Finding time to pray and workout and serve others
indianarose2
Posts: 469 Member
Anyone have any good tips on fitting all the things in our lives that are important? I personally need & want daily prayer time with God, daily exercise and caring for the home and family but it sometimes it is hard to do those things AND be available to others outside the home.
So, how do you do it?
So, how do you do it?
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Replies
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We all struggle with this, don't we? I know that my priorities are, unfortunately, way off on way too many days. Mother Theresa used to say that she started each day with an hour of prayer, and if she had an exceptionally busy day, she started it with 2 hours of prayer. What a saint! A friend of mine is a home-schooling mother of 12. She (and about 6 of her kids) get to daily Mass a couple of times a week. She tells everyone that she always gets more accomplished on the days that she gets everything together to be able to attend Mass.
I KNOW that putting prayer first is the solution. Second would be your family. Lastly (for a mom) is the giving outside the home.
I wish I could say that I live up to this, but I struggle, and I don't even have a young child anymore.
Let's lift each other up in prayer tonight that tomorrow we'll have our priorities in order. One day at a time...0 -
Thanks! 0 -
I pray all day. You don't always have to give a solid hour to prayer.
I volunteer when it won't take time away from my family. I teach my children's Faith Formation classes on Sundays. I read the bible right before I go to sleep.
Another great use of technology- I download apps that will make it convenient to pray or read about God during my busy days.0 -
great topic to post.same here.Its so hard to try to balance everything.Sometimes if I know Im going to have a busy morning ,I say in bed (sitting) an espontaneus Thank You prayer,then a Our Father and a Hail Mary and I ask Mary to help me be a better Mom, wife and disciple.
When I have a good morning, I go outside in the deck to appreciate the breeze and nature and do my prayers,
an espontaneus Thank You prayer ,
then a petition prayer,
The Morning offering ,
A prayer for priests and nuns,
The prayer for Souls in Purgatory
if I still have time A Prayer for the Conversion of America
and when I remember (shame on me) Consegration to Mary prayer but now I am doing the 33 days to Morning Glory study to formally consecrate myself to Mary of the feast of Fatima May 13th so I have to do this everyday then
and Im suppose to do the Chaplet of Divine mercy but I keep forgetting,very bad of me,I need to memorize the 3 oclock prayer, if I knew it this could take place of the chaplet and I can do it anywhere in my head in less than a minute. Sorry my dear Lord.I need to make it a task I learn it!
I really need to fit in the Rosary,the world needs our prayers and our redemptive suffering.
But this said there are some days I guess Im so involved in the daily stuff that I dont do any
Oh and I do have apps to listen to the Gospel of the day in audio and I connect it to my car speakers 0 -
I just started the 33 days to Morning Glory on Sunday. My parish sponsored this and we had nearly 400 English-speaking people at the orientation meeting on Saturday. There was a second orientation for Spanish-speaking parishioners on Sunday with about the same number of people. We will make our consecration on May 30.great topic to post.same here.Its so hard to try to balance everything.Sometimes if I know Im going to have a busy morning ,I say in bed (sitting) an espontaneus Thank You prayer,then a Our Father and a Hail Mary and I ask Mary to help me be a better Mom, wife and disciple.
When I have a good morning, I go outside in the deck to appreciate the breeze and nature and do my prayers,
an espontaneus Thank You prayer ,
then a petition prayer,
The Morning offering ,
A prayer for priests and nuns,
The prayer for Souls in Purgatory
if I still have time A Prayer for the Conversion of America
and when I remember (shame on me) Consegration to Mary prayer but now I am doing the 33 days to Morning Glory study to formally consecrate myself to Mary of the feast of Fatima May 13th so I have to do this everyday then
and Im suppose to do the Chaplet of Divine mercy but I keep forgetting,very bad of me,I need to memorize the 3 oclock prayer, if I knew it this could take place of the chaplet and I can do it anywhere in my head in less than a minute. Sorry my dear Lord.I need to make it a task I learn it!
I really need to fit in the Rosary,the world needs our prayers and our redemptive suffering.
But this said there are some days I guess Im so involved in the daily stuff that I dont do any
Oh and I do have apps to listen to the Gospel of the day in audio and I connect it to my car speakers
I usually have a CD either from Lighthouse or another source that I trust in my car, so I can listen as I drive and without the distractions of home.
