“Do small things with great love”
~Mother Teresa
It was this quote that was brought up in my small group during my retreat last year. One of the first things we had to do after receiving our group assignments was to get to know one another, and then decide on a name for our group to be called the rest of the weekend. It didn’t take us long to realize that we all had something in common…our height! We are all on the short side, and decided to name ourselves “Small Things, Great Love”.
That weekend really changed the way I viewed my spiritual life and my faith. I was born and raised Catholic and still practiced, but I never realized how much I could still be doing to enrich and grow my faith.
I honestly surprised myself for even attending; I am an introvert and even thinking about going somewhere that there will be people I don’t know gives me anxiety, so normally I would have said no thank you! However, for some reason when my friend asked me to consider going, I found myself accepting the invitation. Maybe it was just to get a break and get some “me time”, but either way I still went, and I am so happy that I did. I believe that God puts people and situations in our lives for a reason, and this was His way of getting my attention. I worked in a Catholic environment, and went to mass every Sunday, but I was “going through the motions”, staying busy, almost too busy to really create the relationship I needed with God.
At the retreat we discussed different ways to really develop our spiritual lives, including listening to Christian music, praying the rosary, reading spiritual books, and making a difference in the community around us. Because of this, I am now reading several spiritual books, attending a bimonthly faith formation group, listening to Catholic podcasts, and praying the rosary most mornings. I still have so much more I can do to grow in my faith, but for now I am trying to improve one day at a time.
Having a solid community of friends is important for all of our spiritual journeys. This retreat gave me that community that I needed. This year I attended the retreat again and I was able to reunite with most of my team members from last year. It was a great reunion and we all were able to catch up with each other while providing sustenance for the retreat participants as we were working in the kitchen together this year. I also was able to meet new people and make new friends to add into my community.These retreats helped me to grow in my faith and I highly encourage all of you to attend one at your parish if you have not yet.
My small group (and Mother Teresa) is the inspiration for the name of my blog- Raising small things with great love. I am a mother of three kids three years old and younger (soon to be four under four!) and I am a full time stay at home mom. As a way to continue to grow in my faith, I decided to start this blog, as a way to communicate with other Catholics, moms, or anyone who wants to have conversations about life. I plan on writing about anything going on in my life, about parenting, about my faith, or anything I find interesting and want to share. I hope you all join this journey with me!
~Michelle