For Sally, who is doing work on lone parents and church, here is a poem by Kathy Keay...

God of the Single Parent

By

Kathy Keay

Blessed is she who belongs nowhere

Because she is with child

But without husband

For You will be her Life Partner.

Blessed is she who only has one pair of hands

To do six tasks at the same time,

Urgently.

You will send her unexpected help.

Blessed is she who must provide for all

The needs of her children

And for her own.

You will surely defend her cause.

Blessed is she when the children are in bed

And in the silence of the evening

She craves for adult company.

You will fill her home with your Presence.

Blessed is she when others speak falsely against her

And when she is required to listen to all manner

Of dreadful afflictions

Which will come upon her children

Because they are the products of a single-parent household.

You will delight in proving them all wrong

Because she puts her trust in You.

For You are the God of the Single Parent

Who knew what it was like

To live against the expectations of society

And said

The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to

Such as these

From Kathy Keay, ed. Laughter, Silence and Shouting: An Anthology of Women’s Prayers, Harper Collins1994 page 82