​Set my gaze upon my children.
Give me the weight of their being, oh Lord,
And impress upon me the gravity of their eternity,
That I would fear withholding any good thing from them more than I would fear my own death,
That I would be eager to do and give them as much good as I can while we both shall live,
That I would shower them with love more than and before I shower them with money,
That I would give vulrnerability more than and before I give critique,
That I would pour over their ears pleasant wisdom more than and before I pour over them bragging facts of subjects I love,
That I would cover them with love and kisses more than and before I cover them with expectations.
That I would model for them providence and hard work more than and before I model foe them success.
That I would surround them with laughter and nature more than and before I surround them with toys.
That I would take a deep interest in their gifts and weaknesses so as to praise the former and forgive the latter.
That I would turn my eyes to them when they speak to me.
That I would listen with interest.
That I would champion their successes and simply be a present support in their failures.
That I would have discernment and wisdom for when to speak and when to be silent.
That I would be last in order to be first,
That I would be weak so as to be made strong,
That I would bow down to be raised up,
That I would follow in preparation of leading well.
That I would honor and thereby find my honor.
Thay I would give and thereby always receive.
That I would labor to make them in your image and not mine.
Set my gaze upon you, oh Lord,
And impress upon me the holy idea that they belong to you.

by Brian G. Daigle, modeled after Rudyard Kipling’s “If—”
 
If you can guard your heart when all about you
              Are compromising theirs, blaming woes on you,
If you can honor yourself when all dishonor you,
              But be merciful with their dishonoring too;
If you can labor and not grow resentful in laboring,
              Or being gossiped about, don’t trade in lies told,
Or being derided, derision not harboring,
              And yet don’t dress too haughty, nor speak too bold:
 
If you can feel—and not make feelings your master;
              If you can direct—and not make directing your worth;
If you can host life’s Lents and Easters
              And to each in their seasons labor unto birth;
If you can see yourself in any one mirror
              Warped by Folly to entrap damsels and muggins,
Or see the world you’ve built, shattered,
              And with the sun arise with blistered hands.
 
If you can paint one picture of all your toil
              And sell each drop at public auction,
And watch it leave priced far less valuable,
              And never sigh a huff at hearts so misshapen;
If you can coerce your tendon and joint and heart
              To wash the feet of every weary soul,
And so honor the lesser when nothing more can you impart,
              Except breath which livens them with “Behold!”
 
If when you wrangle with children and time, maintain your grace,
              Or frolic and feast with Princes and wine—nor lose Prudence’s guard.
If neither strangers nor family can derail your pace,
              If every woman knows your praise, but none be vanguard;
If in an hour you build more than break,
              And at every turn and juncture, rise more than you falter,
Home will be made everywhere you give more than you take,
              And—the Beauty therein—you will be a Woman, my daughter! 

by Brian G. Daigle

O Lord, in giving us life we have become your children. In giving us children you have given us life as fathers. Make us men who carry both responsibilities with joy and gratitude. Provide for us that we would provide for others. Speak to us by your Word and Spirit that we would know what to speak to others. And forgive us so that we would be able to forgive others. Keep us from pride, anger, laziness, and grumbling. Cause us to abound in the strength of sacrificial love. For those fathers who have passed, bring them into your eternal glory, where we anticipate joyful reunion. For those fathers far from you, set their minds on things above, that we with all your saints would find our greatest delight in your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

by Brian G. Daigle

O Lord, we cannot know maternal love until we see it from above, an extension of you in constancy and warmth. Our mothers are our first homes, in womb, in swaddle, and in our daily bread. Make our mothers women who carry these responsibilities with zeal and courage. Sustain them that they would help in sustaining others. Build them by your Word and Spirit that they would build others in the same. And cover them in patient grace so that they would cover the world with the same. Keep them from anxiety, fear, frustration, and gossip. Cause them to abound in the beauty of a fervent faith. For those mothers who have passed, bring them into your eternal glory, where we anticipate joyful reunion. For those mothers far from you, set their minds on things above, that we with all your saints would find our greatest delight in your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.