As someone else posted, I pray all the time, but I don't usually set aside a time devoted strictly to prayer and/or reading the Bible, and I think it's important to do that. I love all of your other ideas and I need to learn discipline in my prayer life. Please keep me in your prayers, and I will do the same for you!0 -
I've got myself on the schedule to do an hour of adoration at 7 am once a week at our local adoration chapel. I used to do it on Saturdays, when my husband and teens were sleeping, so they would not even notice I was gone. Now that I'm retired and an empty nester, I go at 7 am on Mondays. It's a great way to start the week.0
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I just started the 33 days to Morning Glory on Sunday. My parish sponsored this and we had nearly 400 English-speaking people at the orientation meeting on Saturday. There was a second orientation for Spanish-speaking parishioners on Sunday with about the same number of people. We will make our consecration on May 30.great topic to post.same here.Its so hard to try to balance everything.Sometimes if I know Im going to have a busy morning ,I say in bed (sitting) an espontaneus Thank You prayer,then a Our Father and a Hail Mary and I ask Mary to help me be a better Mom, wife and disciple.
When I have a good morning, I go outside in the deck to appreciate the breeze and nature and do my prayers,
an espontaneus Thank You prayer ,
then a petition prayer,
The Morning offering ,
A prayer for priests and nuns,
The prayer for Souls in Purgatory
if I still have time A Prayer for the Conversion of America
and when I remember (shame on me) Consegration to Mary prayer but now I am doing the 33 days to Morning Glory study to formally consecrate myself to Mary of the feast of Fatima May 13th so I have to do this everyday then
and Im suppose to do the Chaplet of Divine mercy but I keep forgetting,very bad of me,I need to memorize the 3 oclock prayer, if I knew it this could take place of the chaplet and I can do it anywhere in my head in less than a minute. Sorry my dear Lord.I need to make it a task I learn it!
I really need to fit in the Rosary,the world needs our prayers and our redemptive suffering.
But this said there are some days I guess Im so involved in the daily stuff that I dont do any
Oh and I do have apps to listen to the Gospel of the day in audio and I connect it to my car speakers
I usually have a CD either from Lighthouse or another source that I trust in my car, so I can listen as I drive and without the distractions of home.
As someone else posted, I pray all the time, but I don't usually set aside a time devoted strictly to prayer and/or reading the Bible, and I think it's important to do that. I love all of your other ideas and I need to learn discipline in my prayer life. Please keep me in your prayers, and I will do the same for you!0 -
i will Ora,thats awesome so many people consecrating to Jesus through Mary. I hope Maybe one day I can lead this in my parish if no one else does. Is there a 33 days to Morning Glory in Spanish,that would be awesome,in my parish the Spanish people are very Marian but theyre English is not that quite good to do the program in English0
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i will Ora,thats awesome so many people consecrating to Jesus through Mary. I hope Maybe one day I can lead this in my parish if no one else does. Is there a 33 days to Morning Glory in Spanish,that would be awesome,in my parish the Spanish people are very Marian but theyre English is not that quite good to do the program in English
I would guess it's available in Spanish...0 -
Thanks everyone! I do try to have my daily prayer time/meditation and pray all day. For me both is really important. It is just not always at the same time or place which is hard for me. Sometimes in the A.M. downstairs (I constructed a little "chapel" in the basement to have "place" to go to form a strong habit). Sometimes after a daily Mass.. I do love praying in nature too and now that Spring is finally here in Indiana I will need to remember to that as well! Thanks!
I recently went to a retreat and was inspired to try to offer up particular tasks/times of the day for particular intentions. Even if I am not always out in the world serving physically the way I'd like some day (young kids at home) I can work through my offerings. For example I've assigned my workout time to be offered up for my husband and kids as my priority, linking something that is good for me and I LIKE to do, to others and then cleaning the kitchen (which I DON'T like to do) to souls in purgatory. I'm trying to figure out what to link to going to bed on time and waking up early...LOL
My struggle is sometimes feeling guilty for spending time on keeping up our property.... I've spent days cleaning up the place and mulching... I love doing those things but sometimes wonder - "Shouldn't I be out visiting a friend who is lonesome" or praying out at the abortion facility?" On the positive side we do open up our home to lots of friends and their families who enjoy coming out to the "country". Maybe I can offer up my labors for those intentions while I'm working!
Thanks again for all of the great feedback and God bless you all. I hope it is a topic that can help all of us!
P.S. Now I know what I can offer up bedtime and wake up time for - MFP friends!!
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I pray the rosary while walking, something I learned from an old Jesuit, may he rest in peace.0
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I pray the rosary while walking, something I learned from an old Jesuit, may he rest in peace.
