Easy Ways to Pray in Lent

Easy Ways to Pray in Lent

Need inspiration for How to Live Lent as a Busy Mother? Pray with Scripture: Find the daily readings from the Catholic Church and weekly Scriptures from the Revised Common Lectionary, including images of sacred art for prayer. Check out our Lenten Scriptures for Parents. Read an essay on Lent: What We Need Is Here Our…

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Lentiest of Lents

prayer for a hard, long Lent

Loving God, this trudge toward Easter has been long and the sustenance meager. I find myself coming to you with empty hands and aching arms, from the effort of carrying a cross I did not choose. You know all too well that choosing a sacrifice this year was a luxury. In the midst of it…

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Encouragement for When You Want to Give Up on Lent

Lent encouragement

If you’ve given up on Lent, If your best intentions have fallen short, If you want to quit, If you never got started Imagine what you might say to your child… When they’re struggling with school or work, When they’re feeling overwhelmed, When they want to quit something they’ve started, When they’re angry, hungry, or…

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3 Ways to Prepare for Lent (When You’re A Parent)

lent parent

1. Focus on what’s simple Try these 3 easy approaches for Lent: Read the details here: How To Live Lent as a Busy Mother. 2. Find a good book: for yourself and for your child Here is a list of our favorite Lenten books for children (and more ideas for Easter basket books for birth-6 years and 6-12 years). Don’t forget…

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when hearts become ashes

Two years ago, I had two hearts beating beneath my own.  Twins. I was overwhelmed most of the pregnancy, to be honest. Worry multiplies with multiples. How would we care for two babies at once? What would life look like with five kids? Deeper, darker questions slid underneath, slimy and squirming. How could I love…

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Lent: What We Need Is Here

Lent and parenting

And we pray, not  for new earth or heaven, but to be  quiet in heart, and in eye  clear. What we need is here.  – from “The Wild Geese” by Wendell Berry  Deep breath. Eyes closed. Flying leap. Each new Lent feels like this. Jumping into the unknown. Flinging ourselves into the arms of the divine.…

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Morbid? Motherhood & Mortality

motherhood and mortality

“Mommy, I don’t want to die.” His big blue eyes stare up at me, full of—what? Worry? Seriousness? Wonder? We’ve been revisiting this conversation for months, variations on a theme: Mommy, I don’t want to go to be with God. Mommy, I want to live to be 100. Mommy, I don’t want you to die.…

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A Mother’s Prayer for Ash Wednesday

parent prayer Ash Wednesday

God of Ash Wednesday, whose hands first gathered dust to create us, whose Spirit breathed new life into brittle bones, whose fingers traced the sand to save a sinner, take the dirt of my life— the tempers lost, the doors slammed, the complaints muttered, the harsh words thrown, the dark doubts seethed— take all these…

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Ash Wednesday: Every Parent’s Nightmare

Ash Wednesday parent

Last night I lingered in a long line of blinking tail lights to turn into the parking lot. I wondered about the growing crowds at each year’s Ash Wednesday services. What packs the pews this evening every Lent? As I waited, I thought of four young girls killed in a weekend car crash. Freshmen roommates, victims…

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How to Live Lent as a Busy Mother

ways to live lent as parent

We moms who want to nurture our relationship with God—but also lead busy lives with children—often find ourselves caught between a rock and hard place. Prayer practices seem to require 1) undivided chunks of time; 2) quiet; 3) a peaceful environment. I don’t know about you, but those three almost NEVER occur at our house.…

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