What is “self-care”?

Self-care is a popular movement that you have probably heard of by now. It is the simple idea of making time to take care of yourself. Revolutionary right? Not really. But a lot of times as women, we spend a lot of time and energy focused on taking care of those around us that when it comes to ourselves it is a last priority. So we have to be intentional about actually making ourselves a priority.

 

But why?

So here is the deal, the term “self-care” kind of makes me gag. Can’t explain it, I just don’t like it. I think partly because Christ calls us to die to our selves in order to truly live. So does that mean we aren’t supposed to take care of our selves? Absolutely not. We also know that our bodies are temples created to glorify God. So how can we glorify God when we treat them as a last priority, and don’t take the time to maintain it? Treating my body as a temple is definitely something I don’t do as a priority, especially since becoming a mom, and that is why Kirsten and I wanted to start an accountability group for “mom-care”.

 

So why Mom-Care?

As much as I don’t like the term “self-care”, I know how important it is, because of the call we have to live in a healthy way glorifying to God, and that means taking care of ourselves. I think every human being needs to take time to take care of themselves, but I also think that moms have the hardest time making the effort to do so. We spend all day taking care of our children and families that we often let our own selves fall to the wayside. Have you ever skipped lunch because you were too busy feeding your kids? Have you ever skipped a shower because there wasn’t time before rushing out the door to school or soccer practice or band or play group? Have you ever gone to bed late and woken up suddenly to children bouncing on your bed or demanding juice? I have. Often. And I am not better or healthier because of it.

 

You said something about accountability?

Yes. We wanted to create an accountability group for moms. We want to help moms (and our own selves) who are stuck in the day-to-day rut of motherhood and are having a hard time taking moments to be healthy. So we are going to weekly challenges for mom-care and try to be accountable to each other. We want this to be a place of encouragement and accountability for our own health. The challenge may be for our spiritual health, mental health, physical health or health in our relationships with our families. You can join our Facebook group for regular encouragement in keeping accountable and updates on the weekly “mom-care assignment”.

 

Why weekly assignments or “challenges”?

Our end goal is for ourselves and other moms to find ways that refuel themselves in motherhood. Healthy activities that keep us refueled to simply be a mom. We have brainstormed a lot of weekly challenges that take care of ourselves and keep us healthy, and hopefully, we can all find one or two that we want to stick. We think that 7 days is long enough to help get that habit started, but not too long that if you just really don’t jive with the current challenge then you don’t have to hold out for long.

 

My kids are teenagers, or I have a newborn. Is this for me?

Our goal is to have challenges that encourage moms to take healthy moments for themselves at any stage in motherhood. That being said, most of these weeks will really only apply to moms with kids still at home. So if you are an empty-nester, feel free to follow along and join in, but your role may be a little different. Some weeks like “wake up 30 minutes before your kids” might not be pertinent to your current stage. However, we would love love love for you to be a part of our community, especially as a seasoned voice of encouragement for us younger moms that need a virtual hug or word of encouragement in the stage we are in.