What will you do with gift of this day??

THINK

“We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” C. S. Lewis The Weight of Glory

PRAY

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. 

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant. 

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen. 

--Lenten Prayer fo St. Ephrem

ACT

We have so few silences in our days! Even times that are quiet, we fill with  clicking and scrolling, the images and the words rushing into our brains and cramming spaces to overflowing. And in our clicking and our scrolling, we fall prey to an inner dialogue that is often replete with comparing and competing.

There we sit, thumbs flicking over images, as we judge and we give way to idle talk. The day clicks by. 

It's a day! A gift of a whole day that is given freely by the Creator to fill with good things for his glory. And there we are. Heads bowed. Shoulders hunched. In a posture of slothful,  mindless waste.

Today is a good day to fast, to become more aware of the time pulled away from the good and worthy and given over to habits that suck the life out of us. 

For moms at home, after you complete any essential morning tasks at the computer for the first time today, turn it off. Do not return to the computer today unless/until it is essential for the running of your household or the care of your children. Use your smartphone only for phone calls. If you are obligated to use technology to work during the day today, clearly delineate when work time ends. Put it all away.  Give the people in front of you focused attention. Fill alone time and silences with heart-to-heart conversations with Jesus. Let Him do most of the talking.

~*~*~*~

If #morningrun blesses you, please share the image so that others can find us here?

Motherhood can feel like the loneliest vocation in the world. Surrounded by children, who frequently bring us to our knees, both literally and figuratively, we can be overwhelmed by isolation. Mothers need community. We can be community for one another. We can encourage on another and hold each other accountable. If you like these short devotions, please share the image and send another woman here. And when you're here, please take a moment to pray with another mother who is visiting. Leave a comment and when you do, pray for the woman whose comment is just above yours. Just a moment--blessed--will begin to build community.

I like to pray when I run in the morning. Often, I listen to Divine Office and pray Morning Prayer or the Office of Readings. Then, I just take up a conversation with God. I'd love to pray for you! Please leave your prayer requests below and we can pray for each other, no matter how we spend our morning prayer time. Meet me back here tomorrow and I'll share the ponderings from my #morningrun.