But as I just read through the beautiful emails and blog posts that moms submitted as part of the giveaway (ended last night), I realized that April and I actually gave OURSELVES one of the best gifts ever through the giveaway - the gift of knowing that what we're doing really is worth the sacrifice of pretty much all our non-essential-mothering hours and sometimes a portion of our sanity! It made me cry such happy tears to read email after email about how our website and programs are really helping so many moms out there.
Here's just one wonderful email a mom sent out as part of this little giveaway:
Hello Friends!
Okay - so I am sending this e-mail out to a very diverse group of you. I got an invitation in my e-mail today to invite/tell at least 15 other moms about this amazing group I have found called The Power of Moms. Some of you already know that this baptism by fire intro to motherhood in the last three years has really thrown me for a loop. I have struggled with the whole shebang: knowing how to take care of them, how to teach them, entertain them, tap into their souls, discipline them, FEED them, get them to sleep, socialize them, play with them, etc. The only thing I have not struggled with is loving them - though in the midst of all of the other things, I have struggled with really showing it and not getting so caught up in the daily grind of meals, dishes, laundry, cleaning, tantrums, time-outs, routines, etc. that it gets lost in the mix.
So five months ago, my dear friend Amanda introduced me to the Power of Moms, just one month before Heavenly Father called her 20-month-old home very suddenly in the middle of the night. After his funeral, she expressed to me how much their Learning Circle program had prepared her to have a FABULOUS and PERFECT day with that baby boy before he was called home. And that whole experience rang a cord in my soul. I wondered when, in my childrens' eyes, we had last had a perfect day with no regrets that left all of us feeling loved, appreciated, on top of the world, at peace with ourselves and each other.
I looked into the Learning Circles and have found in the Power of Moms answers to prayers I have been saying for the last three years! The Learning Circle is a once-a-month girls night/reading group. You have a focus on am empowering virtue of motherhood with an assigned reading attached. Then you have a girls night that is focused on discussing that reading while just plain having a fun girls night out! No kids (unless you're breastfeeding and can't get away from your baby yet)! No husbands! Just you and friends or new acquaintances, all with the same focus: To become more deliberate as mothers. Deliberate is a new buzzword around here! ;-D
I don't know if you've ever felt overwhelmed by the quantity of things that can take you away from your families and got done doing something that should have been a break for you but left you feeling no more prepared to "OWN" the next day with your children than you were before that activity. I have. I have had girls nights even where we watched a movie or went shopping or something and I felt drained instead of rejuvenated. My family felt the brunt of my girls night out instead of the empowerment of it. And I determined that future ventures needed to lift me up and prepare me to return to my husband and children rejuvenated and better rather than just be one more thing to take me away from them.
I have only had one Learning Circle so far - filled with moms from different backgrounds, walks of life, most of whom I had only met once before inviting them to be a part of my Learning Circle (I've only lived here about a year and have been home in Idaho with family things for almost half of it - so I haven't made very many friends yet. I determined that I was going to invite everyone I had a conversation with at a large church event one weekend - and I did!). For our first Learning Circle, we had a chocolate fondue night. And we talked about our individuality as the mothers God wanted our children to have, and therefore the PERFECT mothers for our children. We talked about the need to get out of the zone of comparing ourselves to other mothers - and move instead towards becoming UNIFIED with those "perfect" mothers in our common goals and interests. And we left with a goal that would move us towards accomplishing exactly THAT! It was awesome! We can't wait to get together again next month and learn something new! (Maybe having a picnic at the end of a bike ride or hiking up a mountain and holding our discussion up there - the sky's the limit as far as activities go.) And don't be afraid to invite/include more "experienced" moms. I actually had older moms contact ME and ask if they could join me once they heard what we were doing! SCORE on experience!!!
