Right Prayer for the Wrong Reasons

I logged back into my blog for the first time in, "forever" and realized it had been three months since I had posted anything. At least for me, it was for good reason.

After my last post in October, I had a chance to go on retreat with a group of awesome women from my parish. It was nice to be away with women I knew in passing and getting back in touch with an old friend from the past. That weekend was also the birthday of our second child to eternal life. For me to even type that shows how profound this retreat was and how much healing I received.

Within 2 weeks of that my mother-in-law's health decreased horribly. My husband and I were able to go home and help take care of her and my father-in-law. She passed away early in December and we stayed for a while to help take care of affairs.

Then came the evil sinus infection which took me out for two weeks, Christmas and New Years.

Since the new year my husband and I have been busy catching up with work and settling back down into a normal routine. Needless to say, over the past few months I have been in a great position to care for myself and family and I was happy to take that on. 

Especially as I was away I had a chance to truly have a chance to pray with those I love for others intentions. Friends, loved ones and local news stories became reasons to pray, even for a brief moment. I have close friends who contact me for different prayer requests. 

There was a recent one that really stuck in my mind. A friend asked for prayers for her sister and brother in law to have a successful implantation of a fetus through  IVF. 

I looked at my phone dumbfounded, I didn't know how I could pray for this intentention. 

I knew there wasn't any great risk to the mother or father but there was a new life in the balance, conceived in a manner outside of the teachings of the church.  Sure, I understand the desire to desperately want a child, but I can't pass judgement on their decision. I just didn't know how to pray for them. 

I am ashamed of myself that the thought of not praying for them crossed my mind. It was the fact that the need to be loving outweighed my desire to be righteous. I looked and looked for some way I could pray for them and it took me putting myself in their position the find it. 

If my husband and I were in the position they were in, there would be some major wounds that would need to be healed, a few financial burdens would need to be lifted and mostly a new soul needs to be protected and guarded. 

Life, precious and fragile, at all stages needs to be hides and protected. This new soul conceived outside of its parents , has no home and no protection. It was truly at the mercy of its elements. Life also begins at conception, regardless of how conception happened. 

This became my prayer, that this little, precious life, conceived in less than perfect circumstances would be healthy and loved all the days of its life.

There are many circumstances and situations in life that are less than ideal. We make mistakes and aren't perfect. God can take our imperfections and do great things with them, if only we let him.