Liturgies for Parents with Kayla Craig

Another year has gone, and we greet a new one with reflective hearts. Parenting, like faith, is a constant remembering. We hope you take some time with us this week for a simple breath prayer to remember God’s constant presence with us and another prayer asking for help in remembering the faithfulness of the God of the past and present. May you remember you are never alone.   Kayla’s newest book,...

Merry Christmas, friends. Today, we celebrate Jesus embracing humanity—knit together in his mother’s womb, coming into this world as a newborn, and being swaddled and held close to his mother. Pause with us today and this week to reflect on this extraordinary mystery, one that transcends any greeting card scene, holiday movie, or glittering Christmas tree. We hope that this offering helps you take...

The holidays aren’t always the most wonderful time of year. For many, this season is wrapped up in grief and sorrow. This week features a prayer by guest liturgist Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young, a foodie, runner, speaker, podcaster, and the award-winning author of numerous books for kids of all ages. She is a remarried widow who is raising three daughters alongside her husband, Shawn. Join us this wee...

Advent presents us with a sacred invitation: to embark inside an ancient story of what was and somehow is, too. Whether you are moving through this season by lighting Advent wreaths or engaging in other traditions, may you become more aware of the Light of the world. Pray with us as we ask Jesus to help us orient our hearts, letting this time spark anticipation and hope within ourselves and our ch...

The season of Advent has arrived. We invite you to slow down and soak in the anticipation of this time of year with two breath prayers. As you navigate the holidays and all of the bustle of shuttling kids to and from gatherings, filling up stockings, navigating travel logistics, and so on, we hope you lean into the tenderness of Christ.   Kayla’s newest book, Every Season Sacred , is out now! This...

This time of year is often loaded with expectations. Many of us feel we need to come up with unique holiday cards, find the perfect Christmas gifts, make sure our homes look social-media worthy. These expectations can rob us of the joy and magic of the season. Join us in a prayer asking God to help us lay down these expectations, seeing the good things already around us.   Kayla’s newest book, Eve...

As we reflect on thankfulness this week, let us forgo the surface-level gratitude that seems pervasive in our consumer culture. Join us as we come to the God of goodness, giving thanks for all that is seen and unseen in our everyday lives. May our rhythms of gratitude be an outpouring of the love we have for God and one another, freeing us from the bondage of self and helping us embrace the beauty...

The weight of parenting in a complicated and chaotic world can feel like so much, and it’s easy to lose sight of the glimmers of God’s glory around us. Join us as we pray for help in noticing and choosing to trust, even in the darkest moments. May you sense God’s presence with you and your family and experience the gift of wonder, even when things seem overwhelming.   Kayla’s newest book, Every Se...

This week, we spend time reflecting on All Saints’ Day, a holy day that commemorates all the people of God who have gone before us. We invite you to consider what God may be speaking into your life of faith as you think of the faithful lives of others who have gone before you. We give thanks that we—and our children—are never alone and are surrounded by a great body of believers.   Kayla’s newest...

Though we are not immune to fear—and there is much to fear in this world—we are not held captive by it. Pray with us this week as we ask the Light of the World to remind us that love and goodness have the final say, no matter how dark things feel. May we be comforted and also be a comfort to others, bringing light to the darkness together.   Kayla’s newest book, Every Season Sacred , is out now! T...

Sometimes, praying feels hard to reach for. Maybe this is where you find yourself today or a feeling you often have. Perhaps your silence contains your prayers, or all you can manage to utter is a single sentence. This week, we offer a simple breath prayer and another short prayer asking the One who is with us to help us communicate love and compassion to those around us.   Kayla’s newest book, Ev...

We are not immune to the chaos that swirls around us. It’s too tempting to want to stick our heads in the sand, to try to ignore the violence and conflict in the world, or to not do or say anything in order to “keep the peace.” Yet keeping the peace is not the same as being peacemakers: pursuing justice, healing, and wholeness. Join us as we come before the Prince of Peace, asking for help in bein...

