Prayer – Page 4 – Daily Graces

Shaking the Laundry

Published on January 23, 2023 by Kate1 Comment

Our family was blessed to live a few hours from my husband’s grandmother for several years before she passed away. In that time, she became another grandmother to me and I cherish the memories of my time in her home.

One day, while she was doing laundry, she commented about how busy everyone is. “Look,” she said, “It doesn’t take that much time to shake out the clothes as they come out of the wash. You can save yourself so much ironing time by just shaking each thing out a little before throwing it in the dryer. And everything dries more quickly too, not all clumped up after spinning in the washing machine.”

I can still remember my reaction to this statement. Number 1, I don’t iron. Pretty much never, do I iron anything. Number 2, I have absolutely no time to be shaking out baby clothes because I don’t want them too wrinkly. At the time of this conversation, I was pregnant with our 5th baby and our oldest was only 7.

But this memory has stuck with me. It’s several years later, we have 6 kids now, and I still probably don’t have time for shaking out laundry. Except I do, if I’m going to be truly honest.

I was spending my day recently thinking about the Gospel parable of the poor widow and the two coins from Mark 12:41-44 and this was the memory that came to me. The widow gave fully of what she had, she didn’t hold anything back from God. She trusted that He was big enough to care for her as she opened her hands and let fall from them all that she had. How she challenges me to open my hands a bit further, to offer to God more of myself.

Just as the woman wasn’t making grand gestures by the world’s standards, I am not called to either. I am living an ordinary life, with mundane daily tasks and often repetitious chores. What use are these little tasks when compared with the influencers I see on YouTube or the writers and speakers who inspire hundreds, millions? They are worth more than gold if they are to be the path upon which I arrive in heaven. It all starts with doing them with that purpose in mind.

What does this look like in my life? It means slowing down to shake out the laundry. And that’s what I did with the sheets that day. This simple action afforded me the time to be thankful for the conveniences like a washer and dryer, that my kids have enough clothes to wear, and Ben has a job which allows me to stay at home with our little ones. By being fully present in my task at hand, I am not filling my mind with anxieties for the future or fussing over past sorrows. If my mind is full of gratitude, it naturally inclines itself to a Godly perspective. Through God’s eyes, no moment, no chore, is wasted time if it is done in His presence and as a gift for His glory.

This perspective of living in the present moment, that no moment is wasted in God’s eyes, and that my work however small or humble from a worldly perspective has significance in my life’s journey is what I am carrying forward as the New Year continues to unfold.

Wallpapers for 2023

Published on December 20, 2022December 31, 2022 by Kate2 Comments

I have never attempted the St. Andrew Novena until this Advent season. The novena, traditionally started on St. Andrew’s feast day which is Nov. 30, actually runs for 25 days – Nov. 30-Dec. 24. Not only is this a longer than usual novena (novenas are typically 9 days long), it is also a rather demanding novena. You pray the same prayer 15 times each day. I really wanted to spread the 15 times throughout the day, filling my whole day with prayer, rather than sitting down and saying the same prayer 15 times in one sitting. To accomplish this, I found a simple version of the prayer to put on my phone as a lock screen and had a counter widget that I could click to keep track of where I was during the day. (The widget app is called Counter Widget for iPhone users. I’m not sure if there is an Android version but even if it isn’t this particular app, there ought to be something you can use).

I did not expect to love this novena as much as I did. I found myself praying it almost without thinking. Do you know how you will be singing a song in your head for a while but not be fully conscious of it, and then you suddenly realize you’re singing along? That’s what was happening. These words were becoming a part of me, even deeper than fully conscious thought. I had LASIK surgery during the second half of Advent and the whole time I was having the procedure, this prayer was running through my head over and over and over. It kept me calm, it kept me secure in myself. I’m not sure how I would have made it without this prayer.

As Advent is drawing to a close, I have been feeling a little anxious about letting this prayer go. What’s going to fill its space? I have enjoyed having this special and unique prayer to help focus my month and I’m hungry for more.

I’m not sure I will ever adequately put into words just how grateful I am for all the little details the Holy Spirit has inspired within the Catholic Church. Did you know that even the months of the year have their own unique devotions? Here’s a quick list:

January – The Holy Name of Jesus
February – The Holy Family
March – St. Joseph
April – The Holy Spirit
May – The Blessed Virgin Mary
June – The Sacred Heart of Jesus
July – The Precious Blood of Jesus
August – The Immaculate Heart of Mary
September – Our Lady of Sorrors
October – The Rosary
November – The Holy Souls in Purgatory
December – Advent and the Coming of Christ at Christmas

The Holy Spirit really sparked this idea in me because, in a flurry of typing, I went from, “Well this are nice” to “Oh my gosh I need to make lock screen wallpapers for every month so everyone who wants to pray in this way can have one too!”

So here they are. 11 of my own creations, courtesy of Canva’s design space, free for you to download. The 12th is the lock screen wallpaper I am using this Advent from The Simple Saints website. Big thank you to them for inspiring my Advent this year. I will be using this wallpaper again next year (I chose the blue one with the stars if you’re curious).

I think I’m going to be sticking with the 15 times a day model. That seems to be doable for me. It’s often enough I have to keep it at the forefront of my mind but not so often I find myself running through the repetitions just to achieve a magic number.

If I’ve inspired you to consider trying out praying this way, I’m so excited for you! I intentionally did not put the month on the individual wallpapers so if you find one you want to pray with for longer, you don’t have to try to edit anything. Or, if a prayer really speaks to you and it doesn’t exactly line up with it’s designated month, that’s ok! The Holy Spirit moves us as He will and it’s not always according to a calendar (just ask my editor at Catholicmom.com and how many day-of-deadline posts I send her because the inspiration wasn’t exactly timely).

