A Prayer for the Empty

A Prayer for the Empty

O Lord, to You who fill all things in every way, help me in this season of longing.   When I feel empty, fill me with Your abundant love. When I feel defeated, fill me with Your buoyant hope.   When I feel brokenhearted, fill me with Your comforting Spirit. When I feel angry, fill…

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Between Light and Shadow

Marigold by Melissa Diane Photography

Author’s Note: I am a photographer by trade but my works have almost always been accompanied by my words. When Laura approached me about creating a piece for Mothering Spirit, I knew I wanted it to be spoken in the language of flowers. The words and photographs that follow are each an aspect of the…

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Keep Me Awake: Prayer as a Mother

a mother's prayers

“I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed”  — Mary Oliver, from “The Summer Day” I stand in an open field, watching for signs of rain. An hour…

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A Prayer for Infertility

God of Abraham and Sarah, wait with us and help us to believe. God of Rebecca and Isaac, hear our prayers and speak to our struggles. God of Jacob and Rachel, forgive us our envy and free us from jealousy. God of Hannah and Elkanah, hold our anger and weep with us. God of Elizabeth and Zechariah,…

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seeing stars in sunlight

“The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision…He brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (from…

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seasons of infertility, years later

“Oh, honey!” She shrieked as she came running towards us, nightgown flapping. “Look at you!” I smiled, the meager smile of a large pregnant woman, bracing herself to hear the usual round of “you’re due when?!” or “you’re sure it’s not twins?” Be nice, I admonished myself. She’s a sweet neighbor. Let the comments be. But…

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