<----Big fan of the Jesuits!0 -
I just started the 33 days to Morning Glory on Sunday. My parish sponsored this and we had nearly 400 English-speaking people at the orientation meeting on Saturday. There was a second orientation for Spanish-speaking parishioners on Sunday with about the same number of people. We will make our consecration on May 30.great topic to post.same here.Its so hard to try to balance everything.Sometimes if I know Im going to have a busy morning ,I say in bed (sitting) an espontaneus Thank You prayer,then a Our Father and a Hail Mary and I ask Mary to help me be a better Mom, wife and disciple.
When I have a good morning, I go outside in the deck to appreciate the breeze and nature and do my prayers,
an espontaneus Thank You prayer ,
then a petition prayer,
The Morning offering ,
A prayer for priests and nuns,
The prayer for Souls in Purgatory
if I still have time A Prayer for the Conversion of America
and when I remember (shame on me) Consegration to Mary prayer but now I am doing the 33 days to Morning Glory study to formally consecrate myself to Mary of the feast of Fatima May 13th so I have to do this everyday then
and Im suppose to do the Chaplet of Divine mercy but I keep forgetting,very bad of me,I need to memorize the 3 oclock prayer, if I knew it this could take place of the chaplet and I can do it anywhere in my head in less than a minute. Sorry my dear Lord.I need to make it a task I learn it!
I really need to fit in the Rosary,the world needs our prayers and our redemptive suffering.
But this said there are some days I guess Im so involved in the daily stuff that I dont do any
Oh and I do have apps to listen to the Gospel of the day in audio and I connect it to my car speakers
I usually have a CD either from Lighthouse or another source that I trust in my car, so I can listen as I drive and without the distractions of home.
As someone else posted, I pray all the time, but I don't usually set aside a time devoted strictly to prayer and/or reading the Bible, and I think it's important to do that. I love all of your other ideas and I need to learn discipline in my prayer life. Please keep me in your prayers, and I will do the same for you!
I recently purchased the 33 days to Morning Glory and would like to start it as soon as school is finished (I work in a school).
It is difficult to fit everything in some days. I try to start with morning prayer with Magnificat, and always with a daily offering so that no matter how busy my day, everything I do that day will be offered as prayer.
I have a 35 min commute each way to work so I also enjoy the Lighthouse CDs (well, did until my car recently refused to eject one), and use a car rosary as well.
Bedtime is the harder one - I am usually exhausted by the end of the day and have difficulty concentrating.
@Indianarose2 - I also feel guilty sometimes for not being more active in other "outside" activities (pro-life, etc) although I do volunteer in our parish. I try to remember that for "everything there is a season" - right now it is time for me to raise my children and be the wife and mother God wants me to be, and all that may include.0 -
I try to squeeze in rosaries and listening to podcasts while I drive to work (I have a 45 minute drive 2-3 times a week) and while running.
If I can get up before the children or have my wits about me at the start of the day, I like to pray the Divine Office in the morning. But I'm often awakened by a hungry nursing baby and then toddlers demanding to be fed, so it's sporadic. I also like to pray the Divine Office before bed at night, but I often fall asleep in the middle.
Otherwise, I pray with the kids before school, at mealtimes, and bedtimes.
As a mother of seven, who also works outside the home as a nurse, I try to remember that I am serving God by wiping butts and noses, by feeding them nutritious food, by providing them with clean clothes, by giving out hugs and drying tears. If I could only do those small things with big love! Some days it's easy to love; other days, it's a struggle to lay myself aside. 0 -
Wow! Beautiful posts everyone! Thanks!!!!0
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I pray the rosary while walking, something I learned from an old Jesuit, may he rest in peace.
<----Big fan of the Jesuits!
wonderful suggestion....
There is a book called the Rosary Workout that I have found helpful in guiding me in prayer and fitness the combination of the two activities is well laid out for the novice o more advanced..
It was a great help to me during leaf raking last fall..0 -
I don't typically have a set time for prayer in my day. Many times I pray while I do something that I hate to do (i.e. housework of all kinds). I do this for my family, but when I do it for God it is so much easier. It makes it seem like such a small task.
I also spend my conversation time with God while I am working out. There doesn't seem to be anyone without headphones except me. So, I usually get uninterrupted Centering time. It works out well for me.
I do struggle with teaching my kids this but, I am often reminded that my mother didn't force my Catholicism. It just came. She did her thing and we learned to love God because of how much she loved him.
I love this topic. Thanks.0
