I imagine talking to my unborn children. It’s something I’ve done probably since I was a teenager. I catch myself doing it constantly now; when I’m driving, when I’m watching my husband lead worship, after my time with the Lord, when I see a devastating story on the news, after I counsel a woman considering abortion, when I’m writing children’s devotionals for work.
The conversations stem from questions like, “How will I tell them how special they are in a new way every single day? How will I explain evils in the world? What will the conversation look like when I get to tell them the story of how Matt and I picked their names? What will I say when they ask me why their brothers or sisters didn’t come from my tummy? What will I sing to them before bed?” All these conversations and more play out in my head almost every day.
I’m not insane, I’m totally in love.
God has fashioned my heart to love children and to inquire about loving them better. He is establishing me as a woman who longs for children in a western world that considers more children an inconvenience, or worse, unwanted.
I’ve been keeping a list of some of the answers born from these dreamed conversations. As I’ve been writing them out, I realized something amazing; all the answers are in forms of a blessing! Usually when we think of “a blessing” we focus on what we receive. All through the Old Testament the focus was not only on the blessing of the blessed but the character of the one who gave it, and the intimacy of that revelation through the blessing.
When God blesses, He reveals who He is and who He says we are. Because we know our Father, we know who we are. Because we know the blessings He has spoken over us, we know how we are to live. Here are a few of the blessings Matt and I can’t wait to speak over our children:
Things To Tell Our Children
What are you first and foremost? God’s child.
What are you second? A Brumfield.
What are our Brumfield family mottos?
“I meant what I said and I said what I meant. A Brumfield is faithful one hundred percent.”
“Brumfield’s don’t quit. They lean on Christ.”
Every day before they go to school we tell them:
“Love God. Love People. Do your best. Be a difference maker!”
The day Elloise asks me about abortion:
“There is terrible evil in the world, but Christ has overcome it all. The good news, Elloise, is that Jesus has placed you here to bring His healing to broken people and His freedom to the ones who can’t speak up for themselves. That’s why Daddy and I gave you your name. You will fight for these babies in prayer because you are a girl ready for this battle. And your middle name is Justice for what He is bringing through you for His glory.”
These are just a handful of the blessings the Lord has taught me to speak over my children. Wanting children for so long has created this ache in my heart that causes me to value my children as gifts and the moments spent teaching them a treasure. I can’t wait to teach them about who they are and the victory God already achieved for us. God has shown me that sharing and instilling these blessings will prepare and shield them from the curses and arrows that will come from the world.
I take this same principle in prayer when I go to the abortion centers. I pray blessings over the pregnant women walking inside, I ask God to bless the men with revelation and leadership. I pray blessings of life and strength over the unborn children in their mothers wombs. Sometimes I quietly sing a song of God’s promises. I pray for an atmosphere of God’s Spirit over the neighborhoods that contain the abortion centers. I ask God, “How can I speak more blessings over them today? How can I call out who they are?”
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
Blessings trump curses. Every time. Do you want to get rid of the junky mess in your city? Release the blessings of the Lord.
I take this principle into the crisis pregnancy center where I counsel. I begin to speak blessing into the life of a woman who was considering taking the life of her unborn child. Most importantly, I spoke into her heart that her life has a great purpose. I believe through that disclosure God will show her the purpose of her unborn child. Blessings are a game changer, God created them that way. He withholds no good thing from those who love Him. Everything He has given to us who love Him, we can freely give to others.
My love for my unborn children (of my womb and of other’s) has taught me how to make God’s corporate blessings personal. He is a personal God, so He wants us to release blessings in a personal way. He has taken all of us in as His children, and He wants us to do the same for others. It’s in the dreamed conversations with my unborn that God teaches me how to love His people and to release blessings over them like I dream of releasing over my unborn children. Here is a truly worthy task for mothers and fathers (and spiritual mothers and fathers) of this generation: Lay hold of His blessings and speak them over the world. They are all God’s children- found and lost.
LifeNews Note: Natalie Brumfield works as a curriculum writer and volunteer coordinator for the children’s ministry at her local church in Birmingham, Alabama. She’s on the leadership team for the Birmingham Prayer Furnace as a prayer leader and serves as a weekly counselor for Sav-A-Life, a local pregnancy test center. Reprinted with permission from Bound4Life.
