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tovlo4801
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| Posted: July 24 2005 at 12:22pm | IP Logged
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The schedule conversation has me planning away again.  One thing I'm trying to figure out is prayer.
I'd like to try a more integrated way of praying throughout the day. The past year I did several times of private prayer each day and while it was good, I felt that I was often neglecting my children and rushing through my prayers to get back to tasks. I want to get away from needing to leave my kids presence so frequently to go off quietly and pray. There's just so many things to get done each day!
I do have a weekly adoration hour and that feeds me with solid alone time with God. I'm planning on leaving some of Sunday afternoon free for more quiet personal spiritual reading. I plan on regular prayer together with my kids as part of the school day, but I do still need daily personal prayer too.
Day-to-day I need to find good ways to connect with God in the course of all my other duties. I know I've been part of conversations where moms have mentioned they have found ways of doing this - praying while doing dishes, etc.
Can anyone give me some practical advice on how to make sure I don't lose touch with God in the busyness of weekly tasks? I know there are books that deal with this and those suggestions would be very welcome. However, I'm also looking for some concrete, practical suggestions to get started with until I can budget money and time for the books.
TIA.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 25 2005 at 6:27am | IP Logged
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Hi Richelle,
I'm not sure if this will help because some of my kids are younger than yours. I actually use "rocking time" for prayer. When I rock my baby for his afternoon nap and before he goes to bed at night, my other children know that they are not to disturb unless it is an absolute emergency. This is because we have sort of spoiled this little guy and he wont go to sleep by himself. I have to rock him to sleep. On the positive side, it gives me two times each day of quiet that I use for prayer. Other than that, I try to get up at least an hour before the kids and say morning prayers which is a great way to start the day.
I read once about a lady who had a "prayer apron". She put it on whenever she was praying and her children learned to not disturb her at this time. I'm not sure about that...my kids probably wouldn't get it - especially if I was walking around the house.
My mom used to pray while we were in the car. I remember that every now and then she would say a word out loud and one of us would ask what she was talking about. "I'm just talking to the Lord", she'd say. I think that was good for me as a child. Without saying a word to us, she taught us the need to pray throughout the day.
I hope you get some good responses to this question. DS wont need to be rocked to sleep forever, and I'm going to have to change my routine before long!
Blessings!
Becky
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Jamberry77
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| Posted: July 25 2005 at 2:55pm | IP Logged
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Richelle,
I'm interested too in hearing what others do for prayer. Here's what works for me: a friend of mine makes her kids have "quiet time" every afternoon for 2 hours while she has quiet time herself for prayer and reading and planning. So at our house, after lunch, our two boys can either play alone in rooms or together *if they promise to be kind and not to make the other cry*. I go to my room, put on my rosary cd, and do some exercises (mostly poses held for a few minutes). By the end (only 30 min.), our 3 yo is ready to be with me again. Other than that, I just say quick morning prayers, lunch prayers, and a decade of the rosary with everyone before bed. Perhaps you could learn some aspirations and say those. Maybe put several on post it notes around the house, and then when you walk in the bathroom, you see one and pray it, go to do laundry, see another, pray that one, etc. Or just put the first few words of a prayer on post it notes, and when you see them, pray that prayer. Hmm, think I will do that as I always forget those aspirations.
Looking forward to hearing others' replies.
Love,
Kelly Lang in NC mom to two boys, 7 and 3
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Willa
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| Posted: July 25 2005 at 4:11pm | IP Logged
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Richelle,
I could relate to your question. Last summer I was doing SO well with remembering to make prayer a first priority, then we started the school year and pretty soon I was too busy to even remember to eat. Prayer went the same way as regular meals and everything else beyond breathing! Don't get me wrong, it's not like I never had time LITERALLY -- it's just that all my rhythms became unpredictable and hurried and I'd get to the end of the day and wonder where it went!
I really don't want this to happen again this fall.
One practical idea I have been experimenting with is "prayer stations." For example, I have a prayer to the Sacred Heart written out on nice paper and hung up on my wall behind my son's medicine shelf. When I'm drawing up his morning meds I usually find myself reading the prayer and then that reminds me to consecrate my day to Our Lord.
Another prayer station is the stairs. Before breakfast I usually climb the stairs for a few minutes in order to jump start my metabolism and at the same time I say a decade for the intentions of whoever especially needs prayers.
I've put little spiritual booklets in different places around the house like by the telephone in the kitchen, next to my mini-trampoline and other places where I find myself regularly. If I'm eating lunch I pick up the book for a minute or two and that reminds me again to reconnect with God.
Just having the visual reminders in key spots around the house is helpful to me, and so is a devotion centered around a particular place in the house -- now the stairs but when youngest was an infant with some nursing problems, my walk-in closet was my place to pray and recollect, and snuggle the baby close!
One other thing I do -- I have a daily/weekly chart where I jot down things to be done for that day. I have divided the days into five time periods and I have a special prayer associated with each time period -- Morning Offering in the morning, Spiritual communion in mid-morning (Mass readings if I have time), Angelus at noon, Hour of Divine Mercy at 3 pm, and examen and Rosary in the evening. Most of the prayers can be very short and done even while doing something else like dishes or exercising or tidying -- the point for me is remembering to reconsecrate and recollect God's presence.... once I do that, usually it spills over into all my consecutive activities and I can find snatches of time here and there to do spiritual readings and special devotions. I try not to be TOO structured about it (contrary to how it sounds, perhaps!!) because this is not my season in life for programming specific blocks of time for specific devotions. It just reminds me to associate a certain kind of prayer with a certain time of the day, just like I try to make the bed and wipe the toilet every morning before I leave my room.
__________________
AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Jamberry77
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| Posted: July 25 2005 at 7:08pm | IP Logged
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Richelle,
Just this evening Our Lady's monthly message from Medjugorje was in my email box. Read what she said!
Kelly in NC
http://www.medjugorje.org
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Message of July 25, 2005
"Dear children! Also today, I call you to fill your day with short and ardent prayers. When you pray, your heart is open and God loves you with a special love and gives you special graces. Therefore, make good use of this time of grace and devote it to God more than ever up to now. Do novenas of fasting and renunciation so that Satan be far from you and grace be around you. I am near you and intercede before God for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
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tovlo4801
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| Posted: July 26 2005 at 8:16pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for your GREAT suggestions guys! I'm thinking about where to put little prayer notes around my house already. 
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Marybeth
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| Posted: Aug 17 2005 at 4:15am | IP Logged
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I read Holiness for Housewives and was so inspired to offer up the little things I do for my family each day. I try to make my housework a form of prayer. Yes, I get very distracted, but it is nice to try and remember how much I do for my family out of love. Of course, I was grumbling yesterday while cleaning the shower...gross!! The book was a wonderful "lift" for me.
My 2 cents.
Marybeth
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: How do you incorporate prayer in your day
