To You, Momma, Before We Begin Hi Momma, We are so glad you have found your way to these words. We have been thinking about you and praying for you, and we believe it is no coincidence that you are reading this book at this exact moment. Let us take just a second to introduce ourselves before we say anything else. We are Becky Thompson and Susan Pitts. I (Becky) am Susan's daughter. I began an online ministry for moms back in 2013, speaking mostly about the Father's love for a momma's heart and how He meets us right where we are in our mothering, marriages, and everyday lives. I have written five books in five years, and I host a weekly motherhood podcast, Revived Motherhood. I have three kids, Kolton, Kadence, and Jaxton, and I've been married to my husband, Jared, for thirteen years. We live in a suburb of Los Angeles, but we are Okies at heart. And I (Susan) am Becky's momma, and I've been in ministry for over forty years in various capacities, including full time, part time, and as a pastor's wife. I moved from the shores of New England to Oklahoma to attend Oral Roberts University. While in Tulsa, I met and married my husband, Marc Pitts, a graduate of the University of Tulsa College of Law. We have two grown daughters, Beth and Becky, and three grandchildren. Marc and I have ministered faithfully in cities and towns across Oklahoma, serving in established churches, planting churches, and helping launch dozens of new ministries. My heart for families and especially for women's ministries has always been to heal the brokenhearted and to restore women's relationships with the Lord. So, when did Becky and I start ministering to women together? I suppose it began back when Becky was born. The day I went into labor, Marc was out of town at a job interview in Washington, DC. A neighbor drove me to Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, and that's where she was born. I remember feeling very alone and scared even though I knew that Jesus was with me. Mercy Hospital sits on a hill and has a large white cross that is lit up at night to remind everyone that the Lord is with all the patients. When I went home later that week, I remember sitting in the rocking chair in the midnight hours and seeing that white cross from miles away as a light in the darkness. As I held baby Becky, I thought of the mommas who were having babies and who might also be feeling alone and scared, and I prayed for them. That was when the Midnight Mom prayer time started for me. Thirty years later, I (Becky) was often awake in the middle of the night with my own baby. My youngest, Jaxton, did not sleep well, and I would find myself up at all hours of the night. Like many other moms in my generation, I'd pull out my phone and scroll through social media as I rocked my little baby. One night, I decided to post on my Facebook page a simple message: "Mommas, who is awake tonight and why? Leave your #MidnightMomCheckin in the comments." Women who followed my online ministry commented and said why they were awake, what time it was where they lived, and what was going on around them. And the Midnight Mom Check-In was born. Hundreds of moms would comment nightly. We heard from women who were awake with their newborns, up with sick children, in the hospital waiting for test results, sleepless because of worry, enjoying the stillness of their houses while everyone else slept, monitoring fevers, changing wet sheets, waiting to hear from children traveling home, anxious about the next day, and going through so many other common motherhood experiences. Something beautiful happened as we read one another's stories: we began encouraging one another, praying for one another, and helping other mommas know that they are far less alone than they feel in those nighttime hours. The truth is, every night there are mommas across the world who are awake and doing the very same things, and there is a God who wants to meet us in the quiet. As the Midnight Mom Check-In grew, we needed a place just for these nightly gatherings. So the Midnight Mom Devotional Facebook page was founded. But I couldn't manage it alone. Knowing I needed help encouraging the hundreds of women who would gather each night and share their prayer requests, I invited my mom to pray and post with me. And so what began with a momma and her newborn baby looking out toward a white cross, praying for mommas in the middle of the night, came full circle as nightly this mother-daughter duo began praying for mommas awake around the world. Many nights, hundreds of prayer requests would pour in for a variety of situations, and we'd pray for all of them. But eventually, we began targeting our nightly momma check-ins toward mommas facing specific situations. And our signature "Tonight we pray for the momma who..." prayers began. Today, just four years after that first group of mommas gathered together online to encourage one another in the midnight hours, we reach over a million mommas nightly. So, as you pick up this book and read each day, our hope is that you immediately sense the multitude of women all across the world who are praying this prayer on this night with you. Many of these prayers will seem as if they were written just for you and your specific circumstances. They will feel as though God knew exactly what you were experiencing on that particular day and gathered thousands of women to lift you up. On those nights, remember that the Lord knows just what we need to hear and when we need to hear it. You aren't alone, because thousands of other women are praying with you and for you, Momma. As you go throughout the year, other prayers will seem to fit the lives of women you know--perhaps a momma friend who is a teacher or who has a child with complex medical issues. You might come to a prayer that is for the momma who is moving or the momma who has friends moving away. You might read a prayer for the widowed momma or the military momma or the momma who is getting her degree. At the end of each night's prayer, we have included a line for you to write the name of the momma you're praying for on that particular night. Our hope is that this book becomes a treasured keepsake as you document the women God has placed on your heart to pray for throughout the year. If you find that a prayer speaks specifically to what someone else is facing, don't hesitate to take a picture of the prayer and text it or message it to the momma who needs it. Just make sure you tell her where the encouragement came from so she can find the rest of the prayers. They might meet her right where she is too. Finally, if you are facing a specific situation, we have included a topical index in the back. So, whether you're a single momma, a working momma, an anxious momma, a momma of a child with special needs, or a momma in just about any other situation, we believe you will find a prayer that speaks hope into your unique set of circumstances. Truly, we are so glad you are joining our community of praying mommas. Your prayers are powerful. They are important. And we are honored to walk each day with you, trusting that the Lord is the one leading us all. Before you begin and jump to today's date, let's pray together. Father, tonight we pray for this momma who is a prayer warrior. She might be saying her first momma prayers tonight, or she might have been praying for years. We ask tonight that she would begin to have deeper conversations with You. We ask that You'd teach her to hear Your voice in response. Bless her as she reads a prayer each night, and help her to expand upon it in her own way. Let these prayers be a starting point for her own conversations with You. We believe You will teach her to pray just as You taught Your disciples in the Bible when they asked. Bless her tonight with rest and peace. We ask in Jesus's name. Amen. Friend, we'd love to hear from you. Please send us a message and let us know what this book has meant to you or how it has met you right where you are. And don't forget to join us nightly as we continue to pray for mommas online around the world. So much love, Becky and Susan Excerpted from Midnight Mom Devotional: 365 Prayers to Put Your Momma Heart to Rest by Becky Thompson, Susan K. Pitts All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
