A DIY Retreat for Mothers with Young Children
A guided 2+ hour retreat for moms
When I was pregnant with my first, I read all the pregnancy books, but I was wholly unprepared for all the changes that would take place after birth. We were in the hospital for three days until a failed induction led to an emergency C-section.
On the fourth day, they sent us home. I’m not sure why, because I felt like I had no clue what I was doing. We drove home so slowly, with new precious cargo in the backseat, and me holding my c-section incision. I was so swollen with IV fluids that I didn’t even fit into my clothes.
And then began the sleepless nights, the internal monologue, the external loneliness - and two more children in rapid succession. In the darkness of that time, I listened to the lies about myself and my motherhood. What I didn’t have was this – a time set aside to consider the unique struggles of mothering young children, a time to pray and hear God’s voice, and hopefully to combat the loneliness by knowing you are not alone.
Over the last 15 years of motherhood and 5 kids later, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve failed a lot, but I’ve also prayed a lot. And I’ve heard God’s voice speak his truth to me, and it has changed my life.
My goal for this retreat is for God to speak His truth to you to conquer the lies that we all struggle with.
It is set up in two parts: a talk, then prayer time, then repeat. The idea is to listen to the talk, and then take the journaling questions to the chapel in the presence of our Lord in the Eucharist for at least a half hour of prayer. Maybe after that, you take a walk, call a friend, have a snack. And then listen to the second talk and again spend some time in prayer. If you do it with a friend, you can have a small group and verbally process. And then since you’ve had your prayer, do something nice that you enjoy - exercise, shopping, coffee, etc.
This is your retreat, so do with it what you will, as long as you promise me to take it seriously and take it to prayer.
Having quiet time alone with the Lord is vital to our souls. Ideally, your prayer time would take place in a chapel or in front of the Blessed Sacrament. But if you really can’t, then make sure you set aside place of prayer that is quiet.
Hosting this on Substack is an easy way for mothers to access it at their convenience. Having it behind a paywall helps for 3 reasons: 1 - when you pay for something, you take it a bit more seriously and tend to follow through. 2 - Some of the content is best being a bit protected rather than available all over the internet. 3 - We have begun what looks like a decade of orthodontist visits, and that is not cheap. At this point, anything helps.
I hope you consider a half-day retreat (or whatever you make of it) for $7 to be cheap. I fully expect you to sign up and cancel, although I would love for you to stick around as a free subscriber.
Also, I led this retreat in person with 25 moms earlier this year, and I think it went really well, so I feel pretty good about you liking it, too.
Feel free to reach out with any questions, and without further ado: your talks and reflection questions.
Topics Include: Identity lies, comparison traps, gratitude, honesty, struggles in motherhood, hearing God’s voice. Poverty of spirit, giving all you have, loneliness, prayer, transformation through the difficulties, hope, praying with Scripture and the Magnificat.