I’m not sure I will get out another post before the end of the year. Perhaps, I have an idea mulling around that came to me while trying to equally divide pumpkin zucchini bread batter into 2 loaf pans and wondering about how recipe creators account for the waste left in the pan, on the spoon, and on licked toddler fingers…..hmmm. Just how used to having “waste” or “extra” are we and do we carry that influence into our spiritual journey?

With that, may you all have a very Merry Christmas and a joyful start to your New Year! May Christ’s everlasting peace be with you and yours in this Christmas season.

Remember, December’s wallpaper comes from The Simple Saints website. Not sponsored, but if for some reason these wallpapers or prayers do not work for you and you want to try your hand at designing, everything you see here I made using the free images and templates available on Canva.com. It’s fun to play around with and you just might find something that fits you more perfectly than what I’ve created here. Here’s to a Year of Prayer!

When You Don’t Know What to Pray For

Published on November 30, 2022 by KateLeave a comment

I am stuck. I don’t know what to pray for in this particular situation and it is uncomfortable, to put it mildly. Have you ever been unsure of what to pray for? It’s more than apathy, or not caring about what comes from the situation. I genuinely don’t know what I want from this moment in time.

Let me back up. As you know, Ben is in the military which means we move a fair amount. Actually, we have moved less often than many of our peers. This has been a blessing but it’s catching up with us for Ben’s career. We are looking at another move this coming summer, putting us at a brief 2.5 years in Kansas compared to the 4+ in both California and Texas. The upcoming move is poised to be an even quicker turn around. Ben is eligible for a leadership school which is a fantastic opportunity. However, it means we move…somewhere…for a year. Then move again.

From where we stand today, it looks like we have 2 possible options.

Do the move. Pack everyone up, move to a new place for a single year, knowing we will be moving again. The moves would be during the summers, so at least the kids would have some consistency in school. I do not know at this point if we would go back to homeschooling for that year or keep them in traditional school. That’s a whole other issue. But we would all be together.
Don’t move. Ben goes, we stay. The kids can continue at our local parish school which has brought so, so many blessings to our family. They have some continuity with friends, location, activities, etc. We have found so much good here, I am extremely sad to think that this is going to be such a short duty station for them compared to previous. But wow, Ben goes. That means Ben is an airplane ride away (based on the current information we have). He would be able to come home only as we have funds for him to fly, the military will not pay for any of those visits.

So….right. How to pray in this situation. I truly don’t know what I want. I don’t want to move knowing how brief it will be. I do not want Ben to miss the majority of a year of time with us, especially when it’s of our own choosing.

We don’t have to make any decisions yet, and we still need to be informed of where he would be attending school. That particular detail – the location – is going to be a big factor of this decision process. We don’t get to choose that part, however, the Air Force will tell us where we are going. What do I pray for? The locations we would want to move everyone to? The locations we would not?

I’m sure others have been in similar situations. You want to get the job but it means leaving good friends and coworkers. You desperately need a snow day but don’t want to shovel (just me?). Someone has to die for your family member to receive a life-saving transplant. Whether serious or otherwise, there are genuinely times when we just don’t know what we ultimately want to happen.

I have had to step back and recognize that, in the end, it’s not supposed to be about what I want. I want a lot of things, cheesecake and yarn included, but that doesn’t mean I always get them or actually need them. In this particular situation, what I want doesn’t actually matter because I have no influence over the situation. I can’t call up the Air Force and let them know how I desire things to play out. It’s in God’s hands, not mine.

Which means I need to change my prayers. I could say, “I don’t know what I want so there’s no point in praying about it until the Air Force gives us more information, then I’ll think about it.” But this is a lie perfectly planted by the devil himself. St. Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. We shouldn’t put God on hold until x, y, or z falls into place. Or worse, come to the conclusion that God is only worth praying to if x, y, or z happens.

I may not know what I want, but God knows what I need. Instead of praying for what I want to happen, I have been trying to root all my prayers in Jesus’ prayer:

Not my will, but Yours be done
Luke 22:42

This situation isn’t about me, though it affects me. This is bigger. It is about where God desires our family for the next year. The people we will interact with, the blessings we can offer others, the blessings others are called to share with us. By pulling myself back and checking my emotions, I am slowly becoming more peaceful about the phone call that will, fingers crossed, hopefully be coming to Ben soon. Whatever God is calling our family to next will be hard, but I trust it is going to be God’s will for our family. He will continue to provide for us as He always has.

I have only come to this place of peace because of Adoration. We are blessed with a 24-hour Adoration chapel at our parish. Whenever we are at the chapel, aside from Sundays for whatever the reason, Gabe, our 3 year old, asks if we can stop in. We only spend a few minutes, but those minutes add up. No matter the time spent, the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is powerful. I am so thankful for these minutes and that it is Gabe who has drawn me into that quiet space. It was there I felt those simple, hard words resonate within me.

Perhaps what God is calling you to next will be hard. Maybe you don’t know what you want next from a present situation. That just means that He is already preparing the grace you need to shower upon you as you set forth into that new place. Join your voice with Jesus’. Allow your desires and wants to diminish as you gaze upon God’s loving face. As it is Advent, this is a fantastic season to spend time in Adoration. Run to God, open your hands and let Him see you know know what you want next. Let Him remove that burden of choice from you and allow His Will to become your true desire.

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