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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

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March 5, 2012

Praying for your kids…a Simply Sunday Series

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My kids have been playing together a lot more lately.
Not in a begrudging, “Mom is making us do this” kind of way.
But in a, “Hey, I’ve finally realized just how much fun we could have together” kind of way.
Now, you may be wondering why that would be such a big deal.
Well, I’ll tell you.
I have been praying for this.
Praying that they would discover the joy of having a sibling.
Praying that their relationship would grow and flourish.
Praying that they would just have fun together!

So, for me this is a BIG deal.
It is an answer to our prayers.
And it has served as a reminder of just how very important it is to be praying for our kids.
Not only for their safety, health, happiness and well-being.
But for so much more!
You see, I truly believe that a big part of the reason why my children have been playing so well together and growing in their relationship is because not only have we prayed for that specific area, we have also been praying for very specific character traits to be developed in them.
Some might even call them “Virtues“.
In the Fall of 2010, we found ourselves squished into those teeny tiny classroom chairs when we attended parent orientation at my son’s school. He was going into the first grade and we knew this was the beginning of a big change since he would be away from home all day long. My heart almost couldn’t bear it!
But knowing the love that his teachers (they job-shared) had for those kids was a huge comfort.
And then one of them handed all the parents a pamphlet entitled:
31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids

She said that she firmly believed in the power of praying for our children and that she hoped this would be a tool for us to use as we prayed for our kiddos.
She also said that she would be praying daily for each and every one of them.
Oh, how I love this school!

We took that little pamphlet and put it in our bathroom where we would see it every morning and say a quick prayer for our kids in one of the areas listed.

As part of the Praying for your Kids series, every Sunday in the month of March we will be providing you a week’s worth of Virtues to pray for your kids with accompanying scripture.

And, we are so thrilled to have some fantastic guests lined up who will share how the power of prayer has impacted their own families.

We hope and pray that this will be an encouragement to you as you navigate the challenging waters of parenting. Isn’t it so wonderful to know that we can look to God’s word for guidance and wisdom?
We are so grateful to not have to go it alone!

So, now let me share with you this week’s Virtues to be praying for your kids.


Week One
Sunday~Salvation: “Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory” (Is. 45:8, 2 Tim. 2:10)
Monday~Growth in grace: “I pray that my children may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18)
Tuesday~Love: “Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to live a life of love, through the Spirit who dwells in them” (Gal 5:25, Eph. 5:2)
Wednesday~Honesty and Integrity: “May integrity and honesty by their virtue and their protection” 
(Ps. 25:21)
Thursday~Self-Control: “Father, help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be alert and self-controlled in all they do” (1 Thess. 5:6)
Friday~Love for God’s Word: “May my children grow to find Your Word more precious than much pure gold and sweeter than honey from the comb” (Ps. 19:10)
Saturday~Justice: “God, help my children to love justice as You do and act justly in all they do” (Ps. 11:7, Mic. 6:8)

Be sure to come back next week when we will have the next set of Virtues AND a special guest sharing from their own experience in praying for their kids!
Thanks so much for joining me for this Simply Sunday at the Fence,

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18 Comments Filed Under: Devotionals, Praying for your Kids, Simply Sundays

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Comments

  1. marty (A Stroll Thru Life) says

    March 4, 2012 at 3:09 PM

    Oh this is so important and it never ends. It is so special that you are raising your children to love the Lord and showing them by your example. Hugs, Marty

    Reply
  2. ℳartina @ Northern Nesting says

    March 4, 2012 at 3:23 PM

    What a beautiful way to start the day Vanessa. Thank you for sharing this with us, I look forward to the next set of Virtues!

    Reply
  3. Tanya@takesix says

    March 4, 2012 at 3:25 PM

    Amen Vanessa!!! Thank you for this important reminder!

