Life has been crazy - online schooling the kids, working, starting a new business, creative projects, yard work, a pandemic etc. It must be a good time to add #theOctoberProject to my plate right?

My friend Jess Janz always inspires me to stay committed to daily creative practices. So when she opened up the idea of including all forms of creativity for #theOctoberProject I thought a daily prayer might be the perfect way to participate.

Bookmark this page and visit often in October for daily blessings and incantations.

Day 1

Blessings for the low hanging autumn sun offering fruits we gather at the horizon.
When we forget death is the only way the forest floor becomes an offering.

Blessings for the prophet’s light kindling the sacred heart to smoulder.
When we forget burning is the only way to turn us into psalms of gratitude.

Blessings for the frosted moon uttering “it’s time, it’s time, it’s time.”
When we forget our flesh is weak and leaning in for resurrection.

Day 2

curling toes
rolling ankles
life racing up your calves to dance around your knees
held by the strength of the steel in your thigh bones

feeling hips
sitting with emotions
crawling up the ladder of your spine
bone on bone, you’ve been holding onto so much

Filling your lungs letting down your shoulders
one
at
a
time

reaching arms
fanning hands
catching the light in the work we do
the bodies we hold, and the bodies we let go

breathing deeply
fogging tiny mirrors on your face
where your radiant heart sits
what a joy to witness
a body at rest

Day 3

Feeling it, forgiving you, forging space, finding shared peace.

Betraying lies, beholding hope, bolstering our bones, believing this isn't the end.

Planting gardens, pouring the wine, piercing the darkness, pacing prayers in the night

Granting pardons, giving Grace, guzzling wisdom, going the distance again and again.

Carving out time, cooking a feast, crafting apologies, creating a new and spacious place.

Day 4

Day 5

Lift our spirits
Slowly and with intent
Like the early morning fog
We can taste

Day 6

God,
It is one of those days where the coffee has run out, the dishwasher leaked, the towels forgotten in the wash, the dog escaped from the yard, the bus was late, and my tongue was burnt all before lunch.

God,
Scoop up all of this brokenness, these bits of broken plates, these unending chores, and these dependents, these arrow-words that I shoot out of my mouth when I am just so tired.

God,
Hold my face, remind me again and again how beautiful all of this is, the sacred repeating, the collecting of moments that add up and redeem these ordinary days.

Day 7

On days when our bodies resist the treadmills we are on
it may benefit us to pray to the Saints of Rest
and drink their cups of wondering
toasting recovery on our lips

Day 8

You were with me
on every birthday, anniversary, holiday, and special occasion
in every sunset, forest and thunderstorm
you found your way inside me
when my eyes could not find you
find me thankful

You were beside me
in every memory, in sweaters that still smell like you
scratched on journal pages and paint-stained overalls
you stamped yourself irreplaceable
but still somehow elegant and subtle
find me watchful

You were holding me
with every tear, gasping breath, and balled up fist
in the gnawing lack and cruelest quiet
you remained present
moving through my walls like a ghost
find me known
find me hopeful
find me
find me

Day 9

Day 10

If prayers are like knitting needles creating warmth and covering

let those hands be the soft, knowing hands

of our grandmothers

If gratitude fills us like two handed mugs full of hot chocolate

let there be enough sweetness for all of us to never be empty

Day 11

for Todd…

May you be full and enjoy your fullness.

May your table be joyful and rowdy.

May your children shriek with blessings.

May your dreams get legs and start running at a pace you’ve been wanting.

Day 12

for Maddie…

May your skies always be blue, even after the storms of August. 
May your eyes shine with the light of sunrise and hope that is new each morning.
May your feet carry you on paths full of wonder and enchantment.
May your heart find your breath and travel with you, deep and True.
May your weaknesses be met by grace. 
May you bubble over with the knowledge of your preciousness.
May your life be continuous cups of gratitude.
May you be all of who you are.
May you discover all of who you are.
May you be fully loved.

