“Seven times a day I praise you because of your righteous ordinances.”
—Psalm 11.
A reflection by Mary Lou Edgar for November 10, 2024.
November is always a demanding and thought-provoking month for me. When my children were young, there was so much to do – I cannot remember not being a homeroom mother and wondering why I ever said I would do that. November was when I first started to keep lists. I realized that the year was nearly over and there was so much left to do.
My holiday period always began in October. Costumes to make (yes, I was that kind of mom), parties to plan, helping children decorate our home, and still helping them see the importance of All Saints Day and the day after when we remember all those who have died. It was an intense three days. This weekend, one of my children asked if we remembered the cheese soup I made one year. It was disgusting — so everyone remembered it. We settled for grilled cheese.
Once we moved to November, it was time to think about Thanksgiving, and starting preparations for Christmas and National Adoption Month. November has always been a blur to me as we have a huge fundraiser for our adoption agency. I started cooking and baking, and we listened to everyone rattle off what they wanted. I was also in the throes of preparing for Advent and thinking about the birth of Jesus. We have always participated in several Christmas food campaigns and provided Christmas for at least two and possibly three children, and teens.
December is Christmas month. I would have our Advent observance each night before dinner. We would light the candle(s) and read from our Advent book for children. We would let the kids read and light the candles. Luckily, we only had one incident of a child getting her hair caught on fire. I would spend a fair amount of time reading and meditating on Jesus’ birth. At dinner we always talked about some aspect of the Advent story for that day. November, January, and February are heavy birthday months in our family. Those were additional celebrations, and I think there are six of them. Lots more parties.
Looking back, I see how my rushing through all the preparations, celebrations, and attempts at prayerful preparation did nothing but leave me exhausted. Because there was so much, it was hard to make any of it meaningful.
So, some years ago, I decided to make a new and better plan. Now I schedule each thing I need to do and that includes my prayer time. I don’t expect my family to participate but they are free to if they would like. Most of the time, no one is even around, and I can have solitude. I schedule prayer time first!
I always feel it is important to tell the Lord that something has happened, and I will be back as soon as possible. I reschedule as soon as I can. It always has priority. If you had asked me years ago about that, I would have said of course prayer is a priority. But it was more of a priority regarding me asking for things and rarely if ever, saying thank you. That was especially true when I had a lot to do.
Having young children is demanding but mine are all grown. I don’t have an excuse for neglecting prayer time. Nor do I have an excuse for not paying attention as I pray or as I sit in silence and listen. It has become a very powerful experience for my entire year, but I always rethink it at the beginning of advent.
Many years ago, I also began to write in a journal – that too went away when my work became more time consuming. I am now renewing that practice, and I find it is so wonderful. What I have discovered is that I must get out of my own way. I’m sure many of us have the same issue.
Wishing you a joyous November, a great Thanksgiving and lots of time to pray!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mary Lou Edgar, MSS, is a clinical social worker who founded A Better Chance for Our Children, an adoption and foster care agency that works to find permanent homes for children in the foster care system. Mary Lou was the Executive Director of ABCFOC, but she is now retired. She graduated from Neumann University and Bryn Mawr School of Social Work and Social Research. She and her husband joined SsAM in 2021.
