faith like a mom: Recent Episodes
Desiree Weaver
Hey mama! Are you feeling deeply weary or even a little lost about how your faith works in this chapter of your life? Lay the mom guilt down for a sec and join me for 10-15 minutes of rest for your body, mind and soul. In this first season, I will be inviting you into prayer practices designed to help you make space in yourself and meet with God. No prerequisite theology required and if the thought of prayer or even faith fills you with a whole mess of conflicted feelings, you are in the right place. Oh and, if you want to join a ragtag bunch a moms who are trying to work out their faith while parenting, we would be glad to have you join our little community on the faith like a mom Facebook page.
Here is the promised quick start version of this practice! This way of praying is ready and waiting for you when you feel like you are about to LOSE it. Pop those earbuds in and let me help you pray when you just don't have the words.
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During these tumultuous times, we will look to Jesus for wisdom on how to proceed. Join me for an Ignatian prayer exercise with Jesus and the Beatitudes. If you haven't listened to the introduction to Ignatian prayer (episode 8), please listen to that first as I don't spend a lot of time reviewing the format before beginnging the practice. Will Jesus's words turn things on their head for you the way they did in his time?
We’d love to hear about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page!
Lovingkindness meditation is a popular practice that offers quite a bit of flexibility in exactly how you put it together. For our purposes, I will invite you to turn to this prayer when you are out of words and perhaps out of patience with a certain someone. Lovingkindness meditation guides in praying for ourselves, someone we aren't getting along with-like our kids (gasp)-and for our fellow humans. Share your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page. We’d love to have have you!
During this extraordinary time of pandemic, we will take time for an extended check in as well as a brief body scan. You will be invited to explore the current landscape of your heart in conversation with God. If you have done nothing else for yourself today or even this week, please take some time to check in on how you are doing. Wishing you all the grace in these strange days. Share your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page. We’d love to have have you!
In honor of Valentines Day we will sit with one of my favorite passages on God's love: Ephesians 3:14-19. Another Lectio Divina by request! If you are willing to be honest, I wonder what will come up for you in our final question today. Share your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page. We’d love to have have you!
How do we pray when life is too much, too hard, too sad, too...? Many of us were raised to keep on with the good girl prayers even when we are totally devastated. Instead, let me suggest WTF prayers. The Psalms are full of them! Warning I will use the F-bomb in this episode while sharing about my own experience, so please decide if that fits for you.
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Today we are going to dive into part 4 of this series on Psalm 139 using Lectio Divina. This particular passage is not for the faint of heart. David is going to get ugly, which is quite jaring after such a lovely and lofty hymn to God. I wonder do we have some of these same kind of less than attractive places in our own hearts. Spoiler, yes, but I promise God can handle it.
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Today we will sit with part 3 of Psalm 139 using Lectio Divina. As a trigger warning, I will mention this section includes “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and we will consider how that sits with those of us who have lost children in utero.
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Today we will look at the second strophe or stanza of Psalm 139. In this section of the psalm, David ponders just how pervasive God's presence is. What will it be like to consider God's willingness to be present with you in anything, anywhere?
We'd love to hear about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page!
Today we are going to start a journey with Psalm 139. Using lectio divina, we will sit with this passage in four sections. The first section speaks to how thoroughly God knows David, the writer of this psalm. I wonder what it will be like for you to think about God knowing you in this way.
We love to hear about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page!
We have covered so many prayer practices already in this season! Today we are going to talk about the elements that go into discerning if a spiritual practice is a good fit for you. That's right, you don't have to take up every little (or big) practice that comes your way. We actually want to be invited to it by the Holy Spirit. If you are feeling a little panicy about how long the episode is, there is an opt out point at about 14.5 minutes.
We love to hear about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page!
Breath prayers have been a bit of a lifeline for me at times. I usually teach this practice as part of a bigger workshop but I've pared it down, so you can have it your pocket when you need it. You will have the option of choosing one from the Psalms or I share my own personal breath prayers that you are more than welcome to.
We would love to hear about your experience on the faith like a mom facebook page!
Naps--God knows we need them! Today we will be talking about how they are not only good for you (well, for most people anyway) but also how they might be just about the most spiritual thing you could do right now. Wishing you some sweet dreams mama!
