The Serenity Prayer For Moms

So much about motherhood feels out of control. So we worry, compete, and rush around like hens with their heads cut off.  And when things don’t work out the way we want them to, we lose our tempers, get resentful, or shut down. How do we release unhelpful thoughts and emotions when they won’t let go of us even when we want to let go of them? Is serenity even possible in motherhood?

A small step of release might look like praying the Serenity Prayer, attributed to Reinhold Neibuhr, and woven into the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. 

God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change, 
The courage to change the things I can, 
And the wisdom to know the difference. 
Living one day at a time, 
Enjoying one moment at a time, 
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. 
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, 
Not as I would have it. 
Trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will. 
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, 
And supremely happy with You forever in the next. 
Amen

The first part of the prayer may be familiar. But we rarely hear the part starting with “accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.” What??? Accept hardship as a way to peace? Take the sinful world as it is? Ask only to be “reasonably” happy in this life? These prayers are doozies.

Although this prayer is most used by addicts, moms sure need it too. Because fighting against the hardships of motherhood certainly doesn’t bring peace. Neither does worrying about the future. Or expecting everyone in our family to be supremely happy in this lifetime. 

Instead, this prayer of detachment helps us loosen our grip on the world as we want it to be, so we can make room for the joy God offers in the world as it is. Even when these words catch in our throats, this prayer shapes our thoughts, souls and desires.  

If you’re drawn to this prayer, save a picture on the phone and pray it once a day for a month. Because God’s serenity is for moms too.