Prayer

Prayer. The topic has been on my mind a lot lately.

There was a specifically poignant time in my life in college, because of the circumstances, that I was praying constantly and deeply all day long in my mind and in my heart. I had so many questions, and so many things going on within myself and without. I remember waking up in the mornings with the first thoughts of my day being in prayer. And even though that time in my life was so difficult and taxing emotionally and spiritually......I really miss the seemingly constant and incredible open line of communication I had with heaven at that time. I learned so much in those days. My learning seemed to be excelled and deepened in ways I never thought it would. My relationship with my Heavenly Father and Savior became so real and so personal and so meaningful. I never felt so close to heaven so often as I did then.

During this time I was able to have a lot of alone time. And I'm an alone time kind of person. I need it and when I was single and especially when I was in college I had an abundance of it and I loved it. That was when I'd really talk with Heavenly Father and think about life and decisions and anything and everything I wanted to think about. It was when I'd run and play music and write; all things that made me feel centered, inspired, and close to heaven. It was when I'd think of others and try and do things for them. It was my Spirit time; if that makes any sense: )

So now here I am with a husband and two precious girls. It's been five years since that time. Five years that have flown by in the blink of an eye. Five years that have been amazing and eye opening, full of love, and seriously fun: ) But also five years of more and more responsibilities and distractions and less and less "Spirit time". I've known somethings been missing, not completely, but definitely significantly, and I've known it's been that deep meaningful, constant connection with Heavenly Father and Christ.

So when the beginning of this year rolled around I knew what goal I wanted to make. I wrote it in marker on a blank piece of paper and stuck it on the wall by my bed.

Strengthen and deepen my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Savior through increasing and improving my prayers.

And I've been working on it, but I'm definitely still in the 'working on it' process. I've known this before, but it's becoming even more evident that it is incredibly tricky to find any alone time once you have a husband and a couple kiddies running around the house. And honestly thinking about my quality and quantity of "alone time" as a mom is quite comical most of the time, until I realize just how much I need it! : )

So I guess here's the purpose of my posting, and because I believe we all have soo much to learn from one another I wanted to ask all of you: How do you guys do it? How do you make prayer meaningful in your life? How do you make sure your really connecting with heaven every day? What things do you do to make sure you get that alone time when you have a screaming baby, hungry family, dirty dishes, and laundry up to your ears? (I could go on right?: ) How do you continue to maintain and deepen your relationship with your Heavenly Father and Savior?

I have some ideas I'm going to try out, but I thought it would be awesome and helpful to hear how you guys do it. So let me know. I can't wait to hear: )

Prayer: The Souls Sincere Desire by Mary E. Edmunds just thought I'd share an awesome talk I listened to this morning while we're on the subject: )

*As a side note that I wasn't sure where to put in: That time in college when I was so close to heaven and constantly praying was a really difficult time where I was praying almost out of necessity to make it through the trial. But these last five years have been so peaceful and happy and mostly trial free. So the issue also comes to mind, "How do we still make prayer real and sincere and meaningful when things are going so great in our lives?"