Welcome.
And Happy New Year!
Whether you have been with me since the very beginning of my yoga & coaching days or you are brand new to this vision (that has been evolving for a decade!), I am so glad you are here. And I am really glad to be sharing my (our) Hope Notes - weekly curated love letters to like-hearted moms and the ones who love us - with you!
Quite simply put, Hope Notes is a newsletter birthed from my personal and familial journey in mental well-being.
It is addressed not only to those who are a part of my personal life and ministry, but to our Moms for Mental Health community which launched in January of 2020. Each week you’ll find some tips, tools, ideas, and resources - and quite possibly some really amazing collaborators popping in - all to keep your eyes high, love. I’m really excited about this.
Moms for Mental Health
We had no idea what this year would bring us as we planned MFMH in the fall of 2019. But as always, God has taken my heart for mothers and our wildness and gifted me with a reason to keep going global. Case in point - the moment that Moms for Mental Health went virtual, we had inquiries from as far as Romania, the UK, and Australia.
Only God.
Myself, Lisa, and Maryann (all local to AZ) were joined by Amy and Terri - women outside of our state - to really pour into you!
If you’re interested in something like MFMH, she (we) begins her (our) spring semester on January 16th. As someone who has encountered a hurdle - or fifteen - over the last decade of parenting, I have become a Spirit Seeker in the very best way. What hasn’t crushed me permanently… chronic disease and cancer, walking away from a six figure business, our daughter’s diagnosis with severe and life limiting OCD… has only made me crave my God more. Not just seeking God’s hand now… but seeking out written testimonies of what our God has done over the last few thousand years or so. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen some glimpses of this.
Our free SEEN study is definitely not one to miss as we dive into some of these stories.
Bliss & Blue Book
THANK YOU. Many of you supported us this year when I shared that we were fundraising for our first children’s book. Quietly, I’m still working through the nitty gritty of getting it into hands so we can make an even bigger impact on all the hearts on similar (wild) rides! It doesn’t need much from me other than prayer right now as our illustrator continues to work her magic. I’m pretty thankful for this.
And I guess I don’t need much more than prayer right now either. To bring this book to fruition. For the families that need this book to find it. All that good stuff.
Tips, Tools, & Ideas This Week
Cultivating a deeper prayer life is a top three goal of mine this year. Which means I’ve got to create some breathing room. Which also makes me wonder… do you need some too?
Take a few minutes to identify whether you had enough breathing room in 2020. If not, maybe take a few more minutes and ask yourself what you can do to give yourself some more of that this year?
Mothers, nurturers, and caregivers very often put themselves last. I’m great at doing this personally! I give and I give and I give… I put too much on my plate… and then, I cry.
Is this you?
Just in case you need a reminder, we are loved regardless of what we give, dear one.
And we are worthy of some breathing room!
“You have created us for Yourself, and our heart cannot be stilled until it finds rest in You.” - St. Augustine
Breathing room is critical not only to our mental health, but our spiritual health. I cannot hear the whispers of my God when my God is last on my list.
Note: 2021 doesn’t offer me much in the way of extra time. I’m still homeschooling two kiddos in the middle of a pandemic, one with high high high needs. I am still working my day job as a birth worker. But, at the end of last year this weary mom developed a list of things I could do to actually be in the moment and breathe a bit better. And I plan to continue doing those things throughout this year in hopes of a better lifestyle than I’ve had before.
What does this look like? My mornings - though always interrupted - have no work, a few minutes in sacred texts (one verse can get me through), and a little bit of play (typically on my yoga mat, praising God for what my body can still do post-cancer and diagnosis with CFS/ME). And then I find some time in the afternoon or evening to do just one thing to make me feel… well, a little bit more like me. A bath. A walk with the most joyful puppy on the planet. Writing. Reading 10 pages of a good book.
If you need some ideas, email me. I promise to respond even if it takes a few days (which it will).
I could ramble on. I’m really good at that. But I won’t.
Friend, this journey is one that has at times left me stripped raw and unable to see straight at times. And as a writer this newsletter is truly the easiest thing for me to produce to best benefit women in a similar space and place as I’ve been. So at times I might ramble. And these ramblings will be out of love.
I’ll end on this note. My heart’s desire is that you - that all women - get to live your best possible life, now. Not once this pandemic is over… or you are healed… or you’ve received the promotion… or your child has overcome XYZ. Now. Now, now.
If you need reminders like these, that good-better-best is possible today… and that you are seen here, stick around. There will be many, many more Hope Notes to come.
I love you and I’m cheering you on.
And I am so thankful that you are here!
With Love,
Jennifer, founder Moms for Mental Health
P.S. not a mom on a mental health journey, but know a mom? You might just want to stick around. You are so, so valuable to us! It takes a village not just for our kiddos to thrive, but for us to, too.