Mothers Together

While pregnant with my third child, I started a women’s group in the Richmond Fan District for young mothers. We met weekly, brewed Blanchard’s coffee, read a passage from a book or the Bible, and talked about our lives. We started as we women do when we get together, by checking each other out. Our outfits. Our hair. Our shoes. How our children look and behave. All on the sly of course, because we are not that shallow. But soon we learned that the right clothes and a spunky personality might draw people to you, but honesty and vulnerability are the building blocks for the kind of friendships we crave.

In this community, we learned that perfect parents and easy marriages don’t exist, that getting to know someone who is a lot richer or a lot poorer than you is a rare gift to be treasured, and that life is immeasurably better when it is shared deeply with others. When you stop feeling isolated, when you stop thinking you are the only one going through this, when you stop stewing about that person, or that part of your life when you stop spinning in your own head, when you start caring about others the way you care about yourself... that is when we do justice to this short, precious life we’ve been given.

It became a passion for me to gather women together around topics of faith. Here you will find the materials you need to start your own group. No discussion leader or teacher is needed, just someone to host who enjoys hospitality and getting friends together.