Praying for Vocations

Some time ago, our local parish began an initiative to pray together for vocations, and, thus, another prayer peg* was set in my life.

Each weekend at Mass, parishioners in our local collaborative pause to pray a beautiful Vocations Prayer from the Knights of Columbus:

Heavenly Father, bless Your Church with an abundance of holy and zealous priests, deacons, religious brothers and sisters, and lay ministers.

Give those You have called to the married state and those You have chosen to live as single persons in the world the special graces that their lives require.

Form us all in the likeness of Your Son, so that in Him, with Him, and through Him we may love You more deeply and serve You more faithfully, always and everywhere.

With Mary we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Each time I pray this prayer, I am struck by how it touches specifically on each vocation that a person may be called to, petitions for grace and strength, points us right to Jesus, and reminds us to live with love and service.

It is such a wonderful prayer to "peg" into daily or weekly life. I encourage you to consider doing so.

*What's a Prayer Peg?

If you have not caught my prior Prayer Pegs posts, please let me briefly explain what a "prayer peg" is.
Just like one can purposefully peg laundry to a line, so can we attach distinct praise, thanksgiving, petitions, and intercession to regular parts of our lives.

By pairing particular prayers with routine activities, we can form "Holy Habits" that help us respond to St. Paul's exhortation from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray without ceasing".

Prayer pegs provide and easy and effective way to enrich prayer life.

Does Your Parish Do a Vocation Cross?

Another wonderful tradition to support prayer for vocations is a parish vocation cross.  If your parish does not already partake in such a program, I'd recommend bringing the idea up.

It is a simple, but powerful (because prayer is powerful!) initiative where each week one individual or family is given a cross and prayer cards to take home to pray daily for the week. Then, the next week, the cross and cards are transferred to another person or family at Mass. Thus, prayers for vocations increase and community builds.  Wonderful!

We first hosted our parish's vocation cross two year's ago and are delighted to be doing so again.

As I pray each day this week, I ask for the strength and grace to better live my vocation, for God to clearly illuminate the vocation He has planned for each of my children, and for those around me to be strengthened in their vocations. I also, of course, pray for an increase in vocations to the religious life.
If you'd like some ideas for beautiful vocation prayers, please take a peak at:

• Vocation Prayers.
• Discernment Prayers.
• Prayers for Vocations.
  
  
  Lord, we pray that each of us hears our call to vocation clearly and is given the strength and grace to live it well.

2 Prayer Pegs that Help Me Pray for My Husband Daily

Happy Father's Day!

I am blessed with a husband who truly loves our children and is focused on being an active Daddy and committed spouse.

That said, life is not all love and laughter here. Often enough, life is just plain challenging.

And, that's okay.

No one ever said that life as a married person with children would be perfect. 

Rather, perfection is what awaits us in Heaven one day. 

Until then, here on earth, mess abounds. 

Sometimes it's a beautiful mess. Other times, it is a downright difficult one. Either way, the mess amounts to an opportunity to grow in holiness and to sand down the rough edges and imperfections of ourselves.

When a Husband and Wife Are Holy Sandpaper

Ah, yes, those rough edges and imperfections! I know I am full of them - and, I dare say, my husband might admit he's got a few, too.

Luckily, though, God knows this about us, and, in His divine wisdom, He has made us Holy Sandpaper for one another. 

Indeed, when my husband and I seem rub each other the wrong way, if we remain open to God, He has a way of taking whatever is going awry and righting it. 

So often, He turns our wrong-way rubbing into opportunities to smooth down our jagged corners, stubborn bumps, and rough edges.

He also invites us to pray for one another - especially when things are rough.

And, that is how two simple prayer pegs for my husband came about.

Pray When Receiving Communion

One day, when I was feeling rather raw from the rubbing that can happen in marriage, I talked to a priest about it. He suggested to me that I pray for my husband each time I go up to receive the Eucharist,

What a simple, yet powerful practice! I thought.

Thus, one regular opportunity to pray for my husband got pegged into life each time I went to Mass.

Offer Prayers at the Start of Each Rosary

Another time, when I was praying a rosary after a difficult time with my husband and spoke aloud the words "for faith, hope, and charity" during the initial three Hail Mary's of a rosary, a thought struck me.

Faith, hope, and charity.  That is what I need - and my husband, too.
I recognized an alignment between the ideas of faith, hope, and charity and some petitions that I had been praying about my husband and our marriage: that my husband - and I! -would grow in faith, that our marriage would grow in God's hands, and that my husband and I would both show more charity in our communications. 

