could begin to tell people about how I became a single mom, and share my full testimony. My son has never met his dad. I’m not sure that I will ever know the reasoning behind the decisions he made, and it does leave a lot of unanswered questions that allow my mind to wander.
Charlie has developed some incredible friendships since he has started school, and I am so grateful that he makes friends so easy. So often someone will ask Charlie where his daddy is. I start to tense up, feel anxious and quickly want to divert the conversation, but I know that I cannot protect Charlie from everything. Most of the time he responds with its just mommy and me.
One night as I was tucking Charlie into bed, he asked me why his daddy wasn’t there. I sat on that bed trying to keep the tears inside. The intensity of the moment brought me closer and closer to reality that Charlie was living with every single day. He is a little boy growing up without his daddy. Then I did the only thing that I knew to do. I prayed.
In my experience with Charlie I have learned that children grieve differently than adults. Adults are more experienced with disappointment and grief, and have experienced the emotions that go with this. As adults we have more maturity for learning ways to move on from traumatic experiences that we may have faced. While children, they cannot fully understand the loss they are experiencing. They may feel guilty. They may worry entirely too much about the situation. They sometimes, may even blame themselves. I have seen a lot of emotion in Charlie over the past year, and he doesn’t fully understand how to express them sometimes. It is a learning process for both him and I.
So how have I been dealing with this? Here are some things that I do to increase healing in Charlie.
Speak truth into their lives: Dig into God’s word with your children and share his promises. Let them know they are loved by our heavenly father.
Be informative: Let them know how many people love and support them. Grandparents, uncles, and aunts, teachers, Sunday school teachers, church members. Let them know they are loved by many.
Express your blessings: Tell them that you are blessed to be their mother. Tell them all the things you love about them.
Squash negative thinking: Be sure that you are not reinforcing any negative talk from them, especially if it is reflective on how they view themselves.
PRAY- Pray for your children. Pray with them, and let them see you praying. Pray scriptures over their lives. Make prayer a priority in their lives.
