8:00 AM

A PRAYER FOR PARENTS

These are the the unseen moments of the day.

The way we rise and stumble awkwardly to start the drip coffee or turn on the burner for the jebena.

The minutes where we say our prayers and spend time in venerated texts or catching up on unfinished work before the sun and the children rise.

We usher little humans into the day,

Changing from night clothes into the dressings of the daylight hours.

We prepare breakfasts, we brush out tangled heads full of hair that have seen the deep and untroubled sleep of youth.

We brush teeth and pack lunches.

Then we walk these brave, unvarnished souls out into the bright and fearful day.

We traverse the mud, the rocks, the sewage and the alleyways full of would be predators with these small lives in our care, keeping them as unstained as we can, knowing also, it will be us who washes them clean again at the ending of this dreadful, glorious day.

God who made the world, who created us and who crafted each of these tiny image bearers for us to guide and guard, you see in these unseen moments. You walk with us as we walk with those in our care. You see each kiss on the forehead, each spoonful of porridge, each little sock placed gently on tiny toes. You feel with us the pang and pride of separation as we send them off to school and into this bright, terrifying, wonderfully made day.

As we walk these beautiful gifts into this world, would you remind us each that you also walk with us? That as we craft and care for these dear little ones, you also continue to hold and love and lead each of us. For we are your children, just as these ones are ours.

When the rearing of these miniature mirrors of our own flaws becomes too much for us to bear, when our patience begins to slip, when the weight of wanting more for them than we can possibly give becomes staggering, would you remind us of your great love and care, not only for us, but also for each precious one of them?

As we release our children into this fearfully and wonderfully crafted day, please whisper your truth again to our forgetful ears, that you do not ever release either us or them, but continue to walk with us all in each unseen moment.