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Today we are going to utilize a simple yoga pose to help quiet our bodies and minds and open to God. There will also be the option to reflect on Acts 17:28 while doing the body posture. "In God I live and move and have my being."
Please consider sharing about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page!
Today we are going to use a practice I first found in Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline." Using palms up/palms down meditation, we will utilize the body to help calm the mind and open our hearts toward God. Thanks for giving it a try! Share your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page. We'd love to have have you!
Today we will use Ignatian/imaginitive prayer to encounter the good shepherd in Psalm 23. When you imagine yourself in this scene, will it be too much, too hard to receive the generous care of the shepherd or will it be a much needed balm to your soul?
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Today we will use Ignatian/imaginitive prayer to encounter Jesus' healing of blind Bartimaeus. We will sit with Jesus' piercing question, "what do you want me to do for you?" What might the Holy Spirit bring up for you in response? Share about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page. We'd love to have you!
Today we will use Ignatian/imaginative prayer to sit with the woman in the crowd also known as the woman with the issue of blood from Luke 8. We will wonder together what it would be like to bring our deepest source of pain and alienation to Jesus. Join our discussion on the faith like a mom Facebook page!
Today, I 'd like to introduce you to a provocative way of encountering scripture. Let me clarify that I don't mean sexually suggestive or looking to start a fight. Rather, this way of sitting with scripture, especially encounters with Jesus, may draw you out. In Ignatian prayer, also know as imaginative prayer, we present our whole selves to the text through our God-given imagination and allow the Holy Spirit to invite us into conversation around the passage. We'd love to hear about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page!
Seeing all the red, white and blue this week, has me thinking about all of our military mamas out there. I will reflect a little on what it was like watching my own military mom. If you are one of these moms, I hope I did your sacrifices some justice, and if not, please share more about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page. If you have no experience with being in a military family, I invite you to be curious about their experience and join me in holding these fellow moms in our hearts with God.
During our time today, we will be opening to the love of God for us through our felt experience with our kids. Seriously, our maternal feelings/experience can be instructive on the mother love of God. I wonder what the Holy Spirit might bring up for you in this episode.
We would love to hear about your experience on the faith like a mom facebook page!
We will use Lection Divina to sit with Isaiah 49:13-16. In this passage God compares Godself to a nursing mother after Israel accuses God of forgetting them. It's pretty hard to forget about the baby you are nourishing with your own breasts! I wonder what the Holy Spirit will bring up for you with this text.
Using the method of Lectio Divina, we will sit with Psalm 63:1-8, This passage could invoke quite a reaction; it could resonate or irritate, maybe both or neither. The psalmist (David) pours out his longing for God, from his place of leanness now, he reminisces or perhaps reminds his own soul about times when God felt nearer, their connection more satisfying. Whatever this is for you, I hope you will be gentle with yourself and curious about what conversation the Spirit maybe inviting you to.
Lectio divina is a way of encountering Scripture that is different than the typical Bible study methods you may have been taught growing up. I hope you will hear the encouragement to present your whole self to the text, body, mind and soul and be curious about what the Holy Spirit might invite you to through this practice. We will give it a try with Psalm 46:1-3.
If you'd like to join with others in processing this experience, you can do so on the faith like a mom facebook page.
Breathing--yes you are already accomplished at this! But since this is the foundation to most spiritual practices, I want to take you through proper body posture and the deeper kind of breaths than you typically use in your day. I will take you through a breathing practice and then an extended checking in with yourself and/or opening to God.
What bubbles up in you when you think about prayer? I confess, I can go the whole day without even looking for/speaking to/listening for God. This was one of the first truly meaningful prayer practices I was introduced to in grad school: Opening to God. You can easily carry this with you throughout your day. I will also give you some troubleshooting tips to make this as accessible as possible.
We would love to hear about your experience on the faith like a mom Facebook page!
Hey mama! Let me take a few minutes to explain what this podcast is about. I hope you are not offended when I wonder aloud if our souls are working like trash compactors in this season of our lives. I'd also like to briefly introduce myself and send some love to my mom friends at MOPS.