Women are often told by their communities that being a mother will complete or define them. But many mothers find themselves depleted and spiritually stagnant amid the everyday demands of being a mom. They long to experience a rich inner life but feel there is rarely enough time, energy, or stillness to connect with God in a meaningful way. This book takes the concept of rewilding and applies it to motherhood. Just as an environmentalist seeks to rewild land by returning it to its natural state, Shannon Evans invites women to rewild motherhood by reclaiming its essence through an expansive feminine spirituality. Drawn from the contemplative Catholic tradition and Evans's own parenting experience, Rewilding Motherhood helps women deepen their connection to God through practices inherent to the life they're living now. Topics include work-life balance, identity, solitude, patience, household work, and mission for the common good. Throughout, Evans encourages women to see motherhood as an opportunity to discover a vibrant feminine spirituality and a deeper knowledge of God and self.

From the external worlds of race and gender to the internal world of family life, taps into what is wild and good in all of us

A joyous portrait of modern femininity and a frolicking celebration of women's camaraderie Over the past ten years, Cass Bird (born 1974) has established herself as one of the foremost portraitists of contemporary America. Her photographs of young women and men casually draw attention to the fluid expression of gender roles and androgyny in today's youth culture, and to what she has described as "the convergence of alternative lifestyles with accepted conceptions of motherhood, nurturing and family." In the summers of 2009 and 2010, Bird traveled to Sassafrass, Tennessee, with a group of young women, a wardrobe of diaphanous dresses and a camera. These women--studio assistants, friends, or women cast from the streets of New York--had been selected by Bird for their ease with their sexual identities, but also for their relative awkwardness in front of the lens. The result was Rewilding, a joyous portrait of modern femininity and a frolicking celebration of women's camaraderie.

This Life That Is Ours offers 40 gentle meditations with guidance for reflection on the spiritual journey of motherhood. These practical, soul-affirming meditations nurture a mother's heart and spiritual life in a season fraught with overwhelm, exhaustion, and loss of identity. Through the lens of Burdette's real-life stories, the reader is invited to ponder her experience and to contemplate where God might be present. This book is divided into three sections. Reflections in the first section, "Becoming a Mother," explore the dynamics of being a new mother and the whirlwind experience of those early months and years. The second section, "Becoming Yourself," considers what it means to return home to yourself—to begin to find your identity again, both within the realm of motherhood and outside of it. The third section, "Becoming Holy," names the holy paradoxes of motherhood—the ways it can be both extraordinary and mundane, both gift and sacrifice—ultimately deepening one's experience of the holiness of motherhood. This Life That Is Ours includes an introduction, a preparatory guide for the reflective journey, a closing spiritual practice, and a conclusion. This book can be used in communities of mom groups, intergenerational groups of women, or spouse groups and would make a great gift for new mothers and mothers-to-be.

In this collection, authors transgress and uphold their maternal integrity as they dance at the edge of comfort and take up the challenge of exploring the boundaries of maternal practice– their own, their mothers, and those found in literature, media, or popular culture. These mothers assume a hopeful stance; actively choose courage over comfort; push through what is fun, fast, or easy, and show how they come to mother outside the lines in all its simplicity and complexity. As they bust outdated, tired, and ambiguous boundaries, they find and (re)set new boundaries that restore dignity and self-respect for themselves, their children, their families, and for the matricentric feminist collective, particularly those whose voices may continue to be silenced and marginalized by structures and limits beyond their control. Thirteen stories are threaded together to form a compelling tale showing how and why some mothers, when faced with ambiguous and untenable boundaries, resist the urge to accept the assumed, the unpredictable, even the demanded– whether they be internal or external, visible or invisible, real or imaginary.

Spiritual language is often male-focused, overlooking the uniquely female experience. Author Shannon K. Evans believes our daughters deserve better. Evans wrote Feminist Prayers for My Daughter as a gift to mothers and women everywhere. It offers short prayers that affirm the unique challenges and embrace the natural abilities embodied by our daughters, young and old alike. Categories of prayers include embodiment, relationships, wholeness, justice, equality, and milestones. This book encompasses all of life from birth to death while imagining God in ways that resonate with the feminine experience. For mothers, grandmothers, mentors, and beyond, this prayer book provides a poignant and powerful path to both encounter God personally and seek the well-being of the daughters in our lives. It gives words to a mother's desires for her daughter in the modern world and breathes hope for a church that will give her equal power.

In this memoir, Maureen O'Brien reflects on the gospel story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes and what she learns about herself, the people around her, and a fragmented but still beautiful world. While she’s sharing her story of finding God’s love, she’s also sharing the stories of so many others, known and cherished by God even when the world leaves them shattered, finding their way through the world and feasting on the fragments of grace that are always in abundance if we learn to look, to see, to accept, to share.