From that moment forward, I began adding, "for my husband, our marriage, and our communication" to almost every rosary I prayed. 

Then, later, when my husband had some work issues, I also added intentions for his employment into the same prayer peg, and, now, I often add other small intentions.

Pray Daily for Your Spouse

Between praying for my husband when receiving the Eucharist and praying for him at the beginning of each Rosary, I have become better at specifically praying for him each and every day.

Such prayers, I believe, are part of my vocation or marriage. Undoubtedly, God gave my husband and I to one another so that we would both grow in holiness - and prayer is such an important part of that growth.

On good days, and on challenging ones, prayers of thanksgiving, petition, praise are vital. Do you, too, pray specific prayers at specific times for your spouse?

What's a Prayer Peg?

If you are new here or have not caught my prior Prayer Pegs posts, let me explain that as a busy, distractable Mom, I am not always good at listening to St. Paul's exhortation from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray without ceasing."

Thus, I have come to establish a number of "prayer pegs" for myself and my children as a way of building "Holy Habits" for us which will flow naturally, seamlessly, and rhythmically within our lives. 

These "prayer pegs" are simply acts of blessing, praise, thanksgiving, petition, and intercession that we've attached to specific activities in order to form intentional habits of unceasing prayer.  For just like one can purposefully peg laundry to a line, we can attach a distinct form of prayer to a regular part of our lives.

What prayer pegs work for you and yours at other times during your days and weeks? Do share! 

May your husband - or wife - be filled with grace, growing closer to God each and every day!

Pray for Your Child's Vocation and Possible Future Spouse

This morning, as my family walked into Mass, we discovered one of the scheduled altar servers had not shown up. Thus, one of my boys quickly went to the sacristy to prepare to serve.

As soon as I laid eyes on him dressed in an alb, a spontaneous prayer began in my head. It went something like this:

Lord, if my son is meant to be a priest, please let him hear his call clearly and pursue it well.  Lord, also, please equip me to best guide, support, and love him in whatever future vocation he is mean to live.

Religious life, married life, life as a single person. Whatever you will for my son, may it be so. 

And, Lord, if my son has a vocation to marriage, please be working in the heart and mind of his future spouse. Please be preparing her specifically for him so that they may both fully love one another and love you well. Let her be growing in relationship to you and in ways that will bloom in relationship with him. Likewise, prepare him to be a worthy husband to her.

Lord, I pray also for the possible future spouses of my daughter and of my youngest son.  If my children are called to the vocation of marriage, please be with their spouses now, giving them grace and helping them grow. Please prepare their spouses' hearts for them and theirs for their spouses.  Please direct them to their spouses in a timely way, not letting them stray in mistaken relationships. 

Of course, Lord, if marriage is not your will for any of my children, that is more than okay. Whatever you call is, I pray they hear it clearly and follow it well. Please give them the virtue, strength, and wisdom to live as priests, religious, single people, or married people - whatever is your will.

Whatever vocation you desire of my children, please work in their hearts, in mine, and, if they are to be married, in the hearts of their spouses, now so that your will may unfold beautifully.

Thank you for every grace and blessing. Amen.

A Weekly Prayer Peg for My Child's Vocation - and Possible Future Spouse

The prayer I prayed this morning was a bit verbose - just pouring forth as I looked at my son and then up to stained glass widows of Jesus on the cross and Mama Mary next to him.

Other weeks, my prayer is briefer, but, always, when I pray for my children's vocations - and for their possible future spouses - it is heartfelt.

You see, years ago, I felt prompted to pray for the potential future spouse of my eldest son, and, then, for that of my daughter and my youngest son, i, I should pray for their spouses every day.

Truth be told, though, I think a lot of things, but am not always the best at turning thoughts into action.

So, all too many days, such prayers went unprayed until one Sunday, I realized that when my boys are serving on the altar, I often find myself praying that, if they are meant to be priests, they will clearly hear God's call. Then, I thought, And, if they are not meant to be priests but are meant to be married, please be preparing their wives' hearts. And, at this moment, corollary clarity struck: Mama, you are meant to pray for your children - whatever their vocations may be - and, feel called to pray for their future spouses, too. So, what better time than "pegged" to Sunday Mass - and, sometimes, daily Mass?
So, it was a personal "prayer peg" formed.

Each Sunday, I pray simply, Lord, please be preparing my children for their vocation and help me to do so, too.  If they are to be married, please be working in the hearts and lives of their spouses now to prepare them for their future marriage. Or, something akin to that.  

