My Prayer Fallback, aka What I Do When I Don’t Know What To Do
Last night, I asked my husband a scary question: “How can I love you better?” It’s scary because I know it’s honesty time, and sometimes hearing the truth from those we love can hurt, as in “stop nagging me about XYZ, a little more appreciation for XYZ would be nice,” etc. Instead, he was quiet for a loooong time, then said, “Take care of yourself.”
Bam.
It’s true, I haven’t been doing all I can for myself, and clearly it’s affecting him (and probably the kids).
The first thing I need to do to take care of myself is work on my relationship with God. If God is love (which He IS), then I need to be sure I’m keeping up with HIM before I can be my best in my other relationships. God is the source of all love, so it makes sense that the better I am in my relationship with God–who is LOVE–the better I will be in my other relationships.
Sometimes, though, I’m so tired, or overwhelmed, or whatever that I just don’t know how to start again or get deeper in that most important relationship. And then I remember that it is simple, and thank my stars that my Catholic faith has given me helps, and I take a deep breath and pray.
To start off, all Christians know the Lord’s Prayer. We can’t go wrong praying the words Jesus specifically taught us.
Then, there’s the rosary. The “Hail Mary” is less about Mary-worship and all about asking Mary for prayers (“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners…”) and seeing Jesus’ life through the mysteries of the rosary. Of course in the rosary we also pray the Lord’s Prayer, as well as the Glory Be. There is so much going on here! Jesus’ words given to us for prayer, asking Mary to pray for us (as in, asking Jesus’ own mother to speak to her son on our behalf, and what son doesn’t listen to his mother?), meditating on Jesus’ life as we pray, as well as praising God in the Glory Be. Wow.
Another way I love to pray and deepen my relationship with God is in reading the daily Mass readings, letting the words sit and stir my soul, and reading devotions from Blessed Is She. 
Food for the soul, my friends. Food for the soul.
And that’s that. Simple ways to pray, deepen my relationship with my God, and by growing closer to the One who is Love, I also get better at loving those He has put into my life.
Bam is right! I just took the boys outside and had a moment. You know a moment of quiet. and I was thinking about how I could relish in the moment as well as take some time to pray since I feel like my prayer life is inconsistent. I sang a little tune in the few minutos the little men gave me and felt pretty stinkin’ refreshed 😉 Mindfulness is a tough one for me! Especially when I actually meet little moments that allow for it. Those little moments count though, right? 🙂 Love your tips!
Mindfulness, YES! That is key, and I need to work on it, so much. Even 5 minutes here or there can help, or being mindful of what I eat and when. Having my own self taken care of does make a difference in the way I respond to my family’s needs.
Something I forgot to mention here was that I also make a Morning Offering as soon as I wake up, already dedicating every part of the day to Jesus. I do notice a difference in my days and my ability to handle difficult moments.
Your husband is an amazing man for him to recognize what you truly need to love him is to care for yourself! I love Blessed Is She too! It is a huge blessing to the busy lady!
I’m glad you like Blessed Is She, also! Reminds me…I haven’t had a chance yet to read today’s…