a praying mama: update
December 7, 2009 | Knowing Christ, Nurturing Family
My feet are sore. That’s what happens when a 50-year-old wearing high-heeled boots dances the night away. I wasn’t just dancing with my feet. I was dancing inside.
A few weeks ago I shared an interview with my friend, Mickey. Her son, Austin, got involved with meth around the age of 20 and he sank deep into addiction and eventually robbed his own parents. Mickey gathered other moms together and began to pray every Tuesday night. The group eventually became known as Moms of Prodigals. It refers to the Bible story of the son who lost his way, and was welcomed back to his father’s home and love.
She fought when it appeared there was nothing that could be done. She fought when people who loved her like crazy didn’t know what to say to comfort her. She fought when people said things like “just have faith” when her whole life was wrapped around faith. Taking one second, one minute, one hour at a time.
It was spiritual warfare — a term we don’t talk about much in circles like these because it can be misunderstood or taken out of context, but what I saw was a mom who was willing to pray, and then pray some more for a few years, in spite of what she saw or felt or experienced. It was a complete act of trust.
Hundreds of you responded that day, many sharing your own stories. I’d love to share this update with you.
Last night Austin stood on the platform as his bride, Alyson, walked down the aisle. She was beautiful. Austin was smiling so big it didn’t seem possible to keep it up, but he did.
Mickey sat on the front row, her smile just as large as Austin’s.
He’s been clean for three years now. He’s returned to the person she believed he could be –who he was. It wasn’t an easy process, and there was a lot of heartache along the way. But in the end Austin and God had an encounter and God welcomed his prodigal son back into his arms.
So I was dancing to the cool music. Retro. Funky wedding music. Even a conga line (congo? conga?). But I was dancing on the inside for my friend, Mickey.
Her son had come home, and now she had not only a man of God, but a beautiful new daughter-in-law who loves God, and Austin like crazy.
At the end of the service, when it was time to kiss the bride, Alyson threw one fist in the air, pumping it as she turned to kiss her new husband.
Joy, joy, and more joy.
I just love happy endings.
Maybe you are a mom whose son or daughter is making destructive choices, and you just don’t know what to do. Let me — us — pray with you today.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
The URI to TrackBack this entry is:
http://www.tsuzanneeller.com/2009/12/07/a-praying-mama-2/trackback/
i really like your blog and website i think it s great you pray for people is it a group of you that pray any ways pray for me to find my way back to jesus
thank you bella
December 8th, 2009 at 2:34 pmBeautiful post, Suzie.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:10 pmThank you for sharing! this is a wonderful and encouraging story
December 9th, 2009 at 1:30 pmThank you for continuing to publish this on your website. I still visit the site and read it and re-read it.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:08 pmIt’s like a roller-coaster. There are weeks at our house when things seem normal and I don’t worry as much. Then I start to see the bad choices pop up again. I often think of Abraham and his trust in God. I’m not sure if my son is lying to me or not, but I trust that God knows and will take it up with my son for me. I’m leaving it all up to Him.
Please pray for him for me. I want to see him as happy as Austin and on the right path!