Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come and your will be done here in our home as it is heaven: give me strength today as I care for the needs of my family and tend to the little corner of the world you have given me to be responsible for. Lord, help me make life good, here in this time and place you have marked out as my dwelling place (Acts 17:26). Grant me the energy which comes from joyful service and the wonder which infuses even the most tedious of tasks with a sense of beauty. Open the eyes of my heart that through the lens of faith I might see even the most monotonous work before me today—the cleaning, the laundry, the changing of diapers, the sweeping of the floor, the vacuuming, mopping, taking out the trash, and the preparing of meals and leftovers—does not go unnoticed by you—for you delight in my work and call it “good” when it is done in love. May I remember how you make the sun to rise each day, the stars to shine each night, the rain to fall, and the seasons to come and go each year; and yet you exult in this monotony because it is good to care for those you love.
Gracious Father, in those moments when my work is overlooked and receives no thanks, when the unseen labor of my day is taken for granted or even disrespected, give me abounding grace to endure the insult and the disregard. Help me to remember that I am called to serve those whom I love even when it goes ignored, just as Jesus did. May I give and forgive with the same love I have been given and the same forgiveness I have received, trusting that my daily sacrifice, however small, will bear eternal fruit in the lives of those I care for—that they will know you in how I love them. (John 13:35) May I never grow weary in doing good but serve today with a gentile and generous spirit. Thank you, Father, for this family, for this home, and for the privilege to steward and care for these souls, this place, and this season of our lives. May my work today be for the good of my family and the glory of your blessed name, Amen.