Got Growth?

The following post was written by Joy Ostrom, a 1986 gradudate of Northwestern, mother of two current NWC students, and leader of our Moms In Prayer group.

 

GOT GROWTH?

As parents of college students, we have come a long way from buying glue and crayons for our children. Instead it is XL twin sheets, computers and much more. The milestone of college is such a bittersweet time as a parent. We are relinquishing more trust and control over to our students, desiring to witness growth in all areas in their life. As parents we are also experiencing our own sense of change. So many past memories, new beginnings and many unknowns can make for an anxious transition. 

I believe a strong remedy to this anxiety is purposeful and powerful prayer. 

At  Northwestern College, prayer is a daily component woven into the fabric of serving students on the college level. Earlier this year I had a conversation with a woman who handles housing assignments. When I made a request for a room change for my son,  her response was that she and her co-workers take these requests seriously and pray over each of the students, asking for help from the Lord to come up with a good combination. I told her we had been praying about it too and that over the school year we pray for each of the departments on campus— including hers. Just knowing the connection of purposeful prayer, from a concerned employee and a parent praying about the same thing, reassured trust and belief that whatever the outcome, it would be providentially provided for. The interaction strengthened my faith in the Lord. 

The Parent Relations team has been such a great encouragement and supporter of Moms in Prayer, known internationally and in many schools all over the nation. Over the past few years, the group of mothers who gather bi-weekly to purposefully and powerfully pray— for their students, for students they do not know, and for the college—has grown infectiously. Praying Scripture has trained us to trust what God says; we can believe it for us, for our students and for our college. 

Northwestern has Moms in Prayer groups that meet on or near campus twice a month and a group that meets via telephone conference for those who do not live close. Check out the Parents Resource button at nwc.edu/parents, where you can find the details. Consider this an invitation! Growth through trusting God’s Word is ultimately what we as parents want and also what we desire in our students. There is no better way to start out the year by joining the Moms in Prayer group at Northwestern College or by committing to the real and lasting growth that comes by trusting the Lord when those anxious parent moments come. 

“What do I lose when I have a praying life? Control. Independence. What do I gain? Friendship with God. A quiet heart. The living work of God in the hearts of those I love. The ability to roll back the tide of evil. Essentially I lose my kingdom and get His. I move from being an independent player to a dependent lover. I move from being an orphan to a child of God.” Paul E. Miller, The Praying Life.