Kayla Craig - To Light Their Way: A Collection of Prayers and Liturgies for Parents

For parents, this collection is a grace-filled place to turn when seeking language, hope, and peace. MORGAN HARPER NICHOLS Artist and poet To Light Their Way is such an inspiring collection of liturgies and prayers that help families discuss and discern the themes of justice we want to see in our world. Kayla thoughtfully leads parents, children, and extended family down the path of truly living out Jesus hope of seeing Gods will be done on earth as it is in heaven. JONATHAN PASTAH J BROOKS Pastor; author of Church Forsaken Few voices Ive come across do the work of demystifying not only spiritual matters but also the sometimes overwhelming world of parenting. This book, like so much of Kaylas work, meets me in both places, providing pathways of language and imagery that help place me in my own secret and everyday life. JUSTIN M C ROBERTS Author of It Is What You Make of It To live fully is to embrace the wonder of the ordinary and the mystery of God with us.

These simple, meaningful prayers are a night-light, reminding us we are not alone. I will keep this beautiful book close at hand and reach for it again and again. SHANNAN MARTIN Author of The Ministry ofOrdinary Places and Falling Free Inspired, beautiful, heartfelt, compassionate, and real, these prayers will help you enter into a deeper relationship with God in almost every part of your life as a believer. JAMES MARTIN, SJ Author of Learning to Pray As a mom to many foster children and one newborn baby, I have experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows in my parenting journey. Moments with God are harder to come by when you have children whose needs demand all your time and attention. Time with God is essential for myself and my family.

When I have time, I am often depleted and lacking the words to pray. Thankfully, Kayla Craig has provided this book full of beautifully woven prayers and liturgies for parents just like me. This is the book I didnt know I so desperately needed. MANDA CARPENTER Author of Space: An Invitation to Create Sustainable Rhythms of Work, Play, and Rest Every parent or caregiver knows what its like to stare down the hopes, fears, joys, and griefs of childrearing and struggle to find words to say, much less words to pray. This book is an expansive offering of grace, generously providing the language we all need to lift our children to the One who knit each and every one of them together in love. SHANNON K.

EVANS Author of Rewilding Motherhood: Your Path to an Empowered Feminine Spirituality These liturgies awaken us to the glory of children again and again. Kayla has curated a collection that is honest about every flawed and aching aspect of parenthood, yet her words are grounded in a deep gratitude for her role as keeper, protector, and lover of the little ones she calls her own. I suspect these prayers will be shared, remembered, and held close for many years to come. COLE ARTHUR RILEY Writer of Black Liturgies To Light Their Way is a trusted companion for every parents journey, honoring the bright and dark places along the way. Kayla Craig has given us a rich collection of liturgies to pray in quiet or proclaim together in chaos, a book for the joys and sorrows of raising children through milestone moments and mundane days. Kayla has a heart for justice, an ear for poetry, and clear eyes to see the world through grit and glory.

Her prayers offer a deep breath and a drink of grace when we need it most. At the heart of each liturgy is gratitude for the goodness of family love, even when it is complicated or challenging. To Light Their Way is the prayer book so many of us have been searching for strong in faith, wide in reach, and stubborn in hope. LAURA KELLY FANUCCI Author of Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting and To Bless Our Callings: Prayers, Poems, and Hymns to Celebrate Vocation Now more than ever, many of us are overwhelmed with the demands of parenting in such a loud world. With compassion, curiosity, and tenderness, Kayla Craig offers us sacred prayers and space for the complexity of parenthood. To Light Their Way is a gift to all of us who are seeking to stay rooted in faith as we navigate the beautiful and difficult terrain of raising kids.

AUNDI KOLBER Licensed therapist and author of Try Softer Breathtaking and transformational. This book takes us by the hand and shows us how to pray for our children through heartbreak and with a howl of hope in our chests. Dont miss this chance to light up milestones and meltdowns and everything in between with unflinching prayers of joy and generosity. We need more guides like Kayla in the world and on the bookshelf! DIANA K. OESTREICH Founder of the Waging Peace Project; author of Amazons #1 new release in war and peace, Waging Peace: One Soldiers Story of Putting Love First If written prayers are a light meant to help illuminate our path, To Light Their Way is a bonfire. When words wont come, when our groanings are all the communication we have, Kayla Craig has gathered hopes and laments like wildflowers, an overflowing basket of beauty to spur us onward.

If you often find yourself stymied or overwhelmed by prayer, Kayla lets us borrow her hard-won words as she beckons us from just ahead on the road. To Light Their Way is honest, rich, and attentive to all the ways we can suffuse grace into our childrens lives, as well as our own. ERIN HICKS MOON Host of the Faith Adjacent podcast; resident Bible scholar on The Bible Binge podcast; author of Every Broken Thing, O Heavy Lightness, and Memento Mori Kayla Craigs stunningly beautiful gift of written word has, time and again, captured exactly what my spirit was longing to say in times of grief, celebration, and waiting. Her reflections in To Light Their Way will prove to do exactly this: theyll surely illuminate our spirits longings as we hope for connection with the heart of God and one another. This collection is a holy offering from Kaylas heart to us and Im so grateful. ASHLEE EILAND Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church; author of Human(Kind) Simple and profound, gentle and bold, each page of To Light Their Way is packed with life.

What a gift this book will be to all who find it. May it illuminate the paths of many. With this book, Kayla Craig has created something very special. It will be a source of hope and help for many years to come. In these pages, I saw reflected so many of the things Ive often wanted to say but could not express. Its a reminder that were not alone and that the aches and longings, joys and blessings of being a parent can lead us to a closer knowing of Gods great, good love.

BRAD MONTAGUE New York Times