The Mysterious Way Parents Assist the Guardian Angels

At the park the other day, I was pushing my son on the swing while talking to another mom pushing her daughter one swing over.

All of a sudden, I saw a little girl run right in the path of my son’s swing, about to be knocked down when he swung backward.

I quickly grabbed both of his feet to stop him, and almost fell forward stopping his momentum. We all breathed a sigh of relief that the little girl didn’t get knocked over.

It made me realize how many times a day we do little things like this or sometimes much bigger things to guard our children? Parents, our jobs are not for the faint-hearted!

When we pray the Guardian Angel prayer with our children, we need to remember that we are the hands and feet of God’s angels, because we are parents.

To Whom His Love Commits Me Here

God’s love made us, and God’s love brought us our children. Our paths to holiness are now closely intertwined with theirs. The struggles of parenthood and life often come from the struggles our children are currently facing.

If they are having problems with a school subject, have been diagnosed with a learning disability, are living with a physical or mental condition, or any other difficulty, it becomes our struggle too. God’s love flows through us to commit us to our children and to their growth.

Whenever we care for them, guard them from harm, or guide them to make good choices, we are acting in accord with their guardian angels. Conversely, these children also grow us in holiness.

I’ve often thought that I could have easily been a self-absorbed individual had it not been for my children. I can’t be everything for them, but I can give them what I have, my faith and myself.

Ever to Stay, Be at My Side

Every day, I sit at the kitchen table with my children as we start our work. We usually start by reading the saint of the day, and then move into prayer for our family and friends or whatever intentions are on our hearts.

We always finish with either the Angel of God prayer, or the St. Michael prayer because sometimes it seems that we are in a constant battle just doing our daily work. We need those angels!

As I sit and watch my children struggle with math and science, I am also praying for my children’s spiritual battles in a world that is no longer Christian. I know that these days sitting with them are short, even though at times they seem long.

What we do at home; our discussions, our light-hearted talks, our teasing, and our daily family life are all going to shape our children’s desires and intentions for the future. I’m praying that being at their side now, and guarding their natural curiosities and need for knowledge with good curriculum and God’s truths, will be enough to root them in a future that corresponds with God’s will for them.

To Light, To Guard, To Rule and Guide

As many Mothers do, I turn on the lights each morning before dawn and turn off the lights each night, since I am usually the last to go to bed. Before I turn in, I walk around the house, cleaning, or putting out the things needed for the next day.

I have a white board where I write out the schedule each day, so the kids have an idea of what their day will look like. I know where each child needs to be, and have prayed and discerned with my husband what activities each child will be doing to grow in his or her talents and abilities.

It’s just the routine life of a parent, yet we are so much more. The daily guidance we give as parents works hand in hand with God’s goals for our children.

How God needs parents today, more than ever, to listen to Him, to offer our children rules rooted in love, and the light of truth while giving guidance as they learn how to navigate the maze of life.

Angels All Around

Imagine how crowded our houses must be! In my home, with seven of us living here, and seven guardian angels hovering around us at all times, I imagine the heavenly host must be bumping into each other.

If I could see them, I think I would be shocked at the level of God’s love for us manifested through His angels. I know that God’s guardians work with us and through us to do God’s divine will each day, however broken each of us might be.

As parents, we can know that God has given us a truly special task of spreading his love through our sometimes mundane, but never fruitless work as parents, just like God’s glorious angels do.

About Amy Pawlusiak

Originally from suburban Detroit, Michigan, Amy Pawlusiak now lives in Tampa, Florida raising and homeschooling her very active five children, from high school to preschool. She has a masters in Education from Wayne State University in Detroit, and worked for Catholic talk-show host and writer Teresa Tomeo on her website and newsletter before deciding to devote herself to homeschooling.