“Your love for them hums along in quiet work they cannot see”

Make us fervent seekers of grace and mercy

Welcome to the Mothering Spirit newsletter! Each Saturday morning, you’ll receive a round-up of the week’s posts—perfect for your weekend reading.

This week on Mothering Spirit

Colleen Connell finds a perfect metaphor for her love and labor as a single parent:

“If I am to be able to maintain the steady emotional rhythm I want for my children, like that metronome ticking ever so steadily on, I need to constantly be working through my own emotions in healthy ways and refilling my own tank in order to maintain the emotional energy needed to provide for them…This kind of self-care is not an indulgence, but a necessary aspect of my parenting journey. My mental and emotional health are paramount to my children’s well-being. With no one else to step in and take over, it’s on me to keep the emotional pace for our family. ”

Read the whole essay here: Me, The Emotional Metronome.

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Meta Herrick Carlson gives us a perfect prayer for the moments we feel overwhelmed by the emotional labor no one sees:

Blessed are they
who fill out forms and organize,
who wash uniforms and favorite blankets,
who remember what no one else will;

for they are humans doing their best,
who are allowed to forget
and tire and keep on trying
just like everyone else.

The whole prayer is found here: A Blessing For Emotional Labor.

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Freaking out because Lent starts next week & you have nothing planned? We’ve got you covered: 3 Ways to Prepare for Lent (When You’re a Parent). Easy tips for you and your kids:

1. Focus on what's simple

2. Find a good book: for yourself and for your child

3. Find peace in knowing Lent won't be perfect

Get all the details here.

Want to hang out?

Craving community with other mothers? Kicking social media to the curb for Lent and worried you’ll feel lonely? Join us for our first Mothering Spirit gathering: a maybe-monthly virtual meetup on Sunday nights. We know so many moms are hungry for meaningful conversation and deeper connections, so we’d love to make it happen.

Join us on Sunday, March 5th, from 7:15-8:30 pm CT on Zoom, for a virtual gathering of our writers and patrons. (You can become a patron for only $2 to check it out.)

This month's topic will be COMMUNITY. Where have we found it in motherhood? How could we help build it? Has the church offered community for us as parents, or if not, what do we dream our local church could offer? How could Mothering Spirit to help foster community—both online and in person?

We'd love to hear your perspectives and stories (and if you're hungry for community that you haven't yet found, you're not alone). Gather with us on Sunday night to unwind and connect: a perfect Sabbath way to start the week. Details here!

From our sponsors

This week’s sponsor of Mothering Spirit is Be A Heart Design, a modern Christian lifestyle brand that creates beautiful products to help both adults and children grow in faith. Check out their Easter offerings to bring joy to your kids in their baskets: dolls, puzzles, toys, and much more!

From the archives

“We moms who want to nurture our relationship with God—but also lead busy lives with children—often find ourselves caught between a rock and hard place.

Prayer practices seem to require 1) undivided chunks of time; 2) quiet; 3) a peaceful environment. I don’t know about you, but those three almost NEVER occur at our house. And never at the same time.

So I’ve learned that realistic expectations for prayer are essential as a parent. Lent is no exception. Over the years I’ve tried to live by these 3 simple ideas for busy moms, and each year I find that they lead me in surprising ways to a deeper Lent…”

Read the rest at How To Live Lent As A Busy Mother.

A final word for reflection

“In the face of all this mythology [of the perfect mother] it becomes difficult to admit that occasionally you lock yourself in the bathroom just to be alone...The great motherhood friendships are the ones in which two women can admit this quietly to each other, over cups of tea at a table sticky with spilled apple juice and littered with markers without tops.”

(Anna Quindlen, Loud and Clear)