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Mothering Spirit

everyday parenting as spiritual practice

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After Loss
- what to do when a friend loses a baby
- what to do for kids when their sibling dies
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Prayers for Parenting
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- favorite resources for parents
- faith resources for ministers
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About Laura

I’m Laura Kelly Fanucci. Mother, writer, wonderer. This space is where I explore mothering through writing. It’s where I celebrate how God shows up in the chaos of raising children. It’s where I love to build community with readers like you. Read More…

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thismessygrace

Mother, writer, wonderer.
Seeker of God in chaos & life with kids.
Author of Everyday Sacrament & Grieving Together.
Glimpses of grace & gratitude.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! The talented Marie at @fawn

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

The talented Marie at @fawnlyprints has created this beautiful version of my poem “When This Is Over.” The hand-lettered print is now available for purchase in her Etsy shop.

Brighten up your weekend! Grab a copy for yourself or tag a friend who might need a reminder of hope.

Click the link in my bio or check out @fawnlyprints for more gorgeous work.

We are in this together. May we stay that way: better for each other. 💛

Meanwhile the baby is waking up to a world unfoldi

Meanwhile the baby is waking up to a world unfolding, new each day.

Meanwhile our son is learning to read, turning letters to words.

Meanwhile the lake is starting to thaw, dazzling under the sun.

Meanwhile neighbors wave across the street, distant but present.

Meanwhile spring is pushing green sprouts through dirty snow.

So much of normal is gone. We have to grieve it together.

But all is not lost, and we must remember this, too.

There is still dinner and laughter and music and sunrise. Poetry and prayer. Forgiveness after lost tempers. Afternoon light warm through the windows. Running water streaming from the tap.

Ordinary miracles, and we cannot miss them. What is small and commonplace will keep us human.

What is saving your life these days?

Also may we give up the hoarding 🧻

Also may we give up the hoarding 🧻

This Psalm has sat before my eyes for four years n

This Psalm has sat before my eyes for four years now.

Here is what it has taught me, slow and steady like water on rocks.

More often than not, the earth beneath us feels like it’s quaking. Change, crisis, uncertainty—these define human existence more than we’d like to admit.

But the psalmist doesn’t brush these aside. Or try to bright-side the darkness. Instead, the song-prayer drives straight into the heart of the sea, the crux of the calamity.

Right here, in the roar and foam, the tremble and tumult, is where we are and where we will find God.

Because at the heart of the Psalm are eight of the strongest and dearest words in all of Scripture.

Be still and know that I am God.

This is where all prayer begins and ends. In the stillness, full of God. Even if we don’t know where to wander in between.

Right now everything is quaking and shaking beneath us. Right now life as we knew it is changing. Right now we fear because we don’t know what comes next.

But what came before is what will come after: God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. No matter how the earth changes.

Be still. (Be home, be away from others, be far from your normal.) And know that I am God.

Let’s not forget that social distancing is only

Let’s not forget that social distancing is only in-person.

Now is the perfect time to reap the fruits of online community—in the biggest and best way. None of us are alone, even when we’re stuck at home.

How can we pray for each other today? Leave your request below and pray for the person above you.

In the spirit of Pray Both Sides, feel free to pray big & small. I’m praying for this smallest baby to stay safe from all sickness AND I’m praying for health care professionals around the world, working around the clock.

What’s weighing heavy on your heart and how can we help carry it? 💛

Dorothy Day told a story from her childhood that I

Dorothy Day told a story from her childhood that I can’t shake.

After the 1906 earthquake that rocked San Francisco, she watched from her home in Oakland as people fled the burning, broken city by boat and strangers welcomed them across the bay to help in the aftermath.

In that moment, she realized that the adults had known all along how to help each other.

I’m haunted by her awakening.

How have my fears and anxieties about this present crisis been constricted to me and mine? How much more have I worried about protecting my family than caring for my neighbors?

Natural, some will argue. You should care for you and yours first. The oxygen mask theory of life.

But the way of Christ calls me to strengthen different muscles. Compassion. Mercy. Wider love.

What I want to be for my children is not just their protector, sealing them off from the outside. I want to be their guide into the world, to show them what it means to love their neighbor.

Dorothy wondered if we could always live like this, allowing the worst to bring out the best in us.

In The Long Loneliness, she wrote: “While the crisis lasted, people loved each other. It was as though they were united in Christian solidarity. It makes one think of how people could, if they would, care for each other in times of stress, unjudgingly in pity and love.” Haunting, right?

But also hopeful. We can each—in smallest ways—work our mercy muscles to stretch our arms wide, even in our worry. We can keep close to home without keeping our concern locked away.

If I’m stocking up on dry goods and diapers, can I donate some of the same? If I’m praying extra hard for God to keep my family safe, can I pray for neighbors and strangers too? If I’m wondering what plans to change or cancel, can I keep in mind how my actions would affect the vulnerable around me?

No easy answers in uncertain times. But keep Dorothy’s wisdom close.

How can we show our children that the adults knew how to care for each other all along?

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