Each year on Mother's Day, my heart goes out to those who struggle with this holiday. Inspired by this column on "How to Widen Our Hearts On Mother's Day," I've gathered prayers from readers into a litany to be prayed at church or at home - to remember all the mothers. Feel free to adapt for use within your parish or congregation. Please simply credit the source: Copyright © 2019 Laura Kelly Fanucci, MotheringSpirit.com. Response: Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. For women who long to be mothers.For all who desire to be married and raise a family.For all who are experiencing infertility. For all who are waiting to adopt or foster a child. For mothers who have lost a baby.For all who have suffered a miscarriage.For all who lost a child to stillbirth or SIDS. For all whose baby died after birth. For mothers whose children have died.For all whose children died in infancy, childhood, or adolescence.For all who mourn their young adult or adult children.For all whose … [Read more...] about a prayer for mother’s day
motherhood
THANK YOU! (and a few FAQs…)
Floored. We are so floored by the response to our news about the twins. Friends, family, strangers from across the globe - we're amazed and humbled to think that you're praying for us and our babies. (I still feel incredulous every time I make that word plural.) I can't thank you enough for your kind word and encouraging thoughts. I know we will need them even more in the months to come, and I'm holding each one of your emails, comments, stories, and promises of prayer close to my heart. Deep and humble thanks to every one of you. I'm not sure how to follow up a post that goes like HERE WERE ALL THE PLANS WE HAD FOR OUR LIVES AND NOW THEY ARE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN DEAR GOD WHAT WERE YOU THINKING so I figured I'd start with the questions everyone's been asking. (Got another you're dying to ask? Pose a question in comments and I'll do my best to answer. With the caveat that I'm no medical expert; just a bewildered mom who talked to doctors. Believe me, I'm as curious about this whole … [Read more...] about THANK YOU! (and a few FAQs…)
this is a love story
Today I will rise early. I will slip downstairs before anyone else stirs. I will open the front door slowly, without a creak. I will step out onto the dewy grass with bare feet. I will listen to bird song and tree wind. I will close my eyes and try to breathe. Tonight I will go to bed late. I will pull out the small box in the bottom drawer of my desk. I will read the sympathy cards, trace the edge of the picture, run the rosary beads between my fingers. I will whisper a prayer under my breath for a baby that was never born. I will be the one who remembers. . . . Tomorrow he will rise early. He will creak open the bedroom door to spy through the sliver. He will brighten when he catches our sleepy eyes. He will shuffle bare-footed to the bed and slip between us in the still-warm sheets. He will smile thank you when we sing a quiet happy birthday. At evening's end he will curl into bed with a new book and a gleaming baseball bat leaning on his nightstand, waiting for the … [Read more...] about this is a love story
the essay I never wrote
I plopped the baby on the ground beside me, mail already scattered across the grass like clumsy confetti. He lunged for the letters; I snatched them up and sighed. A long, muggy summer afternoon; too-hot kids whining about everything under the sultry sun and still hours to go before dinner. The baby grabbed the envelopes again. I gave in. Junk mail; who cares; he was happy. So I reached for the magazine instead, the one that made my heart skip whenever I saw its spine curved in the mailbox, the one my husband and I secretly race to read ahead of each other, leaving favorite pages folded open on the counter so the other doesn't miss the good stuff. I flipped to the back page. Always the prized place for the best essay. And oh - a small glimmer on a dragging afternoon - a favorite author's byline! This would be so good. This would be the cool breeze on the sweaty neck. This would be the moment's peace in the feuding brothers' backyard war. This would be my five-minute reward … [Read more...] about the essay I never wrote
