For Mothers Only
Another Mother’s Day has come and gone. I had a very nice Mother’s Day and I would like to share one of my special Mother’s Day gifts with you. With summer coming, I feel that all Mom’s will enjoy reading this Mother’s prayer that was given to me by “Clark”. And if your kids are raised and away from home, Mom, I am sure you will remember having these feelings and thoughts many times in the years when your kids were growing up.
The verse was taken from a book titled, “Prayers from a Mother’s Heart” written by Judith Mattison. Six of these verses were photo copied and placed in a little book that “Clark” made for me in kindergarten class. He made the cover from green construction paper with a yellow tulip made from material, pasted on the front. He tied it together with green yarn, and on the first page was printed, “Happy Mother’s Day. May 12, 1985” in little boy handwriting. To make it super special, he has printed the s in Mother’s and the 5 in 1985, backward.
I loved all the prayers but my favorite is the following…
“I Need Time To Be Me”
Lord. Lord! Have they all forgotten?
I am a person!
I am a mother and I am a wife, but I am also
a person.
I feel as if I am being taken for granted and used.
Someone is always coming to me with a
need:
a runny nosc, a hungry stomach, a hard
assignment, a paper to be typed, a quarrel to
be settled.
Sometimes I want to scream, “leave me
alone!”
I need someone to care about me, Lord
I need someone to hear me tell about my day.
I need an occasional compliment or a night
out.
I need some quiet Lord - my cars are jangling
with family noise.
I need time to read a book that I enjoy, to
look out the window at the sky, to think
without interruptions.
I need time to be me.
the me that was born with my own identity,
the me that used to have her own first name,
the me that would still like to learn and
change.
Help me, Lord. to coordinate my needs and their needs. Help me teach my children that part of growing up is respecting other people’s needs for privacy and attention.
and that I am one of the “other” people.
Help me not to feel guilty when I need attention - it is natural and important for everyone to be cared for and noticed and respected.
I need attention too.
And help me express my need appropriately
-to say, in real and understanding terms:
“Now, I need time alone just as you do”
“I miss being made to feel special, the way I
did before I was married”
“My patience is wearing down. and I need
to gain my strength.
“Yου will learn a more important lesson in
getting along with people if you settle your
own arguments. You can work it out by
yourselves. children.”
Lord, thank you so much for listening when I am feeling discouraged, and used, and taken for granted.
You have made me unique and important.
As I meet the needs of my family, help me to balance my giving and receiving - their demands with my own needs.
I am a person, Lord
With your help. I can be all I am intended to be a caring mother, a loving wife, a woman striving to be unselfish but human, a whole person.
