Add Pray To Your Day!
Prayer for Children
One, Big, Happy
One, Big, Happy Our driveway is a lot for rental cars,our basement a campsite:blankets on couches,air mattresses, sleeping bags.Upstairs, the cacophony of catching up:Look how the kids have grown!How was the vacation?Gee, I miss Gram.Thank You for bringing us together.Thank You for gathering us safely.Thank You...
Day's Cycle
Day's Cycle Each day is a prayer.Each morning is a way of saying,"May I..." to the coming day.Each afternoon the work we dohonors the light inside us.Each evening our reflectionsare a dialogue between soul and the Greater Spirit.Each night is a thanksfor the day well endedand for the rest we receive,that...
Vlog: Mother-Daughter Love
Mother-Daughter Love
Ah, Young Love
Ah, Young Love "I was young once, too,"I tell her.But she stares at me,as if I sprang, fully-formedand middle-aged, from the head of Zeus.How can I possibly understandtrue love?So I turn to You who taught methe meaning of the word.
Where'd God Go?
Where'd God Go? A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that, if any mischief occurred in their town, their sons were probably involved. The boys' mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys.The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually. So the mother sent her 8-year-old in...
Snow White
Snow White Conscience My two year old daughter and I are both major Disney movie junkies. Anything with a tiara and poofy ball gown, and we're spell bound. The more cheesy music, the better. It's mother-daughter bonding at its most obnoxious, and I am more than willing to admit it.
Concrete Walls
Concrete Walls Her letters arrive filled with anguish,apologies, and tear-stained pages.She speaks of isolation, little sleep,cold floors, cold showers, guards that hate.She begs forgiveness for what she's done;she asks for...
Your Eye, My Peace
Your Eye, My Peace My mischievous boysalign themselves with chaos.Follow them where I cannot.Step in to protect themfrom dangers and disastrous consequences.May my words reach You.May you favor them with Your guidance.I am forever indebted to You.What can I do to make Your day?
Torment
Torment She used to come home from schoolchattering about friends and funand all the new things she had done.Now she drags herself through the door. She hangs onto me and cannot let go. Every day, their words hurt her heart and soul.Lend me Your wisdom,as I help her cope with these bullies.Lend me Your strengthwhen I call the...
Toddler's Cuddle
Toddler's Cuddle I thank You for the grinthat is more gums than teeth.A chubby hand in minethat often leaves something sticky behind.A chortle that lowers blood pressureand raises bliss.The roundest bare bellyplaying peek-a-boo.Those nubby little toesin perfect chubby rows.For the intense, gooey...
Not Perfect, But Not Broken
Not Perfect, But Not Broken For so long I’ve known something is wrong.No eye contact.No happy babbling.Now the doctor has put a name to my fear.My darling, beautiful child has autism.When I have cried myself out,help me see the gift you have given me—a child in Your...
Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage They say that growing old is compulsory, and growing up is discretionary. Each individual has his own idea of what makes one grow. Each nation and creed has its own method or ceremony of determining when someone has "grown up".
Peace Plea
Peace Plea Please, protect my child.Please, protect other mothers' children.Please, give me peace.Please, give other mothers peace.Please, give the world peace.This is the peace only You can give.
Bedtime Tango: Part One
Bedtime Tango: Part One My daughter doesn't like to go to bed. Well, no, let me revise my previous statement. My daughter loves to go to BED, but hates to go to SLEEP. Laying her down has become a testy tango. I lay her down, she pretends to go to sleep, opens her door, pushes out the bottom of the baby gate, army crawls under it, and begins to create disasters.
Dear Young Girl
Dear Young Girl *Note: I write this week's post with a spirit of gratitude to my parents, who had a gift for preaching the message of pre-marital abstinence as a celebration of intimacy within marriage, rather than a warning against making myself "worthless." Thank God for all parents who raise their girls to know sexuality as a blessing. Dear Young Girl, When I was your age,...
Plea for Hope
Plea for Hope He stares unseeing into the distance.He is so young; his life full of possibilities— but he can’t feel it. I fear I will say the wrong thing and push himbeyond all hope, beyond all help.Please help me rea...
Playtime
Playtime Trees must be climbed,pebbles thrown and puddles stomped.Instead of calling him back,help me share in the joyof these sights, these sounds,and these experiences.Help me fight the urgeto look for the stain removeruntil after we have had our fun,run our race,and laughed out loud.With Your help,I can relearn joyin the sticky hands...
Priceless Gifts
Priceless Gifts
Choices
Choices I watch as he weighs the choices.I want to tell him what to do.“Make the safe choice.”“Make the choice that I want,the one that keeps you close to me.”Help him to be more objective than I can be. Help him to make the choicethat takes advantage of his strengths and his passions,his knowledge and his...
Granddaughter
Granddaughter I am overwhelmed with gratitude to Youfor putting this child of my childonto this earth and into my life.Her presence has brought me a joy I'd never known, an abundant joy,ever-bubbling; a transcendental bliss.I thank You for this miracles,for the chance to hold her,and to cherish her.To love...
Time of Waiting
Advent is a Time of Waiting Among other things, Advent is a time of waiting. This theme was emphasized with the snowfall and frigid temperatures we in the Midwest experienced this weekend. We live close to our church and my husband was head usher, so we pulled on sweaters and boots. At church, we waited with our pastor who made the trip over u...
