The DIVA Zone Magazine - May 2025 Issue | Page 36

What happens when your children depart? They have linked arms with a lying world.

Give up? Absolutely not.

The Best Place

“ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it”. Prov. 22:6
I think of Hannah. How she prayed and sought God’ s face for a child. He answered and blessed her with Samuel. She dedicated him wholly to the Lord; when she finished weaning him, she physically left him at the house of the Lord in Shiloh. Samuel was dedicated not only in word- but in action- to the Lord.
B y: S a n d r a O M S h e a r n
I have one son and one daughter. now.
They are young adults
I raised them as a single mother for most of their lives, and how I loved on them!
Their father and I parted ways when they were 6 and 8. I was mother and father to them and did what I thought was best. He was always given access to his children, but he stopped communicating with them shortly after the divorce became final. He had a new family, and he felt that my children would be just fine, as they
“ had me, and I am a strong woman”.
At the age of 14, my daughter came out as transgender. I pitched a fit. I told her under no circumstances was I going to accept her lifestyle, but that I loved her deeply and immensely. I spent the next 4 years trying to find godly counseling to get my baby back. And I prayed. She decided to start dressing as a boy. I prayed.
Hannah loved her baby Samuel with all that she had, and yet, she gave him up to serve the Lord. I can picture Hannah at the house of the Lord, leaving her child there, dedicated to serve Him. How she must have wept to have had to leave him, but how joyful knowing that this was the best place for him to be.
My son got his love of reading from me. Every night, I would read them a bedtime story. I would do the funny voiceovers of each character. Sometimes, I would do it“ too good, as they wanted me to read one book after another.
My daughter is an amazing artist. I love to draw, but her imagination, skills, and artistry truly amaze and blow me out of the water!
I protected my children with all that I had. I took them everywhere I went. We were like three peas in a pod.
I also took them to church multiple times a week, as I served in any area I felt the Lord lead. They knew the Word and had daily devotions on their own. Was I perfect? Far from it! God knows I tried my best.
She turned 18 and wanted to start testosterone shots. I prayed.
Lord, how did this happen? How do these children go from worshipping and praising You to this?
She struggled with her identity and still struggles. She currently does not desire a relationship with me because I have not affirmed her lifestyle. And so, I pray.
I can imagine and relate to Hannah, how fervently she must have prayed for her baby! How it must have hurt her to her core to see the other wife of Elkanah,( her husband), bear child after child, while she remained childless.
It took me a long time to leave my children at the altar. I thought if I did what they wanted, if I compromised and looked the other way, they would love me and still want a relationship with me. The opposite happened.
It was only when I took that step and laid them at the altar that I felt His hand take the blinders off of me. I continue to pray –
“ Father, these children belong to You. I have dedicated them to You from the beginning”.
I know that His altar is the best place for them to be.
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