I could hardly tape my prayers to the side of the bathtub!Īfter many years, the needs of our growing family demanded that we expand into a larger home. But I refused his offer, protecting my private prayer time. Years later, when I took a job to help pay for high school tuitions, my husband offered to take over the laundry chores. Francis of Assisi a blessing for my home and all who entered prayers for Christmas peace and joy the famous Serenity Prayer, sometimes attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr. And thus began a ritual, which I would follow for years, of praying this prayer every time I did the laundry.Įventually a collage of prayers spread out over my washer as I added other prayers I felt I needed to say: prayers for my family: the Peace Prayer, often attributed to St. And in doing so, I found my answer! I quickly found some tacks and hung the prayer over my washing machine. As I folded towels, I re-read the words that had touched me so deeply. I carried the prayer downstairs and laid it on top of my washing machine. I needed to use this quiet time to finish the laundry. Then I realized that I had only 30 minutes before I needed to wake my two little ones from their naps to go pick up my two older ones from school. Then I carried it around the house, trying to find the perfect spot to hang it, a place where I would remember to pray these words on a regular basis. I cut it out and taped it to a sheet of pretty green paper. Yet the prayer itself was not a short piece that I could stick on my mirror or the refrigerator and read quickly it wrapped around two columns. I knew that if I could find time in my busy life to read this prayer every day, it would make a difference. The prayer spoke to the reality of my life: “Oh, God, I know that I am going to be very busy today.” It also had a calming effect: “Help me not to be so busy that I miss the most important things.” The prayer also asked God to grant me time to see the beauty in the world, to listen to those in need, to chat with a friend, to read a few lines from a good book, to be patient and kind. As I read the prayer, which our archbishop had included in his weekly diocesan newspaper column, I knew I needed to make it my own. They were exactly the prayer I needed as a busy mother of four young children. Slow me down.” These words stopped me in my tracks.
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