Some weeks, I pray but a sentence or two. Other weeks, mental paragraphs of prayer pour forth. All weeks, I am grateful that God placed it on my heart to pray for this specific intention for my children, and, if they are to be married, for their future spouses.

Should marriage be their vocation, I look forward to welcoming their future spouses into our family and to smile, knowing God prompted me to pray for them before I even knew them.

God is good. All the time. Whatever vocation He has planned for my children will be, too.

The same goes for your children.

Do you, too, pray regularly for your child's future spouse or for your child to clearly hear a call to religious or single life? 

Do you pray that you be given the grace to be able to do your part in helping your child transition into whatever vocation is God's will? 

If so, have "pegged" such prayers to a specific time? 

Do you pray spontaneously for such intentions as I do, or do you use a specific pre-written prayer, Bible verse, or prayer "formula"?  

I would love to hear about it.

What's a Prayer Peg?

If you are new here or have not caught my prior Prayer Pegs posts, let me explain that as a busy, distractable Mom, I am not always good at listening to St. Paul's exhortation from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray without ceasing."

Thus, I have come to establish a number of "prayer pegs" for myself and my children as a way of building "Holy Habits" for us which will flow naturally, seamlessly, and rhythmically within our lives. 

These "prayer pegs" are simply acts of blessing, praise, thanksgiving, petition, and intercession that we've attached to specific activities in order to form intentional habits of unceasing prayer.  For just like one can purposefully peg laundry to a line, we can attach a distinct form of prayer to a regular part of our lives.

What prayer pegs work for you and yours at other times during your days and weeks? Do share! 

And may your child and my own children continue to grow in relationship to God and in virtue, wisdom, and stature, so that they might clearly hear their calls to vocation and, then, live their vocations well.

Pray Unceasingly with a Cemetery Prayer Peg

"Pray without ceasing," St. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

In an effort to do just this, I began establishing "prayer pegs" with my children years ago as a way of building "Holy Habits" that flow naturally, seamlessly, and rhythmically within our day-to-day lives.

What's a Prayer Peg?

Just as one can peg laundry to a line - simply, without great ado, and yet with purposeful intent - one can attach blessing, praise, thanksgiving, petition, and intercession to specific daily activities in order to form intentional habits of unceasing prayer.

This, in essence, is what I call "prayer pegs".

A prayer peg is simply an act of praying a distinct form of prayer in connection with a particular regular activity.

A Prayer Peg for When We Pass a Cemetery

One prayer peg that my family has established is to pause all conversation and thought when passing a cemetery so that we can pray:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace through your mercy. Amen.

Upon concluding this prayer, we sometimes add specific intentions for our own beloved dead or for the dearly departed of our friends. While, at other times, we simply return to whatever we were saying, thinking, or doing before we noticed we were passing a cemetery.

Either way, because we live around the corner from one cemetery and pass many others during our day-to-day travels, our purposeful prayer peg encourages us to regularly raise our minds and hearts to God while living out part of the seventh Spiritual Work of Mercy: praying for the dead.

Often multiple times within a single day, whether walking or driving, one of us will note a cemetery and deliberately begin to pray. Then, the rest of us will join in.

Praying when passing a cemetery has become a holy habit for our family that was easy to establish and continues to help us to respond to St. Paul's exhortation to pray without ceasing.

Do you pray a specific prayer when passing a cemetery? What prayer pegs work for you and yours at other times during your days?

What Do You Do When You Get into the Car?

"Mom, you forgot to pray a decade," piped up a little voice from the back of our minivan this morning just as my husband and I had entered into a conversation.

Although my little one had interrupted my husband and me, his words made me smile.  

In my head and my heart, I prayed:  Thank you, God, for my youngest.  Thank you for affirming a positive and meaningful habit is being built in my children.  Thank you for this time.  And, thence, I began the simple Prayer Peg that we've attached to our regular entry into our minivan.

Basically, almost every time we get into our van, we say a brief prayer pf some sort of another, and, if it's the first time in a day that the children and I hit the road together, we pray a bit longer.

First, we pray the Guardian Angel prayer.  Then, we pray a decade of the rosary together, pausing between each Hail Mary to vocalize special intentions for friends, family members, those in the vehicles around us, the world at large, etc.

Sometimes these prayers are truly beautiful and reverent.  Other times, well, at least they are shared.  All the time, they are heard, we trust, and for that, we are most grateful!

