Prayers

Sorry to disappear, but it has been so busy around here.  Some fun stuff, but demanding stuff.   Foster care is in a whirlwind.  Therapy just started.  New behavior issues started.  Visits with Cricket's mom are happening again.  Cricket's mom is pregnant.  Cricket's sister's relative is working on getting licensed to take the siblings (not sure how new baby will factor into that) and had Cricket for respite overnight.  Cricket and her sister had a blast, but the transition back to our house was not an easy day.


So, I thought I'd take a moment from all of that to pause and just write a bit.


When Cricket arrived and I talked to her mom on the phone, she asked if we would say The Lord's Prayer with her.  I told her that we pray with our kids and are Christians, and she was very happy to hear that.  She loves when I give her papers Cricket has colored in Sunday school, etc.


So, I've said it with the kids every day before lunch.  I don't come from a background of ritual prayer, more of the background of stream-of-consciousness prayer, and I've found it to be a good practice for me.  In the middle of the day, there is usually a word in there that grabs me and convicts me.  It helps me to listen instead of talk.


A new kind of praying came from a tough day in the car.  I think we were leaving a visit, though I can't remember, but Cricket was upset that she couldn't see her mom.  I asked her if I could pray for her mom with her, and she said yes, and I said a prayer as we drove.  She then asked for prayers for her sissy, her Granny, her baby brother.  Now she's connected it with driving, and so many of drives include prayers for her family.


What I need to add are more prayers for Cricket herself.  I feel sometimes I pray so much about wisdom as a parent, or about her family, that I don't stop and just pray for the child herself.  She needs prayers now and in the future.


I know that in this Advent, it has not taken much effort to feel the darkness of this world.