Praying through Transitions
Rebekah is married to her incredible husband, Damian, and is blessed to be a mom to an almost 1-year-old, Ceci. If she is not outside enjoying the warmer weather, you can usually find her inside organizing a drawer or closet (weirdly obsessed with the Netflix show, the Home Edit!). On a more serious note, she is so excited to see how the Lord continues to challenge her to grow in her vocation as a mother. She truly believe that God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle, so she is trusting that His grace will continue to carry her through this season of life.
When I was in high school, we were taught that setting aside 30 minutes for personal prayer every single day was critical to building a relationship with God. So, I would aim to pray for 15 minutes in the morning and then 15 minutes at night. I wish I could say that I was very consistent with this, but there were definitely times when sleeping in or homework took priority. However, I still aimed to make it happen.
In college, I had such a set routine that prayer fit in easily. After my 9:20am class, I would stop by the chapel and spend a solid 30 minutes in prayer. It was just part of my day and there wasn’t much that got in the way. I would shuffle my schedule around as a new semester approached to ensure that I would find time for prayer.
Post-college, it got a little trickier to find the time to pray. I had a full-time job, was engaged, and other things would take priority over prayer time. But, I usually was able to fit in at least 20 minutes at the end of the day. I found myself praying randomly throughout the day, asking God for His grace before a big meeting or for patience with a colleague who just seemed to always get on my nerves.
But, prayer has looked completely different now that I am a mom. My daughter, Cecilia Jeraldene, has completely rocked my world in the best way possible. My husband and I have grown so much individually, but also as husband and wife through this new journey. I always imagined myself being that mom who would wake up at 6:00 A.M, get a workout, shower and prayer time before my kid woke up. Oh boy, was I wrong!
I’ve struggled with having a structured prayer time, mostly due to Ceci’s sleepless nights and unpredictable naps. I found myself getting irritated if she would wake up in the middle of my prayer time and almost held a grudge against God for it. I mean, if He wanted me to pray, He would bless me with a daughter who took long naps and slept through the night, right?!
It wasn’t until recently that I heard another mom share how her prayer life looks completely different in this stage of life. Instead of a predictable amount of time spent in quiet, her prayer might be as she is folding laundry, feeding her kid, driving to swimming lessons, or even while grocery shopping. God sees our intentions, He knows our true desires and will always accept us for where we are at. Prayer doesn’t always have to be perfect.
I still aim for dedicated time in prayer with God, but I also recognize that my vocation and way to serve the Lord right now is to be a mom and wife. Some days, my prayer might be as I hold my daughter and rock back and forth as she fights her nap. Other days, it might be a full 30 minutes of prayer time before Ceci wakes up for the day. But the important part is that I do the best that I can to bring myself and others closer to the Lord, regardless of how that looks.
1 Samuel 16:7 For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
