Prayers

The war ended before it began. Before any battles were fought. Before any skirmishes were lost.

A mother watches, as her daughter becomes a woman before her eyes.

Eleven years old and she looks like she could pass for seventeen or eighteen. Innocent and unprepared for the world outside her front door she must step off the ledge into the oblivion of her teens.

A mother wonders. How can I protect someone who no longer listens to what I say? How am I to respond to each slammed door? How should I react each cry for privacy?

When I was her age my life was so different. My mother was distant and I ran the streets and alleys of my hometown with my friends. My naiveté was long gone. I could take care of myself. I understood the risks and I understood the cost.

A mother cry's herself to sleep each night. The silent tears of a single parent find no comfort; no shoulder is there to cry on.

I look at my daughter and I am surprised to find myself looking back at me. The same hair and the same body type. The same smile and the same brown eyes. I sense the confusion running rampant in her mind but how can I provide comfort when my own mind is facing the same floodwaters of confusion.

A mother hopes that once they establish common ground that they will be able to navigate the rapids of teen life together. It is a journey that no child should have to make alone but to many do.

I watch my daughter as she mopes around the house. A black cloud is almost visible above her head as she pouts and seemingly embraces the angst that dominates the lives of so many teenagers today. I want to hold her but she as built a maze of ice between us and navigating its corridors is much more difficult than I expected.

In the darkness a mother prays. Lord, I love my daughter so. It breaks my heart to see her fighting against the coming changes. Please provide me with the strength to be firm, the wisdom to guide her and the courage that I will need to stand by her side and support through the coming storm.

In the darkness a daughter prays. Lord, I love my mother. I am so scared. My body is changing and everything seems so different. Please give me the strength to know when to say no, the wisdom to listen to my mother and learn from her experiences and courage to discuss my life with her. Help me find a way through this maze and come to come out the other side with my mothers love for me intact.