Breath Prayers for Parents in Lent

parent lent breath prayers

For fasting Inhale: Help me let go. Exhale: Let me find You. Inhale: When I feel like I lack Exhale: Let me know You are near. For alms-giving Inhale: Help me give what I can. Exhale: Show Your face to my heart. Inhale: Whatever we have Exhale: Is given to share. For deeper prayer Inhale:…

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3 Ways to Pray about Your Phone Use as a Parent

ways to pray about phone use as parent

Holly’s essay about video games and Meta’s blessing for a child’s first phone got us thinking about more ways to pray about technology and our families. What would you add to the list to approach our own screen time as parents from a faith perspective? 1. Pray about your own screen time 2. Make a…

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Want to Pray through Birth?

how to pray through birth

At Mothering Spirit, we believe mothers need more resources for pregnancy and birth, both the beautiful and painful parts of bringing new life into the world. Here are a few of our favorites: 1. When you’re preparing for birth Get a copy of our e-books: Prayers for Pregnancy & Prayers for Birth. The collections feature prayers for pregnancy…

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The Extraordinary Ordinary Time: A brand-new e-book

Our 1st e-book is now available from Mothering Spirit! The Extraordinary Ordinary Time is a new collection from Laura Kelly Fanucci, the founder of Mothering Spirit, and includes: original essays on the spirituality of this holy season  brand-new prayers for Ordinary Time best-loved poems that invite fresh reflection creative ways to pray through the longest…

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Welcome to the new Mothering Spirit

Mothering Spirit

Starting in September 2022, Mothering Spirit will become a new gathering place to explore parenting and spirituality.  With storytelling shaped by the liturgical seasons, this collaborative, ecumenical project will offer weekly essays and prayers from diverse voices on motherhood – plus virtual retreats, e-books, resources, and creative ways to connect our stories with God’s story.…

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Look, Mama, Look: Do You See?

pay attention to child as prayer

Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love.  Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.  —Simone Weil Look, mama, look, do you see?  A thousand times a day, tugging at my sleeve, calling out in the rearview mirror, yelling from upstairs, downstairs, around the corner, from the other room—look! Come…

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how to pray with baby: for fussy moments

Wondering how to be more mindful with a new baby in your life? Check out two more ways to pray – all day long and up all night – and the complete series on spiritual practices with newborns. Crying To pray: O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,    and you have healed me.  O Lord,…

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how to pray with baby: up all night

Continuing with the practical side of spiritual practices with newborns, here is the 2nd in this series of simple ways to pray while caring for a baby: all day long, up all night, in fussy moments, and in peaceful moments.  Waking up at night To pray: I rise before dawn and cry for help; I put my…

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spiritual practices with newborns: a new series

Here we go again! Settling into Newborn Land… It’s a strange place to live. Everyone keeps odd hours. Crying is common. Spit-up and strange smells are expected. Nothing is ever clean. But it’s a sweet place to stay, too. Newborn neck nuzzles and curled froggy legs. Milky breath and fuzzy fine hair. Sleepy smiles and…

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The Gentle Voice of God

slow down prayer

Slow down. Slow way down.  Washing dishes in the sink. Running errands in the car. Rushing around the house in the morning madness before work. A dozen times in the past few weeks, I’ve heard the voice, simple and steady, speaking somewhere between mind and heart. Slow down. Slow way down. I ignored it for a…

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top 10 spiritual lessons from newborns

To be perfectly honest, the days of newbornhood – while amazing and awe-inspiring and full of love for a sweet new soul – have not been for me a time of deep connection to God. My foggy head would spin with a swirl of nursing and diaper changes and laundry and sleep. Some days I…

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