Daniel 2:19-23 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said:

Nick Vujicic

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

Praying for my boys

This morning, I attended my weekly moms prayer group. We get together and pray for our children and their school. Today’s topic of praise to God and prayer for the Children was God as a Revealer. My boys are in middle school, and they’re amazing. They’re super smart, kind and good-looking (I know it hardly counts, cause I’m their mamma!). But I don’t know if they understand the amazing gifts God has given them.

We can’t be perfect

I have often tried to be perfect. Actually that’s probably not totally accurate. I think I actually avoided being imperfect. What’s the difference? The difference is that if you’re going to make a mistake, or there’s even a chance, you don’t take that chance. When I was in high school and college, I got decent grades. I had mostly B’s with a couple of C’s and a few A’s thrown in. Not bad. Exactly not bad, but I could have done really well. I could have…studied. But I was afraid that if I did more than the minimum, the secret that I wasn’t perfect would get out. Other people might realize that I didn’t know everything before I came in the class. Sadly I believe I have passed down that trait to my boys.

I didn’t feel like doing it

Last week my son and I were going over his assignments online, and I noticed he had an F – in our house an F stands for mom FREAKING out! My son explained that he had forgotten to turn in some of the work. Then I noticed 3 Warm up exercises that had zeros as well. I asked him what happened there (knowing they do these in class). He simply said, “I didn’t feel like doing it.” WHAT!!! I don’t know where he got the idea school work was optional, but we’re working hard to nip that one in the bud. I’m afraid that it may stem from that perfectionist attitude. Afraid to fail? Don’t Try.

Attitude is Altitude

So as part of the consequences of having this bad grade, my son and I spent some time together reading a book I love called “Pivot“. I may have mentioned it before. We read the first chapter together, and started talking about how a small change in our attitude can really help us do better in life. As we were pondering the idea that successful people have a positive attitude as a character trait, my son pontificates that even if he had his legs amputated below the knee, he thought he would be able to go on and make something of himself. I immediately thought of Nick Vujicic. If you’ve never heard of Nick, please take a minute to watch this video. You’ll be amazed, possible motivated and I’m sure moved.

We are not limited by our circumstances

Though we are not limited by our circumstances, I think it is important that we pray to God – the Great Revealer to help us to see our way through the hard times, so that we might persevere. Push through and use the gifts the Lord has given us for His good. I watched that video of Nick with my boys, and they were inspired. My son with the bad grade has been working hard, and encouraged our family to see if we could find people on tv and in the news who had positive attitudes. We can also look to our Bibles. Jesus, kept his eyes firmly fixed on His Father in heaven, and though frustrated, tired, and beaten was able to see things through to the end. When He made it so we don’t have to be perfectionists, because He was. He makes us look perfect in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. So now we’re free to have a positive attitude, move beyond mistakes, using them as learning opportunities. I pray that the Lord will Reveal to you this day what you’re called to do, and that you will have a positive attitude toward it and keep your eyes on our Lord and Savior. Then jump in and see where the one with all the wisdom and knowledge of the world will take you.

This is the prayer I prayed for my son today. Who will you pray it for?

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, give (Insert name here) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that he/she may know You better. From Ephesians 1:17