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Top 10 Things I Learned at the Mom's Day Away

Posted by Lynn Wehner in Faith on Wednesday, April 06, 2011 9:00 AM

I won’t hit it all. I won’t even try. There was too much goodness and beauty to capture in a blog post.

Women’s wisdom surrounded us at our Mom’s Day Away — and the Holy Spirit sank a few things deep in our hearts. Here, in no particular order, is my own personal “highlights reel” of things I learned for the journey …

1. You can leave All. Your. Clothes. at home — half a country away — and still shine in beauty and radiate grace. Just ask Hallie Lord. Yes, she really did that. And yes, she really did shine.

2. A church full of women praying the Rosary together and singing with one voice can bring you to tears. I can still hear it … with Pat Gohn’s baritone and Robyn Lee’s soprano. I’ll be hearing it for a long time.

3. Stop comparing yourself to other women. Stop it. As Danielle Bean said, “Why do we DO that?” Be the best “you” — the “you” that God created. He’s asking you to help change your own corner of the world, one soul at a time, and you can’t do that by trying to be someone else — or by trying to live up to some out-there expectation of who that someone else is.

4. “Look your kids in the eye.” Put down the laundry basket. Turn away from the computer. And look them in the eye. How long I have struggled with this. Thank you for saying the words, Jennifer Fulwiler. Hearing them brings me a giant step closer to tackling this personal “multi-tasking mom” failing.

5. There are wonderfully generous organizations who want to bless us in our vocation as mothers. To BibleToys.com, Melanie Gillespie of Trendy Traditions, and the many raffle contributors: You rock.

6. Don’t subject your kids to the “tyranny of your to-do list.” Wow, Kate Wicker. Do you live in my home?

7. When women say things out loud — and share, face to face — it makes things real. It embeds them in our hearts. And it can transform names on screens to sisters in Christ.

8. “Love inspires more than the law requires.” My personal favorite quote of the day, Rachel Balducci. Really living this? It’s how saints are made.

9. “Days like this are not a luxury, but a necessity.” Thank you, Dorian Speed, for this simple wisdom. We moms would do anything to build the faith of our families. Why not do it for ourselves? And you know, in the end, who also benefits?  Yeah, you do know.

10. Our vocation is all about taking “one Yes at a time.” Danielle, you started us off with this, and it was the perfect thread to carry us through our day together. It is, in itself, a daily prayer, guided by the perfect fiat of Mama Mary. I don’t know what Yes God will ask of me next week — or even this afternoon. But I’m more convinced than ever that today’s Yes is enough for me, for my family, and for God.

I haven’t hit it all. I haven’t even tried. There was too much goodness and beauty to capture in a blog post.

And that’s what we all realized, I think. We can blog and write and read all day — and we love that. But there will never be a substitute for in-person gatherings. In-person laughs and tears and hugs and chatter are the way we women are wired — and we lived that charism to the fullest on Saturday! Thank you to every single woman who made a mark on my heart. I look forward to traveling this road with you — and sharing whatever “Yes” God has planned for all of us, together.

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