Friday pray along

Deep breath in... and slowly breathe out. That has been my mantra ever since I went into heavy labor with Lena. Any time I feel my blood pressure rise, my anxiety grow or my jaw clench in frustration--just breathe.

Thankfully, the past few days have found me using that strategy less and less. Not because I've abandoned my greatest coping skill, but because I have been taking the time to take care of myself. I let the dishwasher sit unloaded with dirty dishes on the counter for an extra day. I walked past the vacuum cleaner over and over, wearing socks so my bare feet didn't have to notice that the floor had lost its squeaky clean feel days ago. I threw a frozen pizza in the oven rather than make dinner on a hectic evening.

Instead I took a few extra minutes to lie down on the couch, I read several blogs that I've missed so much in the last couple weeks, I played with my girls in front of the fireplace at dinner hour, I took long hot showers and ate lunch in front of the television. And you know what? No one died. No one developed a horrible sickness. No one starved. No one gasped in horror when they walked into the living room. Huh. How 'bout that.

In fact, I've actually been feeling a lot better. Oh the headaches are still there and quite annoying at that. But I no longer feel like I'm drowning in chaos or pain. (We also began to move forward with finding the cause of this headache business that has gone on for nearly a month. Answers are starting to come together and it looks like the solution will be relatively easy to deal with.)

All in all, this letting go stuff is finally beginning to sink in and my list of things that have to get done is growing smaller. For a gal like me who had always been a bit on the OCD side, that is a big deal. Whether stress is the root cause of all the drama in the past month, reducing the load can never be a bad thing. Because knowing what it really means to enjoy the time at home with your kids and actually living that life can often be two very different things.

I am still just at the beginning of this road and have so much to learn and overcome. But the last few days have brought me one step closer to becoming the mom I want to be, and that is worth all the headaches in the world. (Amazing what God uses to teach us His great lessons, isn't it?)

And now, lets get to praying...

Here's how it works: Leave a prayer request in the comments on Friday's posts. It can be anything--something you are thankful for, a friend you are worried about, a desire from your heart... Anything. By leaving a comment you are also committing to pray for others who comment as well. We'll start fresh each week. That's it. You can even be anonymous if you wish.

My prayer this week is that we, and all families, can spend less time worrying about the little things and more time focusing on the humility, awe and joy that was the very essence of Christ's arrival on this earth.

What prayer are you holding this last week before Christmas?