Moms and Prayer: Finding Time when there is no Time, Excerpt
Today’s society is on the run. You grab a bite to eat, get coffee from your nearest take-out, and catnap between racing from one activity to another. As a mother I’ve often reassured myself with “Someday my life will be my own again.” But then I am running from school play, to band practice, to football games, to dance recitals, to scout meetings, to the P.T.A., etc., etc., etc.
When I think about my days B.C. (before children) and remember the long hours of silent meditation or deep conversation with adult friends, I wonder if mothers were doomed to a life of spiritual mediocrity—a prayer life, at best, of spurts and starts, jumps and jolts.
But perhaps that’s the prayer life best suited for today, an hour here, two minutes there, twenty minutes some other time catching God on the run during those loose ends and in-between places in our lives.
(Daily Meditations (with Scripture) for Busy Moms, Jan. l6)
So, mom, how’s your prayer life? How do you pray? And when you pray, who is it too? Who is this God? How do we find this God who is already looking for us? How do we come to know ourselves as loved?
Prayer is as natural as breathing. It is as essential to life, and as easy as breathing. Paul admonishes us to pray unceasingly. Thousands of books have been written on prayer, but far too often by religious, celibate men and women who have plenty of time and opportunity for a structured prayer life. This may give the impression that a deep prayer life is impossible for those of us caught amidst the throes of diaper changing, cooking meals, kissing booboos and running to the many activities and appointments that fill our lives.
My faith background is Roman Catholic. As a Catholic school girl, I learned that the calling to be a priest or religious was a higher calling than to married life. While this is no longer taught it was hard to overcome the impression that the only way to have a deep spiritual life was through long hours of prayer and extended retreat time, something impossible to do while raising children. And yet, I thought, God would never make anything this essential so impossible. Was it possible to have a deep prayer life in the midst of child rearing? Was it possible to find time when there is no time?
So I embarked on my own journey to find ways to pray that fit into my reality as a mom. I did not have time to read spiritual tomes, but I could squeeze in time for short reflections. Out of this came my book, Daily Meditations (with Scripture) for Busy Moms, (ACTA Publications), with short daily reflections that could be read on the run, with children underfoot, and help mothers recognize God’s presence in their life. I also developed a series of mini-retreats for moms which could be done in an hour to two hours, giving moms a break from their families yet not requiring them to go away for days at a time.
. . .
So, to answer my questions: yes, it is possible to have a deep prayer life in the midst of child rearing; and yes it is possible to find time when there is no time.
Moms and Prayer: Finding Time Where There Is No Time is available for 0.99, as are each of the other booklets in the series. Click on link to purchase!
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