This post is part of a series for expecting parents. To see the full series, go here: Expecting Parent Reflections.
The Things of Our Hearts
Hannah was the second of two wives. The first wife had borne children, but Hannah had not. She was provoked by the first wife and in great distress. The husband loved Hannah more and poured out his love to her, but that could not take away her pain and sadness.
In life, we all carry a great pain that others cannot take away from us. There is a pain that we must carry all by ourselves.
Hannah poured out her soul to God. She asked God to look upon her misery, to remember her and to give her a child. She expressed her heart’s deepest sentiments and yearnings to God. She promised to dedicate her son to God if God granted her a child. In time, God did provide her with a son, Samuel, which means “I have asked him of the Lord.”
What are the deep sentiments, pains and yearnings of your heart?
The Spiritual Journey of Parents into Children
The spiritual journey is one of getting in touch with these deep things in our hearts, and bringing them openly and honestly to God. When we go through that journey with honesty and authenticity, that journey will flow into the life of our child.
Samuel became a great leader of Israel, the one who anointed King David, who became the most famous king of all. His life was in service to God and his nation. I believe he found his calling because of the spiritual struggle and journey his mother went through. God remembered Hannah, and Hannah in turn remembered God. That journey of faith became embedded in Samuel.
Whether you know it or not, your own pains, struggles and yearnings will affect the journey that your child takes. When we bring them to God honestly and struggle with them, that will influence our children to take on the honest journey for themselves too. Only through this journey of honest grappling with what’s in our hearts will we find our true calling in life, and so too will your child as they follow your example of going through that journey of honest grappling.
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