Say a Prayer - Res 23

Intro:

The New Year had me thinking a lot about goals, values, ambitions, motivations, life, and how excited I was to wear my new fuzzy socks. With all the talk of “look how far you’ve come in a year” and “can you believe that was only 1 year ago” I found myself even more reflective and nearly bubbling over with blog ideas – two of which involved writing about goals and values.

At my old job, we had a list of working norms – kind of like guiding values – and each day at our morning huddle, we would say what working norm we were focusing on that day. I loved that idea. I mean, obviously, in theory, you were living into every positive attribute every day you walked into the office, but how nice it was to really put your heart and soul behind one guiding value each week.

For this reason, I’ve decided to dedicate a new series of “Res” posts to my own kind of working norms – my own mini-resolutions. You don’t have to buy into any of these. You don’t have to make your own. But maybe at some point, it’ll make you think about what it would look like to radically change your life one week at a time.

Res 23: Say a Prayer

Every Sunday, I walk one mile to church and one mile home. Sure, I could take the bus or the subway, but there’s something nice about walking along the park on sleepy Sunday mornings. It’s my time to call my family and/or friends to catch up before the week begins. I often will find myself chatting with my dad as I’m rounding the corner to my church. He always tells me that he prays for my brothers and me each Sunday when he goes to church and I am always reminded to keep our family on my prayer list as well.

Because prayer is a highly personal topic that I do not at all feel comfortable writing about, I’m going to focus on the importance of June 18th 2017. Today is Father’s Day and I am very blessed to have a supportive father who doubles as a gardener, chef, mechanic, and technology expert. I know, however, that that isn’t the case for everyone. For that reason, I’m going to suggest a Father’s Day prayer for everyone.

Today, I want to keep the following children in my heart:

- those who have great relationships with their fathers but don’t get to see them as often as they’d like

- those who have strained relationships with their fathers

- those who have never known their fathers

- those whose fathers have passed

Today, I want to keep the following fathers in my heart:

- those who have great relationships with their children, but don’t get to see them as often as they’d like

- those who have strained relationships with a child

- those who have never known their children

- those who have lost children

Resolution #23: Say a Prayer

This week, I want to embrace all the ways my father has taught to me live, love, and pray. I want to enjoy the little moments like walking a dog before sunset. I want to embrace an eclectic array of hobbies – like gardening and making shortbread cookies. And I want to know that the people I love are doing well.

This week also, I want to send a prayer to those who struggle with today. Much like my own family, you are in my prayers today.

Love always,

Liz