It's hard to believe my Milkweed family of mamas has been meeting online & in person for over a year! What a tremendous community our loving Daddy has brought together here to pray, encourage, laugh, challenge, & grow.
Some have asked how this group started, and I thought I'd be a bit transparent here. Last year, my marriage was going through some really hard stuff. I was desperate for other ladies to pray with me, lift me up, hold me accountable, speak truth to me, but I realized how spiritually isolated I had become as a stay-at-home mama. As usual, though, God had something beautiful to pull out of that manure, and He put this challenge on my heart:
"There are other mamas like you out there who are hurting, lonely, or just in need of others to walk beside them honestly & humbly in this journey. They, too, struggle to find a place where they - & their kiddos - can fit. It's time for community."
Around this time, I visited the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix & learned about milkweed, the plant that monarch butterflies live in & live off of. It houses & nourishes these butterflies, and it makes them poisonous to predators. That is what Godly community, prayer, & Bible study does! And so, our group Milkweed was born, out of the manure of pain & confusion & isolation. I don't think I knew anyone at our first meeting, yet it was amazing how open & supportive they all were with one another from that day & all those since. What a life-changing adventure!
Of course, this story isn't about me. This is God's story. He is the Protagonist, the Narrator, the Editor. He is the Gardener, the Grafter, the Vinekeeper. And I'm so grateful to be with these ladies in this mess of life, this Milkweed, that He has used to strengthen our marriages, heal our hearts, & lay foundations for Jesus-loving kiddos! All praise be to Him for this year & those to come!
~Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up [her] fellow. But woe to [her] who is alone when [she] falls and has not another to lift [her] up!~
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
