.png)
Hello my favorite people!!!
Last night I attended my 2-hour weekly meeting at church. I believe I shared with you all that I’m the retreat leader for the next Women’s retreat at my church. Yesterday I had to be away from my children during this time, however, I felt the need to provide one of my children with some discipline. So I got creative…
I decided to take my daughter with me to my meeting location at the church. She could not go into the meeting with me because it is private—but taking her into the meeting with me was not my goal anyway.
What I did is, I had my daughter go into the chapel inside of the church building that I was in and I had her pray the Rosary. Inside the chapel it is completely quiet which allows one to fully immerse themselves in prayer and self-reflection. Additionally, it takes 30 or more minutes to complete the Rosary bead prayers so it provides a “prayer agenda“ versus one having to constantly think of what to pray about. There is less mind-wandering with a prayer agenda.
The Rosary kept my daughter busy for the first hour. For the second hour, I had my daughter read the Life Skills for Kids book I purchased for her for Christmas. My goal here was for her to delve into some real life topics to help her succeed in navigating life’s challenges. My daughter and I discussed her experience with the prayer and reading on our way home. It was a great experience for her and she told me she went back into the chapel to pray 3 more times after praying the Rosary. She wanted to speak to God “off-script” and directly, which is very important.
It will take more of such actions and continued creativity on mine and her father’s part, but I really thought this was an awesome, creative way to accomplish 2 important things simultaneously. I was able to parent effectively and stay committed to my retreat leader role. As a bonus, my daughter and I got to spend one on one time together, which is a rarity in our family because I have 3 more children. ❤️🧡💛💚💜💙
I couldn’t miss sharing this experience with you all. May it inspire you!
Until next time, have a great week!