Prayer Tips from a Homeschooling Mom of 14

Rose Folsom learned from Sam Fatzinger how a homeschooling mom of 14 finds time to pray.

Cecilia (Sam) Fatzinger spoke with me by phone as she was monitoring a parish homeschool class. Mother of 14, Sam is co-author with her husband, Rob, of A Catholic Guide to Spending Less and Living More: Advice from a Debt-Free Family of 16. Sam shared with me some of her secrets to carving out time in her non-stop schedule to keep her relationship with God thriving.

Prayer makes the day

“I’ve been going to daily Mass since I was 16, so that was the foundation of my daily prayer life,” Sam says. “Whatever your season in life, I always suggest to get up early. Get up before your kids, before your schedule starts, for quiet time with God.”

She admitted that she’s a morning person, and that getting up early may not work for everyone. (She’s always in bed by 9 or 10.) She emphasized how her connection with God affects her ability to get through the day.

“When I didn’t get quiet time, whether I was both pregnant and nursing, or just totally exhausted, or when I’d say, ‘Oh, I have to do the laundry, I don’t have time to sit here and pray,’ my day would spin out of control. When I did make God that first priority, he would not only give me peace throughout the day, but also open up pockets of time to do laundry or clean the kitchen or play a game with the kids.”

But how did she pray during the day with kids coming and going?

“Many days when I did get up early to pray, the baby would wake up or the toddler would walk down, and I would just learn to do it with them. Nursing was a perfect time for me to just sit and meditate or say the Rosary.”

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Rules for making time to pray

She also developed rules for her toddlers during her prayer time.

Have certain toys they can play with only when mommy is in her prayer chair. She adds, “You can’t run if you don’t warm up. So you need that time to warm up before you run all day cooking and cleaning and taking care of the kids or working at your job.”
Sam’s priest laughed when she told him she put a blanket over her head. She told the kids, “When I’m done, when this blanket’s off my head … until then, I’m just going to say my meditation and try to listen to God.” I’d be sitting on my green chair with a blanket over my head and hear footsteps coming down the stairs, knowing they’d go into the kitchen, start getting their breakfast, go to the bathroom, whatever—just, ‘Mom’s praying. Don’t mess with mom!’”
I’ve been a mom for 34 years, so I’ve gone through so many seasons. Sometimes it was having a candle lit next to my chair: “Don’t talk to mommy while the candle’s lit.” Or, “When I put my tea cup down, you can talk to me, but until then, don’t talk to me—trust me, if mommy doesn’t have her quiet time, everyone’s gonna have a bad day.”

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One mom's secrets to carving out time in her non-stop schedule to keep her relationship with God thriving. #CatholicMom

Sam believes there’s always time if you look for it. “I look back to when I had 7 kids under 10 and my prayer time sometimes was when they were taking a bath. Just sitting there praying the Rosary. They were having fun with their bath toys and what do they see? They see mom sitting there, she’s praying the Rosary, I’m safe, she’s having her private time.”

Read more tips on prayer, homeschooling, and staying debt-free at Sam's blog: BabyStepsJMJ.blogspot.com.

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