    Reply
  4. NanaDiana says

    March 4, 2012 at 4:35 PM

    Vanessa- I agree with this so fully. There is nothing more important for a parent to do than to pray over/for their children. When my kids got older and were going out with friends/dating I would always pray that they would be hedged by angels and I always felt some comfort in that act. They all endured the teenage years without a lot of distress. (well, except for having a crazy Mom that insisted their room be clean before they did anything with friends!;>) xo Diana

    Reply
  5. Susan (My Place to Yours) says

    March 4, 2012 at 7:29 PM

    What a wonderful series, ladies! There is no greater gift we can give our children and grandchildren (or the neighbor’s children) than to pray for them, asking God to draw them to Him. How perfect that Day One is salvation.

    Reply
  6. Caneel says

    March 4, 2012 at 9:17 PM

    Beautiful post – thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Ramblings of a Southern Girl ~ Rhonda G says

    March 4, 2012 at 9:55 PM

    Great post! I believe in the power of praying for our children! I truly believe it was the founding and foremost reason my daughter got into the college she has, and that we are provided the funds to pay for it! Giving Him all the glory! I can’t wait to read the rest of this series and the scriptures accompanying! Thanks so much for sharing this series! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Good Time Charlie says

    March 4, 2012 at 11:01 PM

    So beautiful. I have a firm faith in the importance of praying for our children. I pray for each of my children for different things, but your prayer was so important, and was heard because it brought more love and more harmony to your home. The relationship we forge in our homes and with our siblings shapes us to how we will be as adults. You are doing a great job of making some future amazing adults!

    Reply
  9. Kim | At Home With Kim says

    March 4, 2012 at 3:48 PM

    LOVE this idea! And will be praying these virtues over my children. I will look so forward to all the future posts.

    Reply
  10. Becca says

    March 4, 2012 at 11:56 PM

    Thank you. I am sharing this with a couple of my good girlfriends so we can pray for our grandchildren.

    Reply
  11. Dayle Allen Shockley says

    March 5, 2012 at 12:59 AM

    There’s nothing more important we can do for our children than to pray for them, even when they’re grown, as mine is. I’m so thankful to have praying parents who still pray for me every day.

    Reply
  12. All Things Chic 2 says

    March 5, 2012 at 1:30 AM

    Hi , what an answer to prayer finding your blog has been…Praying for my children is something I do not do enough of…Thanks…I invite you to visit my blog as well…Blessings Lori…Your newest follower!!!

    Reply
  13. Eilis says

    March 5, 2012 at 1:49 AM

    One of the amazing things about watching my “kids” (22,22, and 17)get older has been seeing them really become friends. Now that they have their own lives, they appreciate each other so much more. They actually see the wonderful people that their siblings are growing into. I love that. (It was almost worth all the years of sibling rivalry….)
    Eilis
    my-heart-lives-here

    Reply
  14. Kristin says

    March 5, 2012 at 2:29 AM

    So good.
    So true.
    The power of prayer IS amazing!
    Can’t wait until next week!
    XO

    Reply
  15. Janet says

    March 5, 2012 at 3:42 AM

    Sounds like an awesome private Christian school. If a teacher in a public school did that (at least here in CT) she’d be fired! My son has autism and was in therapeutic day schools that helped tremendously (as did my church family prayers), my daughter went to public until high school. She was so abused, not just bullied, by peers, she was severely depressed. Private Christian high school that was only affordable by God’s grace (we sweated paying pre-school!)was SO different. If you’d like a guest post for a Sunday, email me? SO happy for you all. Janet craftythriftydecoratingwifemom.wordpress.com

    Reply
  16. Christy says

    March 5, 2012 at 5:32 AM

    Oh how I love this!! This came and the right time for our household. Thank you!!

    Reply
  17. Mr. Smith@TheSmithGarage says

    March 4, 2012 at 11:55 PM

    Great post – thanks for inspiring on Sunday.

    Reply
  18. melissa@joyineveryseason says

    March 8, 2012 at 6:15 AM

    I’m praying for my four children from a prayer notebook I made ten years ago … it’s beyond wonderful to see how God has answered so many of the prayers I prayed for them when they were just little guys. I love these virtues & their corresponding Bible verses … I’ll be adding them to my prayer book. Thank you so much!

