God knows our invisible, unsung labor
There is no way to wrap our arms around the globe. But let us try.
This week on Mothering Spirit
Erin Strybis shares a powerful moment of revelation about God’s own mothering:
“Soon we were in the glider again to finish his feeding. ‘There you go, sweet baby,’ I cooed, snuggling Adam into the crook of my arm. My lips brushed against his peach fuzz hair, and I breathed in his honeyed scent.
An image came to mind. Many years ago, I heard Reverend Nadia Bolz-Weber preach at an event for Lutheran youth. Addressing the crowd, she described '“God’s voice [as] a warm, singsong of a mother to her newborn. The one that says, ‘You are mine.’ God’s voice calls us worthy, and there’s a word for that, and that word is ‘grace.’”
Goosebumps raced up my spine. The pastor’s message was tailored to teens, and yet I felt as if she’d spoken directly to me.
God’s like that? Like a newborn mother?”
Read the whole essay: Broken for You.
Cameron Bellm generously allowed us to share her powerful Prayer for a Country Called War:
Every time you kiss your children,
Remember those who have lost theirs.Every time you take a sip of water,
Remember those who have no food, no drink.Every time you call your parents,
Remember those who have no way of knowing if their loved ones are alive or dead.
Read the rest here: Prayer for a Country Called War.
From our sponsors
This week’s sponsor of Mothering Spirit is Brazos Press, publisher of The Deep Down Things: Practices for Growing Hope in Times of Despair by Amber C. Haines and Seth Haines. In The Deep Down Things, Amber and Seth point to a simple truth: even in the darkest times, there are tangible signs of hope all around us. They demonstrate how tasting, touching, feeling, holding, and participating in these tangible acts of hope picks us up, builds our strength, and moves us into beauty, even in times of despair.
This Week’s Recommendation
Each Friday we feature more work from our writers. This week we shared an excerpt from Meta Herrick Carlson’s Ordinary Blessings for the Christmas Season: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations (the 3rd volume in her Ordinary Blessings series).
“Perhaps you are a planner and October doesn’t seem too early to start talking about the Christmas season. You’re already formatting your Christmas card picture, booking travel plans, or deciding which days you’ll take PTO and which days you’ll ‘work from home’ while kids are around on winter break from school.
I’m not very proactive or organized about any of these things, but there are two ways I plan ahead for the Christmas season. Since I’m a pastor, I’m already thinking about preaching texts, worship themes, and Advent hymns. Church professionals are always living in two (or more) seasons at a time. And because I walk through this season with so many parishioners, family members, and friends, I’m already thinking about grief, family systems, consent culture, and the financial stress of Christmas.
My latest collection of Ordinary Blessings is holding all these things and more. There are poems to mark the holiday season at home, in the world, and at church; for travel, for winter weather, and sitting down at the table together; for biblical characters and Advent words, and the twelve days of Christmas. Some are funny and others are earnest. They all aim to honor the tension of what is both hard and holy about the Christmas Season.”
Read on for 3 blessings, including one for When They Ask About Santa: Ordinary Blessings for the Christmas Season.
Substack Spotlight
Joy & Jubilee by Jenica Donahue is a biweekly newsletter that navigates the balance of faith and doubt, the mountains and valleys of mothering, and how being present can change the way we see and experience the world around us.
In each post, you’ll find a reflective essay, a photograph highlighting a moment of ordinary joy, some words of jubilee—inspiring quotes or poems worth sharing, as well as a short roundup of good things from the week.
Jenica’s favorite posts include When You Are a Storm Inside—a reflection on overwhelm in parenting, All That Goes Out of My Mouth—a reflection on the words that we speak, and All That Was and Will Be—a reflection on the limits of memory.
Subscribe to Joy & Jubilee here, and don’t miss Jenica’s latest post: Breaking Bread Together.
Want to feature your Substack newsletter here to have it reach more readers? Contact laura@motheringspirit.com for more information.
In Your Words
Social media is a place where mothers of all ages and stages share from the heart about their joys and challenges. Each week we bring you a glimpse into one mother’s life—in the hopes that her words might resonate with your own story.
This week’s post comes from Emily Frase (@totalwhine_ on Instagram):
Signs of life.
That's what I call this now.
Every time I walk into a room and see the catastrophe, I pause. I acknowledge the rage, the feeling of futility of trying to keep a clean house, the utter disregard for order
and I remember, and I say out loud
these are signs of life.
This is the sign that my body made humans, that my home is full of joy, laughter and play, that I have people who depend on me, I have people to care for.
Yes, it is exhausting. My back hurts so bad from bending to fix these messes. The skin on my fingers peel from being too long in dish water. The daily grind of regulating mine and these little people's emotions has given me more gray hairs than I care to count. I can and do acknowledge the reality that there is a cost to life.
But what would I do
if this weren't my life?
I'd long for it. Desperately. I cry sometimes from the exhaustion, but the tears are in a way an offering of thanksgiving. I know if I didn't have this, I'd still shed tears, tears of longing I don't know I'd have the strength to bear.
I am thankful for these signs of life.
And maybe slightly even more thankful for the shop vac that is always nearby.
If you like what you read at Mothering Spirit, we’d love if you’d share this with a friend! Maybe someone who needs encouragement in her mothering journey—or a place to pray in the midst of her busy days. Thanks for supporting our writers by sharing their work, following us on Instagram or Facebook, or supporting us on Patreon.
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