Earlier this year I joined a virtual Lenten study community where the focus was self-care. The accompanying book was “Sacred Self-Care: Daily Practices for Nurturing Our Whole Selves” by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes. We were blessed to have the author do daily guided reflections for 49 days for the group of women to respond to. The topics ranged from shepherding self-care to defining good relationships to honoring our limits to care received and given in community. In a sense we were each other’s accountability partners. The number of women who posted and responded daily to the prompts varied from 4 to 10. We all came from different states, showing up at different times of the day, based on our time zones. We had two scheduled Zoom meetings where we saw one another and heard each other’s voices. What was so wonderful about this group is that all the women who were part of this virtual community were mothers. This time of tending the fire of self-care was truly a godly gift for all of us. We arrived with many burdens to be shouldered and with a need for self-care to be the priority during this Lenten journey.
We embraced this sacred time to live the Scripture in the gospel of John 4:14 (NIV) “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
We drank the support of this virtual community in abundance. It was timely for me, as I had returned a few weeks prior from an intense ministry trip. I needed to process the trip and receive reminders to care for myself and my soul. I received the love and support from these strangers, a sisterhood sent by God, at this crossroad where I reclaimed REST. We shed layers of vulnerability, like mothers know how to do, and honored each other’s stories and pace at Jesus’ well of living water of self-care. In the circle of sisterhood and community curated by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes, we gave ourselves permission to be present, to be authentic, to receive God’s abundant love. In this circle of love, we claimed, sustained, and leaned into our caring space with no apologies.
To read the entire article, click here
Photo by Jackie Parker on Unsplash
Earlier this year I joined a virtual Lenten study community where the focus was self-care. The accompanying book was “Sacred Self-Care: Daily Practices for Nurturing Our Whole Selves” by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes. We were blessed to have the author do daily guided reflections for 49 days for the group of women to respond to. The topics ranged from shepherding self-care to defining good relationships to honoring our limits to care received and given in community. In a sense we were each other’s accountability partners. The number of women who posted and responded daily to the prompts varied from 4 to 10. We all came from different states, showing up at different times of the day, based on our time zones. We had two scheduled Zoom meetings where we saw one another and heard each other’s voices. What was so wonderful about this group is that all the women who were part of this virtual community were mothers. This time of tending the fire of self-care was truly a godly gift for all of us. We arrived with many burdens to be shouldered and with a need for self-care to be the priority during this Lenten journey.
We embraced this sacred time to live the Scripture in the gospel of John 4:14 (NIV) “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
We drank the support of this virtual community in abundance. It was timely for me, as I had returned a few weeks prior from an intense ministry trip. I needed to process the trip and receive reminders to care for myself and my soul. I received the love and support from these strangers, a sisterhood sent by God, at this crossroad where I reclaimed REST. We shed layers of vulnerability, like mothers know how to do, and honored each other’s stories and pace at Jesus’ well of living water of self-care. In the circle of sisterhood and community curated by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes, we gave ourselves permission to be present, to be authentic, to receive God’s abundant love. In this circle of love, we claimed, sustained, and leaned into our caring space with no apologies.
To read the entire article, click here
Photo by Jackie Parker on Unsplash