    Reply

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Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to sha Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to share all of the details of our family room shelving makeover but I’m super impatient and just had to give you all a sneak peek!! We are SO happy with how they turned out and it finally looks like I’ve always envisioned. Our quick fix years ago (scroll to see the before photo) never felt quite right but now? Soooo much better!! 🙌🏻 Big shoutout to our amazingly talented friend Matt @redemptive_woodworx for bringing our vision to life and doing such impeccable work.

I hope you all have a great start to the 4th of July weekend and make sure to check my stories later for Friday Funnies!
The month of June is coming to a close and it has The month of June is coming to a close and it has been JAM packed! The highlight by far though was my son's graduation from high school. When I started blogging, he was only 6 years old and some of you have been apart of my community here for that entire time. Now, he's 19 and there is a reason parents are told not to blink because the years truly do go faster than I ever could have imagined. He has become such an incredible young man we are so excited to see how God is going to unfold the next chapter of his life. We celebrated with parties galore (SO many open houses to attend!) and made memories we'll forever cherish. My mama heart was filled to bursting with the joy of it all! Now we're taking some time to just enjoy these warm, summer days making even more memories because, when you’re at this stage of parenting, you know all too well how much you need to grasp every opportunity to spend time together.

I hope your summer is off to a great start too dear friends! 🪴
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts o “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Happy first day of summer dear friends!! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted something new here but life has been crazy. I’ll have some new photos of house projects and life events to share with you soon but, got now, I’m just going to enjoy this gorgeous first day of summer after our ridiculously long, wet spring. ☀️
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. Th “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” (Maud Hart Lovelace) 

Welcome June!
“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”
General Douglas MacArthur

Grateful today and every day for those who were vigilant to the point of death in the preservation of our freedom. May we honor their sacrifice by being vigilant too. #memorialday
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10
This is one of my most favorite projects from my b This is one of my most favorite projects from my book Life in Season! 

Because, if heaven has a fragrance, I’m fairly certain it smells like lilacs.

I think that somewhere along the way the verse in the Bible that said, ‘heaven will smell like lilacs’ just got lost in translation. But it HAD to have been in there at some point, right?

When I bury my head in the blossoms (which I absolutely MUST do every single time I walk past them), I immediately feel a stirring in my soul.

It seems like I wait forever for my lilac tree to bloom. Every year I anxiously watch as the buds begin to form on the branches and then when the blossoms finally burst forth I begin that agonizing process of deciding the absolute perfect moment to snip them and bring them inside.

And then, after all of that waiting and watching it’s just over…done. Because, unlike heaven, lilacs don’t last for an eternity. So, making my own lilac room spray seemed like the perfect way to enjoy their fragrance long after the blossoms have faded.

Here’s how to make it! Ingredients: Water, Vodka, Lilac fragrance oil. Directions: Fill spray bottle with 50/50 ratio of water to vodka. Add 12 drops of lilac oil. Give it a shake, spray and if the scent isn’t strong enough, simply add a few more drops of lilac oil.

Once you’ve made this lilac scented room spray you will be very tempted to spray it in every room in your house. And someone may want to use it in the bathroom to cover up other less…ummmm….pleasing aromas.

But, do not, I repeat do NOT, let them.

You’ve captured the fragrance of heaven in a bottle and you wouldn’t want to go and tarnish it now would you? 😉
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I’m a MUCH better version of myself when the sun is shining! 🤪 So I’ll just be over here today plotting and planning how my husband and I can be snowbirds someday when the kids are out of the house.

If you could spend your winters (and apparently most of spring too!) in any part of the country, where would it be?
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Most recently, we let our son pick where we would travel for spring break since this is his senior year of high school and we are trying to make up for lost time. With so much of life ‘paused’ for two years, we have appreciated these moments more than ever. And, since he’ll be heading to college in the fall, we are very aware of how important it is to spend this time together while we still have a modicum of control over everyone’s schedules.

We have many years left to remodel our home but only so much time left to make memories with our children.

And, while I’m always happy to look around my home and see rooms that are updated and more reflecting of our style, it doesn’t compare to the joy I feel when I look around my home and see the people I love the most who have been shaped by the many adventures we’ve experienced together.
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