🕊️ Healing: Re-parenting your inner child.

Week 7 Year of Breath: In Our Lent Era

I balked when I first heard the phrase inner child. What does that even mean? I wondered. Too woo-woo! So cringe!

Then I got a little older and maybe a tiny bit wiser and slightly more aware of my lack, and this idea of re-parenting started to make a little more sense.

Are you raising your kids in a way you wish someone parented you?

We’re now in the season of Lent — a time in the Church calendar of going without, of reflecting on our aches, of wandering in the wilderness.

And yet, I wonder what it would look like if, in these 40 days of wilderness, we also sat with this wondering:

As we uncover our hurts, what might healing look like?

As we re-parent ourselves, what might repair look like?

Parenting while trying to care for the child you were is a messy and sacred space.

How do we hold the generational harm we perhaps inherited and also move into healing from it?

What is forgiveness in these contexts? What isn’t?

My orientation to time is future. For better (and for worse), I’m often looking ahead. But I wonder if reflecting on the past might be a compass for how I parent in the present. (And how I care for myself — and let myself be cared for.)

May this week invite you into a deeper sense of contemplation in Christ, leading you to hope and healing as a beloved child of God.

“When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up, we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability...To be alive is to be vulnerable.”

Madeleine L’Engle, “Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art”

In this week of Lent, we’re exploring healing: What does it look like to re-parent your inner child? How does this affect your parenting?

Our time together includes:

• Breath prayers

• Scripture

• One-Sentence Prayer

• Reflection Prompts

• Weekly Playlist

• Words to Remember

• Wallpaper

If you join us as a paid subscriber: You can access all the Year of Breath weekly editions, including past weeks and all previous Liturgies for Parents care packages².

If you want to stay a free subscriber: That’s okay, too — thanks for being here! I’ll still send out one care package of prayers each month-ish for everyone without any sort of paywall.

Before we begin: I am not a therapist — just another person on the journey, offering some prayers to borrow, words to turn to, and questions to reflect on. If these reflections bring up trauma, please consider talking with a professional. You are worth it. And being a parent who is healing? What a gift to give your children.

Breath Prayer:

Choose a breath prayer from below to carry into this week. When you feel scattered or frustrated, overwhelmed or discouraged, take a moment to breathe.

As you breathe in, remember that God’s grace and compassion surround you.

As you breathe out, rest in the truth that just as you love your kids, Christ loves you.