Do you pray, too, each time you enter your vehicle?  Spontaneous prayers, meditative prayers or traditional prayers?  What other Prayer Pegs have you added to your daily life?

 

Prayer Pegs: Lunch Time, the Blessed Mother and Buckets!

There is a reason for my delay in posting the next part of our Prayer Pegs series, which was promised for August 18^th, but is just coming together.  And, no, that reason is not simply that in juggling all of the balls of life, I allowed the one of writing the next Prayer Pegs post to drop.  For while that is true, another truth has become apparent to me:  The Holy Spirit had some work to do within me before I shared anything about our Lunch Time Prayer Peg... and for that, I am thankful!

It hit me this past Sunday as I recited a perfunctory grace before scarfing down lunch in order to get back to chores while Jack napped.  I was saying, not praying, and I was on course to training my children to do the same.  Yikes!

I had just picked up Lighthouse Catholic Media’s Building Better Families and was listening to it as I bounced between baby care and my to-do list.  (Mike had graciously taken our older two children to a local wading pool for a few hours or I could have never listened to the message on the CD.)  As I listened, ever once in a while, Matthew Kelly’s recorded talk prompted me to pause with a “hmm”.  Then, as I caught myself simply reciting Grace just after hearing Kelly talk about the idea that there is a difference between saying and praying, I stopped short.  Eek!  I had just done that very thing!  I had rushed through grace, uttering words but not feeling much of anything.  My mind was on what task I would do next, instead of on the gift of conversing with the Lord in a rare moment of quiet in my home.  Would my children’s “prayers” be similar?  If I continued with the idea that our Lunch Time Prayer Peg would be grace and a Hail Mary, moving toward a goal of praying the Angelus (or Memorare) would I be teaching my kids to pray or to say?

My answer came at the very next lunch I shared with my older children.  Nina offered to say grace, mixing parts of the Hail Mary with her own thoughts about thanking God for her day.  I almost stepped in to “help” her finish the Hail Mary when I realized she was praying from her heart, not from rote memorization.  Her Hail Mary may have been incomplete, but her prayer was whole.  It was heartfelt.  It was hers.  My little girl shared aloud her own admiration for Our Lady and prayer to Our Father.

Then, yesterday, since by lunch time, we had not yet made for our read-aloud picture book of the week – Have You Filled A Bucket Today – I offered to share it with the kids at lunch.  When we got to the only part of the book I don’t particularly love (the part that, in effect, says only you can fill others’ buckets and only others can fill your bucket), I stopped to ask the kids who really fills all our buckets (God!) and how do we fill each other’s buckets (by sharing God’s love).  From this, our pre-lunch prayer took its own shape.  I thanked God aloud for my children knowing God is the real bucket filler by answering the way they did.  Then, we all thanked God for how we had “filled each others buckets” so far in the day and said sorry for when we had been “bucket dippers”.  Grace grew from the reality of the moment; our conversation about a book became our lunch time conversation with God.

And, so moving forward, I recognize that our Lunch Time Prayer Peg may one day still include the beautiful tradition of the Angelus and Memore, as I mentioned in the initial post of this series.  Indeed, praying – not saying – the Angelus would be a wonderful habit to instill in our family.  Yet, for the time being, simpler, more spontaneous, heartfelt prayers from each of us, at the kids’ level, seem to be what the Spirit is calling us to. 

On the deck, on a picnic blanket, in the car, at a friend’s house – wherever we find ourselves at lunch – we can model our Blessed Mother by humbly saying “Yes!” to God.  She did in so many ways.  We can emulate her abiding spirit by taking the time to pray from our heart, in whatever form helps us converse most openly and completely at our stage in life and faith sharing as a family.  For now, that is with bucket filling! 

How has God filled your bucket today?  And how are you passing that love on?  I would love to hear your thoughts about praying with your own children, avoiding just reciting prayers and recognizing when your own plan might not be the best one.  Please feel free to leave a comment and, if you know of a snazzy picture booklet or cards for helping families pray the Angelus, do share.  One day, as the Spirit moves us, we may yet benefit from such a thing!

This post is being shared at Grace Alone.  Enjoy reading others Thankful Thursday posts there.

Prayer Pegs, Giveaways and Life, Oh My!

"Life is what happens when you are making other plans."

This was written on a Salada tea bag years ago and seemed to sum up the way I was feeling so well that I had it taped to my desk for years on end.  Well, I am remembering it right now as I realize I missed posting the next part of our Prayer Pegs series on Wednesday and have not had the kids draw a winner from the Giveaway yet.  Why?  Life is what has been happening, and my plans for posting and blogging have had to take a brief back seat.

