Prayer for new mothers

Father, You said that fruit comes from You. This week I have been counting my days in laundry loads and bottle counts, and the fruit I long for — patience, kindness, gentleness — has been hard to find. But the fruit is not something I can squeeze out of myself by trying harder. It comes from staying close to You, the way a branch grows fruit by staying on the vine. So let me stay on the vine today. I will not push for the fruit. Patience will come because I am attached to You. Kindness will come because I am attached to You. My job is the staying, not the squeezing. Amen.