Hey there, Mama 🤎

I recently went to a women’s retreat, and I’m still smiling about it. It was a small group of ten women of all ages and ethnicities, staying at a beautiful Airbnb on a lake. I appreciated it so much because we were able to actually experience retreat.

I even looked up the word, and the wonderful Google AI defined retreat as:

“A period of stepping away from daily routines, work, and normal duties to focus on rest, reflection, personal growth, or spiritual renewal.”

Y’all, it was beautiful.

We worshipped together. We kayaked. We played games like we were kids again. We sat together in a safe space where we could simply be ourselves, encourage one another, and laugh until our sides hurt.

It was just what I needed.

And the most beautiful part? It was a group of women of different ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities, loving each other and learning from one another, without strife or jealousy. And you know what...

I believe that is what God designed community to look like. 😊

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Devotion: Iron Sharpening Iron

Scripture

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.Titus 2:3-5​

When we hear Titus 2, it’s easy to feel pressure. Pressure to be the perfect wife, the perfect mom, the woman who has it all figured out. But look at what Paul is actually describing. He’s describing women learning from women.

Older women walking alongside younger women. Women sharing wisdom, sharing life, and pointing one another toward Christ. It was never meant to be a standard of perfection or a cookie-cutter lifestyle. It’s an invitation to be an example.

​Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Sharpening doesn’t happen from a distance. It happens in relationship, around tables, over coffee, in living rooms, and yes, even in kayaks. 😄

And here’s what I noticed at the retreat: the older women didn’t have to be perfect for me to learn from them. The younger women didn’t have to have it all together for me to be encouraged by them. We simply showed up honestly and let God work through our presence in one another’s lives.

That’s what made it feel like rest.

Jesus even said, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31). Notice He didn’t say “go far away.” He said come to a quiet place.

Mama, retreat doesn’t require a lake house or a plane ticket.

Retreat can be:

🤍 A Saturday morning at your kitchen table with two or three women who love Jesus

🤍 A living room full of snacks, worship music, and honest conversation

🤍 A home getaway where phones are down, hearts are open, and God’s presence is welcome

🤍 A walk with an older woman who has walked where you’re walking

When women create a safe space for one another, we create room for God’s peace. There’s no competition. There’s no comparison. There’s just encouragement, laughter, learning, and growing together.

And guess what? You don’t have to live a perfect life to be an example.

You just have to be willing to live a peaceful, honest, God-centered life in front of the women He has placed around you.

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Take a Moment to Reflect

Take a moment to reflect:

Ask yourself:

• Who are the women in my life who sharpen me and point me toward Christ?
• Is there a younger woman I could encourage, or an older woman I could learn from?
• What would it look like to create a “retreat” in my own home or community this month?
• Am I allowing comparison or perfectionism to keep me from real connection with other women?

Pray: Father, thank you for developing me as your daughter. Thank you for the women you have placed in my life, and I pray that you continue to send women in my life who I can learn from, and be a blessing to. In Jesus name. Amen.

There’s Power in the Pause: Strategies to Prevent Overwhelming Burnout In Motherhood This week’s blog holds the conversation about finding rest in the pause. I pray it encourages you to breathe, to reflect, and to permit yourself to slow down before you say yes to one more thing. Read the full blog here.

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Mom Tips: For Experiencing Retreat

🤎 Host a “mini retreat” at home. Invite two or three women, put on worship music, serve something simple, and share what God is doing in your lives.

🤎 Be intentional about friendships with women in different seasons of life. You’ll gain perspective you can’t get anywhere else.

🤎 Don’t wait until you feel put together to invite someone in. Your honesty may be the very encouragement another mom needs.

🤎 Schedule rest like you’d schedule an appointment. Even one quiet hour counts as retreat.

🤎Celebrate other women. Cheer loudly for them, because there’s room for everyone to flourish.

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Faith-Filled Affirmation For the Week

"Today I choose connection over comparison. I am surrounded by women who sharpen me, and I am called to sharpen others. I don’t have to be perfect to be an example. God’s peace and rest are available to me, even in the middle of ordinary days and in the presence of His people."

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Closing Encouragement

You were never meant to do this life alone.

You don’t need a perfect home, a perfect schedule, or a perfect story to be part of something beautiful. God can use a kitchen table, a lake house, or a living room full of laughter to refresh your soul. So this week, I pray you’ll find your people, be someone else’s encouragement, and let yourself rest in the safe space God has made for you.

With love and encouragement,
Karen 🤎

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Additional Resources:

🤎Check out the Restored & Renewed Course where I'm featured as an instructor along with my Wellness Coach, Janetta Olaseni RN, HN-BC, CHHP, CHC, CCM, and other Christian women & moms.

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