Day 13

Day 14

If every day your life is uphill
Turn your thoughts from being punished
You were sent here by unfinished business not entirely your own

You are not required to be judge or jury
Rather stand alone as the witness 
Speaking truth in glorious sentences until the pain is undone

And every night you sit up straight
Gripped by fear and sweat and terror 
You are more than just a mirror reflecting back what you know

You are perfectly whole within your skin
Remembering everything
You are Lady Wisdom in the streets 
You are good news with feet

Day 15

May your secrets be written on thin pieces of gold edged paper
Worthy of the moments that added up to be whispered as prayer

May your tears be lined up on window sills in frosted antique jars
Catching the sunlight when the soul wishes to remain dark

May your victories rest in the lines surrounding your eyes and smile
Ambassadors of battles fought and won across the landscape of time

Day 16

Praying for the tremors in the political landscapes today.

Head over to my Instagram to see an acoustic performance of Wild Horses by Noah Gundersen.

Day 17

Day 18

for Gina and Nells...
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Is it the jingle of your collar I miss the most
Or the lumpy weight of you sleeping in the bed?
Stealing the blankets in your gentle way
Smelling all the flowers and holding spaces that I could not name
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Saints come in furry packages. I am sure of it.

Day 19

Breathe in me a new landscape, Oh God;
that holds the sacred land between veiny hands.
Wise with hard-won years.

Hover over me a new religion, oh God;
that opens doors and sets harvest tables.
Spilling over with witness.

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence;
and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Day 20

Blessed are the note-takers keeping track while we move closer to the heart of God.

Blessed are the pick-me-uppers offering warmth when the world is demanding too much.

Blessed are the first-placers reaching the finish line and cheering us on as we limp home.

Blessed are the honest-hunters who refuse to turn away from the darkness that is actually beautiful.

Blessed are the make-sensers adding up a universe of errors and counting them whole.

Blessed are the eyes-open-watchers making sure we will have enough for each and every day.

Blessed are the overflowing-cup-fillers breathing life into dry bones dripping in celebration.

Blessed are the lion-defenders circling the hurting and claiming them as their own.

Blessed are the experience-believers collecting every story needing to be told.

Day 21

Day 22

So they found water on the moon.

But who wants to live in a place without trees
and rivers and oceans
the sound of birds
or a carrots pulled out of fresh dirt?

Help my heart bear down and get grounded
when escaping feels easier.

(But I wonder what moon houses are going for these days?)

Day 23

Make the mornings sweeter than honey on my tongue
When the grief wants to sour the milk in my tea.

Make the nights softer than fresh baked bread
When the memories want to misbehave like old yeast.

Make the days add up to a string of pearls on the window sill
Gently believing she was a safe as she could be.

Day 24

Thank God

for women who dance with grey in their hair
and paint under their finger nails 
and baskets full of flowers and herbs
 and arms that hold babies
 and words dripping with encouragement.

Thank you God, 
for wisdom’s way of sitting at the hip.

Day 25

Guard our hearts from trusting too deeply in systems that rely on the over/under.

Guard our minds from relying too heavily on the truths we are comfortable with.

Guard our dreams from being thrown like ashes to the bitter winds.

And when we get turned around …

  Guard the memory of our children delivering wonderment.

Day 26

God, we know you are holding us, but this feels like a terrible way to wake up from a bad dream.

Day 27

Day 28

thank you for the dawn of a new day dressed in ruby reds
and for the perfect cup of coffee and toast with jam
thank you for soft towels and freshly made beds

thank you for work that keeps the cupboards full
and for angels who fill the gaps

thank you for friendly bus drivers
and for the maple tree that gives up its sap

thank you for salad on Mondays and pizza on Fridays
and for that five dollar bill you found in your pocket

thank you for new moons, and new mercies and the chance to try again

Daily Prayers

I am a denier

Prayers For Survival