This Mother's Prayer

When holding her newborn infant this mother prayed a prayer for a lifetime of raising her daughter. Heartwarming and humorous.

This Mothers Prayer                    by Sandra Mays-Collins

 

Here she is Lord, so tiny and defenseless in my arms. You have given me the most remarkable and overwhelming gift I shall ever receive and my gratitude is endless and forever. I realize I am now responsible for this tiny being and it is overwhelming and I know I cannot possibly do this by myself. I will need your help.

Please don’t let me drown her while giving her very first bath. Make her grandmother available when she runs her first temperature or sleeps too late in the morning and I worry she is in a coma. Keep me from falling asleep in the middle of the night with her in my arms and dropping her.

Protect her on her first day of school and help me not to cry in front of her as I release her precious hand. Help her to remember to look both ways when crossing the street, never swim alone, don’t dive in shallow water, hold my hand in malls, and not to stick a bean up her nose.

When she goes to her first adventure park please make her desire to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl not the Bullet of Death. But if she does ride the Bullet Lord please make sure all the bolts and pins stay in place and the operator straps her in securely. Help her to like herself enough to know she is worth more than groping in the backseat of a Camero, stuffing her bra, or listening to the meanness of peer-pressure. Please Lord put a Holy Block on her internet use so no pedophiles may enter her world of adolescent naivety and causes her a hurting she cannot recover from. Help her to remember to stay alert to her environment and walk with strength when entering elevators and walking in parking lots. And Lord when I catch her wearing that white bikini that becomes invisible when wet please give me the strength and stamina to chase her down and bring her sorry butt home.

As I look at my child for the very first time I see perfection, the glory of your work Lord and I pray she will not mar such perfection with tattoos or piercings. I don’t care if the tattoo is the work of a famous artist or the silliness of a cartoon; I pray she sees the beauty she has been given. But Lord I know she will make choices I do not agree with and for that I pray that I will be loving and brave and remember she is her own person and I too did things that caused my parents sorrow even though I was not intending to hurt them. After all tattoos and piercing do not damage her in ways that she cannot recover from and those are the things I fear the most.

When she is offered Meth or needles I pray she chooses to have Margaritas with girlfriends instead. Help her to find the simple things in life that bring her joy, like books, loyal friends, sunny days, picnics, sleeping late Sunday mornings, gooey chocolate, and gentle waves washing ashore. Let her boss appreciate her and treat her with kindness and respect, and let her husband treat her also with kindness and respect and dance Salsa with her so she feels sexy when she’s in her forties.

Lastly Lord when she has children of her own I pray that when her baby girl sleeps late into the morning and she fears she may be in a coma, or her son is lying on football field holding his arm, that I the grandmother will be there when she calls and that you will give me just the right words to comfort and encourage her.

Amen

Reviews

[Jamie Raintree]

This is so beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes. Everything you've written here is so true! I have a little girl myself and every one of these things has crossed my mind.

I love the way you list your thoughts here in a seemingly random sort of way but in the end, you tie it all back together. I loved it!

[An Ordinary Woman]

Awe this is precious. I can't believe I missed it before. My dear girlfriend, you are that mom. your priceless.