Pray together. Pray privately.

It might be nothing. The doctor used the word 'probably' and the word 'most likely' a lot, and then scheduled three more appointments. I held it together through the consult and cried in the car park afterwards. We haven't told the kids yet. They have a big school week and I don't want to give them this to carry. My h…

It was not the year we imagined. We had two job losses, a small loss in the family, and a long stretch where we both just survived next to each other instead of with each other. Pray for the second year. For tenderness to come back. For the small habits — the goodnight, the hand on the shoulder, the laugh at our share…

He had a hard week at school — sensory overload on Tuesday, then a misunderstanding with a classmate on Thursday. The teachers are kind but stretched. Pray for one breakthrough this month, and for a steady friend. He doesn't need many. He needs one.

It still doesn't feel real most mornings. I open my phone to text her about something silly maybe twice a week. Then I remember. Some days I am okay. I work, I cook, I laugh at a thing on the radio. Other days I am ambushed by a song or a smell or someone who looks a little like her from behind, and I have to sit down…

It's about boundaries — too much overtime and not enough thanks for it. I have been carrying it for months and I am not good at saying the hard thing. Pray for honest words from me and an open mind from him. Pray for both of us not to default to defensiveness.

It's about boundaries — too much overtime and not enough thanks for it. I have been carrying it for months and I am not good at saying the hard thing. Pray for honest words from me and an open mind from him. Pray for both of us not to default to defensiveness.

Pray for rest for the whole household.

Pray for soft landings between waves.

Pray for patience and for the long view.

Pray for the courage to call. The first sentence is the hardest.

We didn't tell them how stretched we are; they wouldn't accept the help if they knew. Pray for sufficiency for everyone. Pray for me to do this without resentment, even on the months when it is hard. They gave us everything they had once.

Three weeks in, we finally got the full story out of him on Sunday night. He had been carrying it alone, which is the part that breaks me the most. We meet with the school on Wednesday. Pray for the right tone — firm without being explosive. Pray for the school to take it seriously. Pray for kind classmates around him…

Hospice last Wednesday. He still has good hours. He told a joke yesterday and we all laughed too hard, the way you do. My mother is sleeping next to him every night. My brother flew in from Sydney; he hadn't seen our father since Christmas and now they are catching up on twenty years in whispered conversations between…

Seen, even when it is quiet. Held, even when no one knows. May this prayer find you wherever you are sitting tonight, and may it land like a hand on your shoulder.

I keep replaying it. Pray for me to lay it down without dropping the boundary. There is a version of forgiveness that is just self-erasure and I don't want to do that. There is also a version that holds resentment forever and I don't want to do that either. Pray for the middle path.

Twelve people. I can keep eight. Officially the announcement is next Tuesday. I have known for three weeks and have been carrying it alone, which has not been good for my sleep or my marriage. Three of the four I have to let go are people I respect deeply. One is a single parent. One has a chronic illness in his famil…

Pray for grounded confidence and the right words.

We didn't tell them how stretched we are; they wouldn't accept the help if they knew. Pray for sufficiency for everyone. Pray for me to do this without resentment, even on the months when it is hard. They gave us everything they had once.

He had a hard week at school — sensory overload on Tuesday, then a misunderstanding with a classmate on Thursday. The teachers are kind but stretched. Pray for one breakthrough this month, and for a steady friend. He doesn't need many. He needs one.

Memory and peace under pressure. Pray for steadiness.

She has been with us as a foster placement for fourteen months. Today the judge said the words. We cried in the hallway and a stranger handed us a tissue and didn't ask why. She is three. She has a small bag of things she came with that we have kept exactly the way it was on the day. We will tell her about her first …

Seen, even when it is quiet. Held, even when no one knows. May this prayer find you wherever you are sitting tonight, and may it land like a hand on your shoulder.

Seen, even when it is quiet. Held, even when no one knows. May this prayer find you wherever you are sitting tonight, and may it land like a hand on your shoulder.

Three weeks in, we finally got the full story out of him on Sunday night. He had been carrying it alone, which is the part that breaks me the most. We meet with the school on Wednesday. Pray for the right tone — firm without being explosive. Pray for the school to take it seriously. Pray for kind classmates around him…

Pray for a warm welcome. Nervous in a quiet way.