Every Monday morning at our staff huddle (even now from a distance) I share a prayer for the week.  Sometimes it is from traditional liturgy, sometimes I write it myself, but I always try to use it to set some intention for the week.  I try to find something that feels relevant to whatever else is going on in the world and at school.

This week my prayer is based on my experience potty training my 2 year old this weekend.  My daughter truly rocked it.  She caught on so quickly and was so proud of herself and it was awesome to watch.  But, as often happens with little kids as they make a big developmental leap, you could see her struggle with the change.  I saw it especially when she tried to sleep.  The girl who normally sings herself to sleep and gets a good 12 hours every night, couldn’t fall asleep.  She tossed and turned and fussed and cried and woke up several times.  You could just see her little brain so busy and struggling to settle after all her weekend growth.

It reminded me, that we are taught that this is part of learning for little kids.  As parents we are taught to look for it.  But. . . I think we adults go through a similar process when we learn and grow and change.  It can be painful for us too.  Even when it is a good change, even when we work hard to learn a new skill, it can be a struggle and it can be painful and challenging.

As we start week three of distance learning, it is clear that every single one of us has grown and changed a lot in a short amount of time.  Whether learning new technology or new ways to connect to others and ourselves, new ways to balance our time and spend our time. . . we have been really successful. . . and I know for me, it has also been a little bit painful.

So I’m starting this week with a prayer “For Being Open to Change,” from one of my favorite siddurim, Siddur Sha’ar Zahav.  What I love in particular about this prayer is that it begins with the words  Mi sheberach avorteinu v’imoteinu.  These words translate to “God who has blessed our ancestors,” but I can’t hear them without thinking of the prayer that so many of us call Mi sheberach, our prayer for healing.  It reminds me to make space for healing as I continue to move forward with growth and change, it feels like it acknowledges the inherent challenge and pain that often comes with growth.