Why of all of my friends did I send this to you? Because I knew most of you as single women or new moms, and I know you are DELIBERATE women! I have often seen you go and get what you wanted, determined, focused, capable, channeling your talents to achieve your goals. And you are leaders in your own rights/your own circles/your own worlds. I have missed being a leader in my community here and even at church as I enter this new stage and phase of life. And this is giving me an opportunity to lead again, to create, to inspire while being lead, created, and inspired. If this can help even one of you who may be missing that, who may have fallen into the mom trap and need something to help wake you up, then I would be ungrateful to NOT pass it along to you.
So check it out - and hopefully it will fill a need for you to be a part of or even head up some aspect of this program.
One last thing - cuz I know you're wondering what I'm getting out of this/if I get something if you join. And the answer is no -- I mean, even if you told someone at The Power of Moms that I sent you, they would have no idea who I was or why they needed to know that. The only thing I get for sending this to you is to have my name entered into a drawing for a prize. And I guess if I win the prize then they will know my name if you tell them I sent you because there are only five winners. BUT I honestly have been meaning to tell all my friends the details of this program because it really has been a strength to me. So the nudge to do that with the promise of being entered to win a prize was just an added bonus.
I hope you're all doing well!
- Melinda
As I wrestled my two year old this morning to get her to eat and then get her dressed, gave another load of laundry to my friend the washing machine, called the elementary school to tell them my 9 year old wouldn’t be coming to school because he is sick….(wondering to myself is he really sick or is this some 9 year old act?!) I thought that I needed to recharge my mommy batteries.
Then I thought of a website that I have been recently following called THE POWER OF MOMS.
We all want to be good mothers and these ladies who created this website, Richard and Linda Eyre's eldest daughter Saren and her friend April, have made it their goal to help other mommies not just survive but THRIVE through Motherhood!
This website, THE POWER OF MOMS, INTRUIGUES me, INSPIRES me, AMUSES ME and COMFORTS me as I read the different posts related to motherhood.
I love thinking of the moms out there who are finding support, ideas, inspiration and even some great laughs through what we're offering at The Power of Moms. SO nice to know that what you're doing matters. Our kids help us to know what we're doing as mothers matter them on Mother's Day. And I'm so grateful to all the moms who let us know that what we're doing matters to them as part of Mother's Day this year!
Grand Prize Winner - Johni Brown (receives a free registration to our upcoming Retreat on May 21st)
Program Winners - Melanie Norman, Tessa Evans, Lisa Barlow, Cheeri Redd, and Jami Petersen (they each receive their choice of a Bloom Game subscription, a Learning Circle start-up kit or our Mind Organization for Moms program)
So five months ago, my dear friend Amanda introduced me to the Power of Moms, just one month before Heavenly Father called her 20-month-old home very suddenly in the middle of the night. After his funeral, she expressed to me how much their Learning Circle program had prepared her to have a FABULOUS and PERFECT day with that baby boy before he was called home. And that whole experience rang a cord in my soul. I wondered when, in my childrens' eyes, we had last had a perfect day with no regrets that left all of us feeling loved, appreciated, on top of the world, at peace with ourselves and each other.
I looked into the Learning Circles and have found in the Power of Moms answers to prayers I have been saying for the last three years! The Learning Circle is a once-a-month girls night/reading group. You have a focus on am empowering virtue of motherhood with an assigned reading attached. Then you have a girls night that is focused on discussing that reading while just plain having a fun girls night out! No kids (unless you're breastfeeding and can't get away from your baby yet)! No husbands! Just you and friends or new acquaintances, all with the same focus: To become more deliberate as mothers. Deliberate is a new buzzword around here! ;-D
I don't know if you've ever felt overwhelmed by the quantity of things that can take you away from your families and got done doing something that should have been a break for you but left you feeling no more prepared to "OWN" the next day with your children than you were before that activity. I have. I have had girls nights even where we watched a movie or went shopping or something and I felt drained instead of rejuvenated. My family felt the brunt of my girls night out instead of the empowerment of it. And I determined that future ventures needed to lift me up and prepare me to return to my husband and children rejuvenated and better rather than just be one more thing to take me away from them.
