A beautiful reflection on our eventual sons- and daughters-in-law, by Denise McGonigal.

When my (young) adult children were still toddling around and just beginning school, a friend introduced me to the book, The Power of a Praying Parent, by Stormie Omartian.  What a gem that book is!  Among the insightful prayer petitions Omartian suggests, the one she explores in Chapter 25, “Finding the Perfect Mate,” spoke to my “mother heart.”

Who might be the lucky men who would marry our four daughters?  My wonderings were endless.  What did they look like? Who were their families? Where were they growing up?  And what choices were they making that would lead them, ultimately, to meet Erin, Caitlin, Meghan and Molly?

Omartian’s advice struck a chord in me: Begin praying for the future spouse of your child very early in his or her life.  Although we did not and could not yet know his identity, each of these four young men was already, in some eternal, cosmic way, becoming woven into the fabric of our family.

Do you pray for the yet-to-be revealed future spouse of your child?  At this very moment he or she is establishing patterns, forming values, developing opinions and making choices that will matter to a future life shared with your child.  And there’s also the real possibility that no one else is praying for him or her right now.

Joe and I have been blessed with three sons-in-law who are better than we could have ever come up with, had we hand-picked them ourselves. And when each of those young men made that fateful call to Joe, to ask for our daughter’s hand, my heart sighed with both peace and assurance: “Ah!  So you’re the one I’ve been praying for all these years! Welcome to the family who wove you into our hopes and hearts long before we ever met.”