May all I do be done in Your presence

Because these nights, I realize, are where grace breaks in

Welcome to the Mothering Spirit newsletter! Each Saturday morning, you’ll receive a round-up of the week’s posts—perfect for your weekend reading.

This week on Mothering Spirit

Kimberly Knowle-Zeller describes the changing seasons of nighttime blessings with her children:

“Finally, when I can’t hold them any longer or my patience is frayed, I’ll turn to each one and mark the sign of the cross on their forehead. ‘You are a loved Child of God,’ I tell them. Sometimes they turn their head and I'm left with their back. Other times they quickly reach their fingers towards me marking a quick cross on my head. 

No matter the struggle or the squirming, the blessing gets to them. 

Every night, they hear they are loved.”

Read the whole essay here: Grace at Night: A Bedtime Diary.

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The work of parenting is deeply creative. But many mothers long to nurture other creative gifts, too: writing, drawing, cooking, painting, dancing, building, and more. Here is a blessing for when you start to create: 

When I am with my family,
Help me to be present to them,
Their loves and their needs,
Their joys and their sorrows,
Even as I dream of coming here
To create with You. 

When I am making and creating,
Help me to be present to my art and my craft,
Its energy and delight,
Its challenges and growth,
Even as I long to be with my family, too. 

Open the eyes of my heart to see all of it as creation,
The holy work to which You call me.

Find the whole blessing here: A Prayer for A Mother’s Creative Work.

Many of us pray with our kids before bed. Check out this excerpt from The Beauty of Motherhood along with a practice, prayer, and ritual you can use to pray for your children (and others) at night:

“We bless because we know the world is messy, broken, and in need of hope and healing. We bless because God first called us beloved children. We offer blessings so that we can share light and grace in the world.

Every time I bless my children, I entrust them to God knowing that when hardship overcomes them, or when they’ve hit a wall with nowhere to turn, the words of blessings can come back to them and give them the courage to keep going.”

Read the whole post: Blessing Our Children.

From the archives

Need a new prayer with your kids? Try this unique way to pray with Psalm 46:10:

Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.

Read more here: Meditation, Preschool-Style.

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