So, in case anyone actually checked back here this week for the prayer post or to see if they had won, I wanted to jump on for a moment to say - news of both IS coming, just not today!  Thank you for understanding.

And, P.S.:  Our camera broke, so no new pics to include with posts for now.

Prayer Pegs - Snack Time and Turning “Twaddle” into a Tool for Faith Formation and Early Learning Concepts

At a recent Snack Time, a happy Luke thanks God for "going to the concert and seeing the firetrucks".

Charlotte Mason (CM) aficionados know all about “twaddle” and try to avoid it. Montessorians recognize the value of fine literature and often shun things like talking animals. As someone influenced by both CM and Montessori, I try to purge “twaddle” books as soon as they come into our home. But, sometimes, for one reason or another, I don’t. And, this works here at Jammies School.

Indeed, as I think about our Snack Time Prayer Peg, I am reminded of this. For, where our Wake Up Prayer Peg and our Breakfast/Morning Circle one are comparatively elaborate, our Snack Time one is pretty basic: Grace!

That grace, of late, often comes from a page of a “twaddle book” called My Favorite Mealtime Prayers, and includes the words, “Thank you for the birds that sing. Thank you God for everything.” Well, thanking God for nature and “everything” at about 10 o’clock in the morning seems perfect. It helps us quickly reflect on what we see and hear around our picnic blanket or snack table, what we’ve been doing so far in the day and who we have on our minds providing a prayerful pause to our day. Not so twaddle-y after all!

In fact, this makes me glad I kept My Favorite Mealtime Prayers, upon the kids’ request, when a neighbor gave it to us some time back. For even with its personified bunnies and predictable rhyming prayers, the book has proven a useful tool, not only at Snack Time, but in support of our Core Four, Plus, too!

Reading and Early Learning Concepts
When My Favorite Mealtime Prayers came into our home, Nina asked if she could put it in our Morning Reading Basket. The following day, at breakfast, she requested to read it. That morning and every morning for a while thereafter, I asked the kids which prayer from it they wanted me to read and help them say, sometimes in addition to our regular grace and sometimes as the grace itself. At first, they were only interested in reading the page that depicted two bunnies eating an ice cream (Great – perhaps I should have passed it on with other twaddle!), but, soon, they decided to ask for one of the other four prayers in this simple prayer board book.

As they listened to each prayer and inspected the illustration that went with them, I was able to capitalize on their attraction to the bright, if trite, bunny-family pictures while throwing some early learning concepts in:

What in the picture is (color)? How many bunnies on this page? How are the children being kind and helping? Which food is a healthy food that makes your body feel good and which is just a treat?

With this, we focused more on each page and began talking more about the words in the prayers themselves – expanding on their simple concepts with observations and thoughts of our own.

Math Concepts

Then, one day, as Luke was paging through the book picking a prayer for me to read, he counted the prayers – “One…two… three… four…five. Mommy, what times do we eat again?”

Luke had realized that we usually eat five times a day – breakfast, snack, lunch, tea time and dinner. Connection made, he determined that we should read the first prayer for breakfast times, the second for snacks and so on. One-to-one concepts sinking in there… Love it! And, more math concepts, too:

How many __ do you see? Is there something that is a circle on this page? Is there a rectangle? How many plates do the bunny- kids have to set so the whole bunny family can eat?

Even twaddle can expand mathematical thinking, it seems!

Faith Formation

And, it can lead to questioning and discussion for further faith formation for the kids, too. Yes, we have taken to using Our Favorite Mealtime Prayers “twaddle” as a tool to deepen the kids’ prayers. Basically, we read the simple rhyming prayers in it, pausing to reflect on certain words and phrases.

For example, one recent morning, the prayer said “we bow our heads” and we talked about why we bow our heads to pray, showing respect to God. Later in the day, when we spoke of God, we tried to remember to bow our heads.

Another time, when a prayer read, “we ask your help in all we face,” I asked the kids what they might need to ask God for help with that morning. Luke said, “being kind to Nina” and prayed aloud with this intention. Ooo - evidence that he is beginning to recognize his own weaknesses and to ask God for help with them. Yay!

Still later, the same prayer talked about “every blessing sent our way” and Nina interjected that Jack is a blessing and thanked God for him. (It makes me so happy when my pro-life preschoolers continually talk about, thank God for and even talk to –first, through my belly, and, now, live and in person– their baby brother!)

