Christ is risen and Happy Easter to all our Archdiocese families. We pray you had a blessed Pascha and are staying well and safe during this festive season!
For our April meeting, we had Khouriyeh Natalie lead a discussion about finding our joy in motherhood. We evaluated why we became mothers and what our goal of motherhood is – ultimately to lead our children and selves to Salvation and God’s Kingdom. As such, we need to be the best selves in our homes, not just outside in public and use every act and service, no matter how mundane, as a means to achieve our goal of Salvation.
We then took a deep dive into a 24-hour day in the life of Christ (Mark 1: 29:39) and the pattern of “prayer, ministry, prayer, ministry…” that He demonstrated. We discussed ways how we as mums could apply this pattern in our daily life in the hope of fostering and growing the joy in our ultimate service as mothers.

• Sleeping > Prayer> Creating an 8-hour playlist of soft chants or Divine Liturgy while we are sleeping while our subconscious is still processing.

• Awaking > Prayer> Arise before children and pray our morning prayers, asking the Lord for support in our motherly duties. Our attitude will change when we see our children from frustration due to being woken up, to that of joy and excitement.

• Motherly duties and service > Ministry> Not grumbling or resenting our work, but rather being grateful for the family, home, and children we have and being able to serve. See the Kitchen Prayer image attached.

• Alone while kids at school/daycare > Prayer> Pray for them and any challenges they may be going through.

• Kids return home > Ministry.

• Bedtime > Prayer> Pray and read the Bible with our kids. Use this time to foster a strong Christian foundation with them and help them apply the words of God in their own lives. Try not to skip this in the haste of routine and busyness.

• Kids asleep > Prayer> It’s time for our own evening and personal prayer. Take this time to thank the Lord for the strength and support He has given us throughout this day.

We pray the Lord gives you all strength and joy in your incredible service as mothers. We look forward to seeing you in future meetings where we can share stories and support one another in this life-long journey!

Join us at 10 am at the AYC on Thursday 5 May for our next meeting where we will be hearing about Healthy Eating and Lifestyle for kids and mums. Children are always welcome.