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12stars
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| Posted: Jan 17 2009 at 1:51am | IP Logged
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This is something that I have pondered for a few years and as my life gets full of more and more children, I am not sure if I am making a effort enough to pray as I should because there is so much to do.
Words really escape me at the moment and I am not relaying what my thoughts are other than what the title says.
I usually am praying and thinking of God all day.
But for some reason I feel that I have to find time to get on my knees and pray more often. This usualy happens really late at night when I get the chance and sometimes I don't even get to it because the baby starts crying or needs me. So my questions are...
When do you pray?
How do you pray?
Are you working, sitting or doing something else other than on your knees and praying?
I guess I just need affirmation from other mamas that I don't have to be on my knees. I have these expectations of my self having this great saint like devotion, and finding the time for everything including time for quiet meditative prayer and when the days pass and I have not done it I feel like a failure sometimes.
I have brought this to my priest and he said that I am a mother not a religious, and our lives are very different and I know he is right, my heart understands it but my brain doesn't. Or maybe it's the other way around. LOl
Anyways I just struggle with this all the time.
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Claudia in Southern California
Wife to George,
Mom to DD 14, DD 10, DD 7, DS 4, DS 2, 1 in heaven, and now due 5/11.
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LLMom
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| Posted: Jan 17 2009 at 5:00pm | IP Logged
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Claudia,
I too, pray throughout the day, especially when I feel my blood pressure raising when dc fight.  But I have made it a practice for the last few years to get up one hour before everyone else and spend about 20-30 minutes praying and reading a religious book or the Bible. It has been wonderful. I try too to get in a few minutes on my knees before bed. However, I know that at the point you are at right now (with several little ones who probably need your attention more at night than mine) that it can be difficult to get up earlier. Maybe a few minutes alone when dh is home?
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Lisa
For veteran & former homeschool moms
homeschooling ideas
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12stars
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| Posted: Jan 21 2009 at 12:24am | IP Logged
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It is really hard to get up and leave the bed with out my ds waking up  we still cosleep.
I just have to wait and hopefully I will have more time as he gets older.
My dh as much as I love him he is no help. I have asked him on various occasions that I need time alone to pray and apparently 15-20 minutes is too long for him. He says he will and a few minutes later he comes knocking to ask if I am done. IDK why he does it over and over again so I gave that up.
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Claudia in Southern California
Wife to George,
Mom to DD 14, DD 10, DD 7, DS 4, DS 2, 1 in heaven, and now due 5/11.
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Jan 21 2009 at 1:02am | IP Logged
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Claudia~
There are definite patterns....when I am able to get up before dc for morn. prayer time. When children are in bed with us, and they wake when you do, there's not a lot you can do. In those times, I readjust to make time at night, or during afternoon quiet time. In the morning, though, reciting in my head a few memorized prayers helps to offer my day. This is why memorized prayers are so helpful.
In the am, After dc are fed or dressed, or whatever.....can you pop in a video for 15 minutes?
I am very rarely on my knees....usually holding a baby, or in bed, or sitting....or standing at the kitchen counter.
For the past couple of months, I have been able to wake up without the whole house waking up.....but I'm sure i'ts temporary. And, I do feel more recollected, and it does make a difference....but it's just not always possible.
It sounds like you ARE praying by thinking about God throughout the day.....which is wonderful!!!
Think about what is do-able.....then commit to that. If dh or a baby interrupts, that's fine. You are being obedient by responding to that. What is reasonable? (given your bedtime, dh's bedtime, and your routine. Pray for creativity to find an answer.....
There was a "Loveliness Fair" about Prayer a year or so ago....it gave really great insight into other mother-prayer-routines. I'll try to find it tomorrow.
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Suzanne in ID
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Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Jan 21 2009 at 1:12am | IP Logged
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Loveliness of Prayer
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Suzanne in ID
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dawn2006
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| Posted: Jan 21 2009 at 8:19pm | IP Logged
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Everything Suzanne said.
When we have quiet time in the PM I devote the first 30 min to reading, prayer, and study. It's been a real blessing. It works cuz it's the only time of the day that I know I am by myself.
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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Gloria JMJ
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| Posted: Jan 22 2009 at 7:39pm | IP Logged
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Claudia,
I could have written that very post! I find it near impossible to get ANY time to myself. I try to compensate by making sure I say night prayers with my dc and morning offering with grace in the mornings.
I also remember reading that St. Augustine once wished to know of some that were among the holiest people and God showed him to a house where a couple of very busy women lived tending their household and he asked them what they did as far as devotions; and they told him that they offered everything they did to God in prayer. So being on your knees doesn't seem to be a prerequisit (yay!)
~Gloria
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RamFam
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| Posted: Jan 22 2009 at 8:06pm | IP Logged
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12stars wrote:
| It is really hard to get up and leave the bed with out my ds waking up we still cosleep. |
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I completely identify! And it seems that the earlier I wake the earlier the kids wake! So, I usually do my morning prayers laying in bed in that half awake/ half asleep stage. That way no one even knows I'm awake. My Short Christian and Queen of Apostles Prayer books are next to my bed, so I don't have to do anything but reach for them. (Obviously it is already light out when I awaken. )
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Leah
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Tom ^i^, Kyle (my Marine), Adeline '00, Wyatt '05, Isaac '07 Philip '08,Michael '10, and John Xavier Feb '13
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: How do you pray?