And so on… From a simple prayer in an equally simple book, we are able to explore prayer concepts of adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. Twaddle has definitely become a tool.

Now, I am not suggesting here that you should run out and buy a copy of My Favorite Mealtime Prayers. I am simply sharing how sometimes twaddle has its purpose, too. In fact, almost anything does, when seen through the eyes of prayer – a truth for which I am thankful!

So, I am wondering: Do you keep any twaddle in your collection? Book or toys? Why? How do you use it as a tool for meeting your own family’s goals? Or, it is just brain candy? Do share in a comment or with a link. And, do come back next Wednesday to continue sharing with this Prayer Peg series.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Prayer Pegs - Breakfast and Morning Circle Time

<-- Jack's first Morning Circle with us nearly one month ago.  Nina, of course, couldn't stay at the table because she wanted to be near him...

Whoo hoo!  Making time to pre-write a blog post and taking time to pray unceasingly each day work for my family!  As such, today, I am continuing our Prayer Peg series.  (You can find Part One here and Part Two here.)  I hope it helps others find ways to include a little extra focus on God in their own lives as well as encourages folks to leave a comment to share new ideas and inspiration for our little family to explore.

So, here is Part Three:

Like many folks, a natural Prayer Peg at our Breakfast/Morning Circle Time is grace.  Luke and Nina choose to “fold or hold” (folding their hands together or holding hands as a family – sometimes a combo of both, depending on the kids’ preferences of the moment) and, then, one or both of them lead us in prayer.  Sometimes this is a formal grace:

“Bless us, dear Lord, for these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from they bounty, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.”

Sometimes, it is the “Hail Mary”, a spontaneous prayer or even Grampy’s silly, fun prayer:

“Good food.  Good meat.  Good God.  Let’s eat.  Yea-ea-ea, God!”

(So what if we rarely eat, especially at breakfast time!  The kids just love the blessing.)

Then, we eat.  Or, I should say, I eat, while Nina and Luke switch off between eating, coddling Jack and simply getting distracted.  To keep them at the table, and, hopefully, finishing their breakfasts, it has become a habit for us to incorporate a book or two into our Breakfast and Morning Circle Time. 

Basically, as we start eating, I ask the kids what day it is and we consult a book we were given for one of the kid’s Baptisms, Give Me Grace by Cynthia Rylant, for our daily prayer.  This entails us flipping through the pages with me asking, “Is it Monday?” and the kids answering, “No...”  “Is it Tuesday?”  “No-o-o...” until we get to the page for the day it really is.  Then, we read the prayer for the weekday and think of ways we might apply it.  (For example, when it says, “…make me good and kind to all the creatures that I find”, we talk about ways we can be kind to ants, birds, spiders and other creatures we come across that day.)  Then, we sing two songs about the day:

“Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, a week!”

and

“Today is ~day.  Today is ~day.  All day long.  All day long.  Yesterday was ~day.  Yesterday was ~day.  We had fun.  We had fun.”  (sung to the tune of 3 Blind Mice)

I ask them what they had fun doing yesterday and we say a little prayer of thanks for whatever comes to mind.  They also enjoy finding the animals in the drawings of whatever prayer page we read in Give Me Grace, counting the everyday objects depicted, etc.  (I must say we find Give Me Grace, though very simple, a good baby to toddler and beyond book which not only works well for keeping our prayer time going throughout breakfast, but also helps us with some typical a Circle Time objectives – think calendar, counting, etc.)

Then, when I finish eating, while the kids are still pecking away at their food, distracted by wanting to hug and kiss Jack or wishing to leave the table for sundry reasons, I lure them back through reading to them.  In our stack of books at this time, along with whatever the kids’ current favorite secular picture books are, we almost always include faith-inspired ones, particularly Bible stories.  (Our aim is to familiarize the kids with God’s Word through Bible stories, now, and reading more of the actual Bible to them as time goes on.)  We often make up an impromptu game, rhyme or song to go along with these readings or simply talk about its themes.  Then, Breakfast and Circle Time winds down, but the day – and our pegging of prayers throughout it – continues.