I have only had one Learning Circle so far - filled with moms from different backgrounds, walks of life, most of whom I had only met once before inviting them to be a part of my Learning Circle (I've only lived here about a year and have been home in Idaho with family things for almost half of it - so I haven't made very many friends yet. I determined that I was going to invite everyone I had a conversation with at a large church event one weekend - and I did!). For our first Learning Circle, we had a chocolate fondue night. And we talked about our individuality as the mothers God wanted our children to have, and therefore the PERFECT mothers for our children. We talked about the need to get out of the zone of comparing ourselves to other mothers - and move instead towards becoming UNIFIED with those "perfect" mothers in our common goals and interests. And we left with a goal that would move us towards accomplishing exactly THAT! It was awesome! We can't wait to get together again next month and learn something new! (Maybe having a picnic at the end of a bike ride or hiking up a mountain and holding our discussion up there - the sky's the limit as far as activities go.) And don't be afraid to invite/include more "experienced" moms. I actually had older moms contact ME and ask if they could join me once they heard what we were doing! SCORE on experience!!!
Why of all of my friends did I send this to you? Because I knew most of you as single women or new moms, and I know you are DELIBERATE women! I have often seen you go and get what you wanted, determined, focused, capable, channeling your talents to achieve your goals. And you are leaders in your own rights/your own circles/your own worlds. I have missed being a leader in my community here and even at church as I enter this new stage and phase of life. And this is giving me an opportunity to lead again, to create, to inspire while being lead, created, and inspired. If this can help even one of you who may be missing that, who may have fallen into the mom trap and need something to help wake you up, then I would be ungrateful to NOT pass it along to you.
So check it out - and hopefully it will fill a need for you to be a part of or even head up some aspect of this program.
One last thing - cuz I know you're wondering what I'm getting out of this/if I get something if you join. And the answer is no -- I mean, even if you told someone at The Power of Moms that I sent you, they would have no idea who I was or why they needed to know that. The only thing I get for sending this to you is to have my name entered into a drawing for a prize. And I guess if I win the prize then they will know my name if you tell them I sent you because there are only five winners. BUT I honestly have been meaning to tell all my friends the details of this program because it really has been a strength to me. So the nudge to do that with the promise of being entered to win a prize was just an added bonus.
I hope you're all doing well!
- Melinda
I just have to share one more short one:
As I wrestled my two year old this morning to get her to eat and then get her dressed, gave another load of laundry to my friend the washing machine, called the elementary school to tell them my 9 year old wouldn’t be coming to school because he is sick….(wondering to myself is he really sick or is this some 9 year old act?!) I thought that I needed to recharge my mommy batteries.
Then I thought of a website that I have been recently following called THE POWER OF MOMS.
We all want to be good mothers and these ladies who created this website, Richard and Linda Eyre's eldest daughter Saren and her friend April, have made it their goal to help other mommies not just survive but THRIVE through Motherhood!
This website, THE POWER OF MOMS, INTRUIGUES me, INSPIRES me, AMUSES ME and COMFORTS me as I read the different posts related to motherhood.
- Amber
I love thinking of the moms out there who are finding support, ideas, inspiration and even some great laughs through what we're offering at The Power of Moms. SO nice to know that what you're doing matters. Our kids help us to know what we're doing as mothers matter them on Mother's Day. And I'm so grateful to all the moms who let us know that what we're doing matters to them as part of Mother's Day this year!
And in case you're wondering, the winners of the giveaway are as follows:
Grand Prize Winner - Johni Brown (receives a free registration to our upcoming Retreat on May 21st)
Program Winners - Melanie Norman, Tessa Evans, Lisa Barlow, Cheeri Redd, and Jami Petersen (they each receive their choice of a Bloom Game subscription, a Learning Circle start-up kit or our Mind Organization for Moms program)
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