The morning stretched on forever it seemed. My highly motivated self slowly diminished through the chores of showering, dressing both myself and Madi, preparing and eating breakfast, and cleaning up the dishes piled in the sink from the past weekend. By ten o'clock all that remained was a shell of the go-getter who had risen a few hours before. Tasks seemed to be taking twice as long as usual, and Madi continually neglected her toys and swarmed to my own leaving a trail of ribbon, socks, and makeup in her wake.
My patience empty, my temper welling, I knew that prayer would have to be a part of our day. But I stalled. We watched The Wiggles, went for a walk, filled the bird feeders, and asked Josh to come home for lunch. As I sat the lunch dishes in the sink, I knew it was now or never. Madi's nap was fast approaching, and we both needed some support, some reassurance, some rest.
As I pulled the censer, the charcoal, the incense, and the prayer book out of the cabinet, Madilyn scurried from the living room to the dining room preparing. A herd of animals formed before our icon stand. Every last sheep, rooster, cow, and horse was brought before our cross and icons to participate in the Akathist to the Mother of God.
As I chanted with the occasional "uuu-a" (Alleluia)from Madi thrown in, my restlessness, temper, and impatience evaporated. At the end, Madi practiced her "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us." And our plastic gathering of farm animals, my little ponies, and little people looked on.
1 comment:
It's so important to teach our kids to pray early! I've always done bedtime prayers with the boys since they were born practically, but now that Isaac is 2 I'm teaching him the Lord's Prayer. I figure if he can learn Little Drummer Boy, he can learn that!
Post a Comment