Now, in case you wonder what some of the Bible story books are that rotate through our Morning Circle reading basket, here are a few:

My Favorite Bible Storybook for Toddlers (Spirit Press) – We were given this small board book as a Baptism present for one of my children.  They both love it.  The stories are brief and the pictures are colorful (albeit cartoonish).  Each one-page Bible story in the book is followed by questions and activity suggestions, which provide a jumping off point for discussion and fun.  Often I draw extension activity inspiration from these.  Also, each story’s illustration has a lift-the-flap part with a “surprise” picture portion and scripture quote beneath it.  My children love lifting these flaps when we are reading the book together as well as when they are paging through the book “reading” it to themselves. They also have fun making up impromptu songs with me which include the scripture passages.  Truly, I would recommend this book as a great first Bible stories book.  It retells many of the main stories of the Bible in an age-appealing and appropriate way.

My First Picture Bible Stories: Catholic Edition (Kenneth N. Taylor) – This book was given to us as a gift for one of my children’s Baptism and has proved a favorite.  The kids enjoy the short stories and colorful illustrations and respond well to the questions each story ends with, which can be a starting point for devotions and reflections.  I think this book is a great first (or second, really, as my kids preferred the aforementioned lift-the-flap board book Bible as their first Bible stories book) for any child!  It’s great for preschoolers, but not quite sturdy enough for the youngest of children.  (Our copy’s binding is taped together!)

Hooked On Bible Stories Series – Santa brought this for me one Christmas.  Both the kids and I love it!  The kids ask for the stories often, and I don’t mind reading them over and over.  They are appropriate for the kids’ ages, have engaging pictures and hold the kids’ interest.  We also enjoy the CD’s that came with the set and are waiting for the kids to get a bit bigger before using the game and scripture cards that also came with it.

The Children’s Bible (Juan Surinach) – This book was suggested on Mater Amabilis.  Our local library network carries it, so we borrowed it as a breakfast Bible reading book.  Each page presents a brief Bible story with a simple picture as well as a thought/challenge/devotional focus of the day.  Unlike many of the other Christian books we are able to get through our library network, this one is actually Catholic-based, which I love!  Plus, the kids enjoy it, often asking for more than one story at a sitting.  The only drawback I have discovered is that the stories and pictures in the book are sometimes too “old” for my children.  These, I read, but think the kids will better understand and glean benefits from as they mature.  Others, I have to be careful to skip altogether since Luke, immediately notes any violence in the words and pictures, inquires about it and, all too often, later tries to dramatize similar scenarios in play.  Thus, this book while is one I may wait a few more months, or even a couple years, to revisit again.  But, I will definitely be revisiting it!

The Bible Story (Arthur S. Maxwell) – At 3 ½, Luke had been wanting me to read him more and more chapter books.  It was challenging to find age-appropriate ones.  So, when we were given this 10-volume set by a fellow homeschooler and he begged me to begin reading it to him as a chapter book, I complied.  As Luke, Nina and I cuddled up to read the stories in the first volume at bedtime one night, I decided right from the start that I liked the way familiar Bible stories were retold with a true storyteller’s voice, engaging readers.  However, as we read more during Breakfast and Morning Circle time, I quickly discovered that some of the stories’ concepts and illustrations were a bit too “old” for my children due to their violence-quotient, etc.  Thus, I only continued reading the stories for a several weeks, skipping/editing as I saw fit, until I was able to draw the kids’ attention elsewhere.  That being said, in a few years, we will revisit this series.

Of course, there are more Bible books we rotate through, but, to be honest, they are currently in a box tucked in a difficult-to-reach corner.  Since I cannot get to them to get author names and browse to give a fair, albeit quick, review, I think I will leave this list here.

Now, I am wondering:  What are some of your favorite Bible storybooks for children, young and old?  In what ways do you share Scripture with your wee ones?  Do you do a Morning Circle, a Book Basket or a Family Time each morning?  If so, what does it look like?  Please share!  And, of course, check back next Weds. as we continue this Prayer Peg series.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Prayer Pegs - Wake Up Time

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<-- Luke helps Jack say his Morning Offering.

Last week, we began a Prayer Pegs series to share how we are taking action steps to share our primary goal of loving and serving God here at Jammies School.

One habit we are trying to instill in our children is that of beginning the day with grace, gratitude and intention through praying a simple Morning Offering.  We hope this Offering also helps them open up a daily “conversation” with God, so that they might begin to "pray unceasingly." So, when the kids wake up, after giving and receiving “good morning” hugs and kisses with Mom and Dad, we help them say this simple prayer:

“Good morning, God!  I thank you for this day.  Please be with me in all I think and do and say.” 

Some days, Luke and Nina say this Morning Offering on their own.  Other days they say it in unison with me.  Still, at other times, they ask me to say it for them or tell me they have said it in their heads.  Each day is different.  But, the important thing is that each day begins with mention of – and thanks to – God!  The vital daily conversation with Our Father begins.