Throughout scripture, we see that God deeply cares about welcoming the stranger, the refugee, and the foreigner. Yet how do we extend that welcome to the neighbors around us, amidst the busyness of parenting and the weight of distressing headlines? This week’s prayer was written by Laura Hornby, a community liaison for We Welcome, a Christian group that provides educational resources, bipartisan a...

As grown-ups, we can often unlearn the curiosity our children naturally have and express. They freely ask questions about anything from the ordinary to the disarmingly complex. Today, we’re sharing a prayer about holy curiosity by guest liturgist Kat Armas. You’re invited to pray alongside us as we ask the God of divine creativity to reconnect us to that precious spirit of curiosity so that we may...

It’s officially autumn. Perhaps you’re starting to notice the days getting a bit shorter or a certain crispness in the air coming through. As we witness trees burst into color and shed their leaves, may we join in this letting go and making space for new possibilities. We offer this prayer for fall, asking the God of all seasons to help us rest, marvel, and create dwelling places that are welcomin...

We’ve got exciting news: Kayla’s newest book, Every Season Sacred , releases this week! This book is an invitation to ask big questions, embrace faithful rhythms, and experience God’s mysterious, loving presence together. For this episode, we’re sharing a blessing found at the beginning of Every Season Sacred about moving through the seasons of our faith and parenting with intention, wonder, and h...

One of the scariest truths about parenting is that so much is out of our control. As the new school year rolls along and our children experience invitations to independence, we’re reminded that we can’t always be there. In this episode, we’re praying to remember God’s trustworthiness and love—and how we might empower our children to experience all that God has written for them.   Kayla’s new book,...

Parenting can be a pressure cooker, revealing the limits of our humanity like nothing else. This week, we’re praying for those of us raising “Spicy Ones,” a term our guest liturgist Mary Van Geffen coined. Mary is a friend and parenting coach who is well-versed in this area, and she sees raising a Spicy One™ as an invitation to grow our love for ourselves and our children. We hope this prayer enco...

When we practice pausing and holding still, do we also practice noticing? How often do we stop and pay attention—taking in the details of a moment, truly seeing the person in front of us, tuning our ears to what’s beneath the noise? We invite you to come before the God of presence, praying that we would notice the life going on around us and be a family of noticers.   Kayla’s new book, Every Seaso...

There are countless moments we long to hold onto so that we remember them—your child waving bye to you as they step into their first day of school, watching them open presents on Christmas morning, a sweet smile stretching across their face one afternoon. We want to keep these memories close for the warmth, comfort, and joy they give us. This week, join us as we pray that the God of memory would h...

What if Christian parenting wasn’t about ensuring your children are obedient and using their obedience as a measurement of faith? For this week’s episode, guest liturgist Meredith Miller shares a prayer with us about helping our children really know God and nurturing who they are. Her upcoming book Woven is for parents who want to pass along a resilient faith based on a genuine love for and trust...

What does it mean for our families to love our neighbors? It doesn’t need to be grand gestures aimed at solving the world’s most complex issues. Loving our neighbors can simply look like showing up in the world—ordering extra pizza to share with others, hosting a game of pickup basketball in your front yard, learning the names of those who live on your street, and so on. This week, join us in aski...

What if we reframed the interruptions we as parents experience? This week, we pause to consider how interruptions may be times when God is speaking to us. Perhaps they’re actually invitations to pay attention. Join us as we ask the One who is always with us for help noticing the divine in all the parts of our lives, especially in the changed plans and disrupted routines.   Kayla’s new book, Every...

This week, we offer a prayer for those who serve and care for others. We come to the God who parents us, giving thanks for the ways in which we are so dearly loved as children. We ask for help to dwell in wonder so that we may never lose sight of the sacred in everything from sanctuaries to hospital rooms. May this prayer bless you, and may you minister out of your belovedness.   Kayla’s new book,...

Our guest liturgist for this episode is author, speaker, and songwriter Amanda Held Opelt, who writes about faith, grief, and creativity—believing in the power of community, ritual, shared worship, and storytelling to heal even our deepest wounds. Amanda wrote and shared this heartfelt prayer with us about coming before God with all of our apprehensions, asking for courage and guidance as we teach...