Day 5, January 9

When I was a young wife and mother, I went through what I call my "crafty phase." The truth is, I've never been any good at crafts. My fingers fumbled and stumbled over the least little task.

However, I did find that I could handle an embroidery needle and spent many hours embroidering pictures and sayings. One quote that I did many times over for family members and friends went, "If life tends to come unraveled, hem with prayer."

Don't you love the juxtaposition of those words, the unlikely pairing of hemming and praying? Perhaps they are no so unlikely as well. When we hem a garment, we take up unwanted material. When we pray, we take up the unwanted things in our lives and give them over to the Lord. Each makes the garment and the life fit better.

I can not imagine my life without prayer. I start my day on my knees, pouring out my gratitude and my needs to the Father. I pray throughout the day, in less formal settings, in the car, in the store, as I sit at my computer, and everywhere else. I end my day with prayer as well, finding new things for which to thank the Father and new things for which to ask for His blessings.

We all pray in different ways. Our language varies. Our needs vary. Our words of praise vary. But one thing remains constant: for those moments, we are in communication with the Lord.

This thing I know for sure: my day would quickly unravel without prayer.