It continues, less formally, as the kids enter into free play while Mommy does chores and whatnot.  Case in point:  One recent morning, I heard Luke and Nina talking about church, God, priests, etc. while they played with their Little People and Mega Blocks.  Part of their dialogue was conversation with one another, but part of it became a sort of prayerful conversation with God.  All of it was completely kid-prompted and integrated into their play. It made me smile, confirming for me that our focus on pegging prayer to regular parts of our daily lives – even if not done perfectly nor consistently – has created an environment where “God play” and prayer come spontaneously and naturally.  That is just what we are aiming for!   What a great start to the day that was.

Eventually, we hope to add a more formal, traditional Morning Offering to our Wake Up Time Prayer Peg, as well as whatever other personal and creative forms of prayer and faith formation speak to us.  Your ideas, resources, links and stories about similar endeavors for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and “big ones” would be most welcome.  Please leave a comment to share your favorite Morning Offering prayer, way of praying unceasingly, etc.  And, check back with us next Wednesday for our continuing Prayer Pegs series.

Also, be sure to visit the Works for Me Wednesday links at We Are THAT Family to see what works for others this week at home, work, home education, and, of course, prayer.  Starting our day off right with a Prayer Peg sure do work for us!

Prayer Pegs

 Nina helps Jack say his Morning Offering on July 21, 2010 - Jack's due date and his three week old "birthday".

Somewhere along the way in my homeschooling Mom research, I heard the term “prayer pegs.” (See the note at the bottom of this post for a “giving credit where credit is due” attempt for this idea.)  The Prayer Pegs concept seemed a succinct way to name something I was already doing for myself and continually hope to train my children to do - basically “pegging” a habit of prayer and faith formation to different routine aspects of the day – wake up time, meal times, chore times, bedtime, etc. 

Of course, the idea of attaching prayer to regular parts of each day is not new concept for anyone, I know. The fun name just makes it seem like it!

So, with the “Prayer Pegs” name as a catalyst, I began to reflect upon our days, noting what key routine, non-negotiable and natural events occur regularly despite “whatever comes up”.  Then, I thought about our Jammies School Mission and Goals and how we might “peg” activities and action steps related to it to each of these rhythmic events of our day.

Since our primary goal is “to love God”, it made sense to me that the pegging should begin with prayer.  For, as anyone knows, if you peg too much laundry to a line, the line might not hold.  So, before I started randomly pegging things to each part of our day, I wanted to be sure I began with the most vital -- faith, leaving the stray socks and rags of life and studies, so to speak, to drape wherever they might fit in order to dry.  Thus, we could rest assured that the most important things had secure spots to flutter in life’s breeze.

What I came up with was a relatively simple vision of what Prayer Pegs should go where within our day:

Wake Up

Morning Offering

(Daily Readings for Mommy)

Informal Conversations With and About God

Breakfast Time

Daily Prayer

Grace

Bible Story and Devotionals
Eventually: Inspirational Songs

Snack Time

Grace

Praise

Lunch Time

Currently: Grace

Moving Forward: Hail Mary (Building to Angelus) or the Memorare

Tea Time

Grace

Sometimes, Faith Based Story Time

Sometimes, Saint Day Tea or Other Special Faith Event

Dinner Time

Grace

Thank You God for...

Build toward Family Rosary before Bedtime

Bedtime

Currently: A.C.T.S Prayer and, sometimes, Faith-Based Music

Over Time:  Examination of Conscience and Act of Contrition

Additionally, we participate in Mass at least once a week with our entire family, plan to celebrate our Name Days and our Baptism Days, and observe the Liturgical Year in our Domestic Church through special events, such as Saint Day Tea Times.

Over the course of the next few Wednesdays, I will share in detail about each of our Prayer Peg Times.  Please stop by to see what we are doing as well as to add your own ideas and inspiration to our “loving God” mission by leaving comments.

Prayer Pegs are working for us.  To see what works for others this week, check out the Works for Me Wednesday links at We Are THAT Family.

*NOTE:  In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, I have tried to find where I first heard the term “prayer pegs”, but cannot seem to do so.  I have traced the “pegging” concept, however, to Leoni from the CatholicCMason Yahoogroup with a developed example of  a “pegged” day posted by Melisa Wiley at Here in the Bonnie Glen.  If anyone knows who to credit for the “prayer pegs” idea itself, please share!