Last Thursday April and Saren and about 80 other deliberate mothers celebrated the launch of Motherhood Realized at a lovely event in Salt Lake City. Everyone enjoyed beautiful readings from several of the authors of the book and participated in great small group discussions about what we’ve all realized about motherhood and what motherhood has helped us realize about ourselves.
In this podcast, April and Saren share what they learned from other moms at the event and offer great ideas for how you can:
- build meaningful friendships with like-minded mothers (it’s not just our kids who need friends!)
- realize the power and beauty of sharing our hearts, our needs, and our joys with other mothers
Show Notes
- Learning Circles (the monthly mom-group we can help you set up)
- We Need Each Other (podcast episode offering further ideas on supporting and learning from each other as moms)
Click here to view a PDF summary of the podcast.
Music from Creations by Michael R. Hicks.
Audio Editing by Christy Elder
Katie Ludden says
Let me just say, Thank you!
This podcast really hit home for where I am in life and motherhood right now.
Three months ago I moved across the country from Florida to California with my husband, 2 year old daughter, and second baby on the way. Our stay in Florida had only been about a year and a half, but while there I was determined to be intentional about building meaningful relationships. I stuck to my word and left with a whole heart full of dear friends.
Since being in California, in addition to just being tired out from toddler mommying and gestation, I have really been feeling a hesitation to dive back into the friend making pool. While I feel like this is some sort of self-preservation instinct trying to help, ultimately it is hurting me because I am SUCH a relational person, and, like you mentioned, motherhood can be downright lonely sometimes!
In addition to the fear you touched on, I have had the same issue you mentioned about insecurities. Our budget has shrunk significantly as we start all over here. Where I used to feel great about hosting, my 400 sq ft apartment has had me holding back opening up my home.
Still, like you said, there are women out there who are like-minded and like-hearted who won’t turn away because my activity budget can’t quite keep up. We have a great time with what we can afford now, and there is no reason to avoid sharing that with new people I feel a possible connection to.
I’m so happy to say that I have, count them, TWO new play dates planned for this next week with two sweet ladies and their precious little ones. Thank you for this boost to press on and be proactive and, yes, deliberate in this journey. For the good of myself and my children, and those new friends just waiting for an invitation.
So, again, THANK YOU!
Jeannette says
Thank you again for a podcast that really hit home! I just love listening to these! It has been so helpful, seriously, to listen and realize I am not alone!! I too feel like I don’t know how to make friends anymore! (that was a relief to hear I am not the only one!) I feel like it has been survival mode ever since we moved here 4 years (we’ve had two more babies in that time in addition to our other 3) ago, and our ward is splitting and I feel excited (and scared) at this opportunity to get to know new people. I really would like to reach out more and get new friends, but like Saren was nervous to ask her friend to go walking–I’m totally that way, and I never end up calling someone because of it! I always feel like people already have their friends, but then I think of myself and realize I would never turn down the opportunity to make a new friend because I already had “my friends.”
So thank you again. And April, thank you for responding to my last comment, it was so sweet and totally made my day! Thank you for all of your work!
Cheryl says
I needed this encouragement to put myself out there. We moved back to utah after living in Las Vegas for 12 years. I am still in mourning over leaving those dear friends who feel more like family. People here are incredibly nice but I don’t have those deep connections yet. It’s easier to not reach out but I am missing those connections. This is what I needed, so thank you!