We are not automatically equipped with the ability to parent when we have our first child. We probably don’t learn how to be a really good parent until we become grandparents. Maybe that’s why my mom says, “I wasn’t a very good mother, but I am a great grandmother!”
Mom, you were a great mother as far as I am concerned, but I finally understand why you would say that. We certainly learn as we go along, don’t we?
One thing about it, though. Our relationship with the Father God should improve after we become parents. That is because we begin to understand what He has been going through with us from the beginning.
God is the most patient teacher, and I am sure it is His will for us to be the best parents on the earth. We need to learn to listen to His voice, follow His lead, and relax. Our children will be the better for it.
I have prayed more prayers for forgiveness as a parent than ever before in my life. I am positive I have asked my children to forgive me more for my mistakes in rearing them than any other human on the face of the earth!
Regularly I explain to Lil’ Harry that Mommy is learning to be a good mommy just like he is learning to be a good son. This helps him to forgive me and also makes him realize that parents aren’t perfect.
I think it’s good for children to hear their parents ask God for forgiveness. Then they can understand that all people, even parents, make mistakes. But we have an advocate with our heavenly Father. God is waiting with open arms to forgive us and take us back on His lap for a little loving time (1 John 1:9). I thank God that we have a right to run to Him at all times.
You might want to pray this prayer with me now:
Father God, thank You for loving me when I wasn’t very lovely. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins so I could be back in Your arms again. Thank You for trusting me enough to rear these precious children in the admonition of the Lord.
“Every day they are anointed in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 2:19, Ex. 28:41, 29:7). I plead the blood of Jesus over them, under them, and all around them (Heb. 10:19, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 John 1:7). I ask You, Father, in Jesus’ name, to appoint four angels around my children on every side to guard, guide, and protect them (Ps. 91:11-12; 34:7; Daniel 3:28, 6:22). I put a prayer cover over them and a wall of prayer around them (Ps. 91:4).
“All my children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be their peace and undisturbed composure (Isa. 54:13). Thank You, Father, for putting Your hand on my children and calling them into Your service (Mark 16:17, Phil. 3:14).
“In the mighty Name of Jesus! Amen! Hallelujah!”
Every day I pray this prayer. I believe God that His Word is true. It is full of power. Not one word of His Word will return void (Isa. 54:11).
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Harry and Cheryl Salem are ministers of the gospel. They are parents to sons, Harry III and Roman. Roman has married a beautiful young lady, Stephanie, and she has become their daughter-in-love. Healing and restoration have come full circle for the Salem family with the miracle birth of Roman and Stephanie’s baby girl, Mia Gabrielle. She is named for their daughter, Gabrielle Christian, who is in heaven since 1999. Their latest joy will be arriving in March 2017 with Roman and Stephanie’s second miracle baby of restoration for the Salem Family!
The Salems have seen the altars flooded with people receiving salvation, with countless re-dedications, with miraculous healings and with bodies, lives, marriages and souls being restored because of His mighty anointing!
Cheryl was crowned Miss America 1980, but tremendous adversities nearly ended that dream before it began. As a young girl, she survived a horrific car crash that cracked her back and crushed her left leg, resulting in a physical handicap and over 100 stitches in her face.
Eleven years old, poor, crippled and scarred… but a miracle, too! This was the outlook Cheryl chose, as she had been told that she might not ever walk again. But walk, she did! And she walked the runway in Atlantic City, against all odds, all because of Jesus.
Harry’s father passed away when Harry was 10 years old, leaving him with a mandate to be the man of the house, to never cry, and to take care of his mother and sisters. This challenge caused Harry to excel, but to also grow up with a cautious outlook on life.
He quickly made a name for himself in the corporate world, becoming a major executive before the age of 30, but he knew that there was more. He and Cheryl met, married and started their family, but it wasn’t until the mid-nineties that Harry had an encounter with God that changed him forever. He let go of the pain of growing up without his father and the stress of the mantle that had been placed on his shoulders at such a young age. He began to trust God – and he has never looked back.
Cheryl has recorded numerous music CDs, the latest being I Am A Worshiper. The most popular worship music she has released over the past few years are the four prophetic CDs of healing and restoration. Her prophetic flowing style on both the keyboard and vocally of the Book of Revelation and the Book of Proverbs are fast becoming the most requested music CDs! She and Harry have co-written 36 books with topics ranging from Mourning to Morning to Entering Rest – Be Still. Their book, We Who Worship, is designed to bring the reader into a deeper level of purity and intimacy with God in worship. Their marriage books Two Becoming One and Don’t Kill Each Other! Let God Do It! are great books for couples to read and are also used for couples Bible studies together.
Salem Family Ministries presents We Who Worship Gathering annually, a worship event, which includes worship, dance, art, musical theater and drama. They are walking out the Lord’s plan set before them for School of Worship, intensive training sessions, where the Salems teach, impart, and personally work with students to help them grow to the next level in their worship life and ministry.
Both Harry and Cheryl are sought-after ministers, who speak in churches and events across the nation. Harry has a heart for men, preaching and teaching on overcoming issues in life. Cheryl is a popular preacher at ladies events, encouraging women to reach their godly potential, but the focus of Salem Family Ministries is to take this unique, tag-team style of ministry into churches, two by two, to reach families for God, one by one.