Lessons from the Bird-Brained
Lessons from the Bird-Brained Thank You for the opportunity to observe,with wonder, every stageof this feathered familyʼsreproductive drama. Thank You for teaching Your children,through such tiny creatures,the power of parental...
Lessons For My Child
Lessons For My Child Help me to teach my child.To give her wisdomand show her how to choosegood people to be in her life.Help me to teach my childto look withinfor her very best—that You are herstrength and guidance.
Wipe, Wipe, Wipe
Wipe, Wipe, Wipe In the morning I wipe upthe spilled cereal milk,then I wipe off the milk mustaches.When the baby cries,it means she needs wiping.Later I'm wiping dirty hand prints off of the walls.It's raining when the kids get home from school...I'm wiping off damp headsand wiping up muddy footprints.Dinner includes...
Sunday's
Sunday's I haven’t seen the inside of a church in over a year. I have good reasons though. I’ve spent the past three hundred and sixty-five days wiping ass and cleaning faces, stacking packs of batteries, my cell phone charger, my tampons and the last minute shreds of my dignity onto our kitchen counter just so tiny toddler hands don’t stuff any of these things down a tiny toddler mouth.
Biological Clock
Biological Clock Trying not to see it as some great mysteryor some kind of cosmic test, butjust give me some idea. Okay, a sign.Are we not meant to have children?We’re a loving couple, completely attuned to You;we’ve got money in the bank and a whole support systemof babysitters in...
Help of God
With the Help of God My niece's baptism is this weekend, and for a Lutheran, that is a very big deal. In the faith of my family, baptism is the sacrament through which God enters our hearts and binds Himself to us. Although I know God has been with Rylie all this time anyway, baptism is considered the dawn of her spiritual life and the birth of her faith.
The Tree Looks Taller and Other Mentor-Mentee Topics
The Tree Looks Taller and Other Mentor-Mentee Topics Groupon is the fastest growing internet...
Perspicacity
Perspicacity Please give me visionthat can see the genuine article,hearing that senses lies,and a taste for what is substantive.Please grant me a connectionto what’s pure and right and just.Protect me from the disingenuousand those with a hidden agenda.
Next Generation
Next Generation Raise the little girls.Be the first to teach them beauty,that they may honorthe light in themselvesover the faces in magazines.Be the first to teach them affection,that they may seek companionshipwithout settling for attention. Be the first to...
What Matters: Prayer In School, Yes or No?
Journalist Twana James and the Prayables crew will debate the topic of prayer in school. There was a time when prayer was encouraged in the public school system. Many people complain that it is no longer allowed. Yet, many take issue with the idea that their child would have prayer with a school teacher or administrator. We will take a brief look at both sides of this issue, it pros and cons.
Pulse of the Generations
Pulse of the Generations We raise our faces to You.You who has sustainedcountless generations;with the steadiness of Your love,with the strength of Your wisdom.You are the blood that unites us.You are the pulse that revives us.You are where we begin,where we end,where we are. I...
What's in it for Me?
What's in it for Me? This whole experienceI'm growing through,Your message I've received!I must give more to thoseI care for and love.As a parent, guide me to be more reassuring—praising, giving hugs and kisses,every day saying, "I love you."
Golden Light
Golden Light Watch over our childrenwhile they're away at college.Defend the single mother and her childas they travel on an unfamiliar road.Hear us as we speak without words,clutching our purses tighter on the city street;rushing to close the windowsas the lightning storm approaches.I ask for particular protection...
Soulful Mother
Soulful Mother Thank You for giving me the gift of life; my child,the greatest human love I will ever know.You are here with me,always putting my child’s needs first.You are here with me,duplicating my education, wisdom, and emotion.
Locked Up
Locked Up First, a call.He didn't show up for work.A nagging worry as the search began.No results: He's nowhere to be found.Incarcerated.My son, no longer free.Caught in his own reckless stupidity.Yet not only he suffers:I'm in pain, for him, for me,for all of us who love him.Help me to bear the weight of worry.Bring a...
Spread Life this Advent Season
Spread Life this Advent Season Last Sunday was the second Sunday in Advent. From the children’s message to the sermon, the theme of Life shone through, especially when Saint Nicholas came up. You’ve probably heard of him. After all, his life and legend gave rise to our tradition of Santa Claus. Don’t you see it? Claus is short for...
Strong Enough Love
Strong Enough Love Stand beside me as I look at my grief,for innocence lostand childhood stolen.Help me hold my grief.Help me honor my grief.Help me let my grief go.Take my hand as I look at my rage,for his maddening persistence,violating the boundaries he knew were there.Help me hold my rage.Help me honor my...
Sacred Doesn’t Have to be Serious
Sacred Doesn’t Have to be Serious He found a letter among her things; it was addressed to her three boys. It was written when her handwriting was still perfect; before her health declined and her hands began to shake. Their...
The Best Gift
The Best Gift of All For the fourth Sunday of Advent, the couple who lit the Advent wreath read about the birth of Christ. They discuss how the greatest gift of all came in the form of a tiny baby. For those who were awaiting a warrior king, it was so far beyond their expectations, that they didn’t even notice. Not only did the Messiah come as a baby, he was born in l...
High Horse
High Horse My son told me todayhe's not sure he believes in You.The jury is still out on that one, he said.At eleven, he's figured it outand knows all the answers.Please help me hold my tongueso he can make his own way in the world.Help me to accept everyonein my life, including my own child,just as they are.
