May you be gentle with yourself as you grow

"All that is required from us is a trusting and ready yes"

This week on Mothering Spirit

Katie Cassidy invites us to reimagine the hard work of parenting and caregiving in the light of the paschal mystery (Jesus’ dying and rising):

“I suspect it is the death of our self-importance. Of course we are still made in the image and likeness of our Lord and loved beyond measure within that identity. But caretaking and parenting is a participation in our breaking free from self-love out of love for another and being transformed in the process.

Parenthood may not be the vocation by which everyone enters into this transformation. It may be that caring for your infant is only a precursor to caring for the needs of a grandchild, neighbor, or spouse. But at one time or another, perhaps at a time not of our choosing, there will be an invitation to enter into this Mystery. 

All that is required from us is a trusting and ready yes.”

Read the rest here: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Caregiving.

Genevieve Mougey offers a beautiful collection of prayers for your godchildren—perfect to share with your godson/daughter or with the godparents of your own kids.

May you know deep love, care, and friendship.
May you come to embrace your faith and identity.
May you always know how loved you are….
May God bless you, always.

Find all 3 blessings here, including a prayer for a baptism anniversary and a daily prayer to remember your godchild: Prayers for Your Godchildren.

From our sponsors

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Use the promo code MOTHERINGSPIRIT10 to get $10 off an annual subscription for you or a friend until the end of December, at verilymag.shop!

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This Week’s Recommendation

Each Friday we feature more work from our writers. This week we shared an excerpt from Live Big, Love Bigger: Getting Real with BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus by Kathryn Whitaker:

“I’m quite positive that thousands of miles and countless hours in the van have been not only opportunities for sanctification (we won’t get into pulling the van over somewhere near Atlanta, Georgia, and screaming at one another) but they have also been a gift to grow in faith and in relationship. I’m not referring to the self-serving martyrdom of road trips here. I’m talking about seeing the gift it is to spend that kind of time with the people in your life you deeply love. About one day into every road trip, I always wonder if it was the worst idea ever dreamed by man. But the imperfect time away has the ability to show us, in a real and tangible way, that life is chaotic and unpredictable and God is right there in the middle of it.”

Read the whole excerpt here (and bookmark for your next family road trip): BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus.

In Your Words

We know 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

Stacy Bronec

(@stacybronec on Instagram):

“Motherhood is reaching into the backseat for the tenth time for a dropped pacifier, goldfish cracker, or lovey. It’s reaching to catch a stumbling toddler, unsure on his feet. It’s reaching to brush a tear from her cheek when she crashes her bike. It’s reaching down to pick up your daughter, not knowing it’s the last time.

Motherhood is bending to pick up dropped food and toys strewn around the house. It’s bending over the crib, patting your baby’s back for the third time that night. It’s bending down, folding yourself into your daughter’s bunk bed when she asks you to lay with her for ‘just one more minute.’ It’s bending the rules, just this one time, because you’ve learned that sometimes rules are made to be broken.

Motherhood is stretching out to hold your son’s hand, not remembering the last time he asked to hold your hand, his head nearly grazing your shoulder. It’s stretching your fears, sending them on the bus for the first time. It’s stretching your arms wide when they run off the bus—both of you in awe that you did it.

Motherhood stretches us—sometimes until we think we might break—bending our bodies into stronger yet softer versions of ourselves.

Motherhood stretches our bodies, our patience, our faith—the proof in stretch marks across our stomachs and creases under our eyes.

We stretch to reach for them when they need us but learn to let go, too.”

If you like what you read at Mothering Spirit, we’d love if you’d share this Substack with a friend who needs encouragement in parenting—or a place to pray in the midst of busy days. Thank you for supporting our writers by sharing their work, following us on Instagram or Facebook, or supporting us on Patreon.