You're a Good Mother

Cait Winters shares how spiritual motherhood has impacted her life. Consider how you can spiritually mother someone else in need of encouragement.

A Rocky Road

It was a difficult chapter in my motherhood journey, navigating big-kid issues and serious emotional difficulties for the first time. I tried everything I could think of to help my daughter. I worried and suffered alongside my child while hiding my own pain. I had to pull it together for her brother and sister, both babies then.

Life felt like a blur of waiting lists and counselors, meeting after meetings, office after office. We tried programs, appointments and prescriptions with little improvement. Among this frustration I caught wind of a retreat being offered by local Dominican nuns for girls my daughter's age. I hoped it would encourage her and maybe give her the opportunity to make a new friend or two.

The day came and we drove to the convent. We arrived and a kindly sister showed us around. I remember being struck by the starkness of the walls of the neutral living spaces, then moved by the beauty of the chapel where they pray.

My daughter was seemingly willing on the way but began to feel anxious once we arrived. I attempted to talk her down, explain the joy and strength God gives through retreats. I encouraged her while leaving her the choice. I tried my best to keep things calm, but angst quickly led to outward defiance. Not wanting to disrupt the retreat, I decided to take her home. I apologized to the sisters, ready to leave ... dejected.

An Edifying Word

As we walked outside toward our car in silence, escorted by the same nun who so warmly welcomed us. We said goodbye and she paused to smile at me.

"You're a good mother," she said.

Though I wasn’t responsible for the mental health struggles my daughter was facing that couldn't have felt further from the truth. Still, I thanked her anyway and asked for prayer. As we drove away, I cried those hidden tears that mothers do. To this day her words still flutter to my heart in difficult moments, and I ask God to bless her.

My circumstances did not change that day. My daughter’s spirit was still broken, and my heart had gained another wound from which to weep. Indeed, our lot didn’t change, but my perspective did. I believed that God loved my daughter more than I ever could, reminding myself that she has always been more His than mine and always would be. I tried to trade my troubles for Jesus’ lighter yoke and prayed, "Mary, be a Mother to us now."

I knew God sent me there to hear those words that day.

It was the mothering my soul had so needed to keep going and knowing the sisters' prayers were with me was blessing enough.

Mothering the World

We hit the coffee shop drive through on the way back home and I took the long way, lingering in the rural views of lakes, fields and forest. She began to open up again, talking and giggling, and I saw a glimpse of the girl I knew.

God created women to mother the world, and there are so many ways to do it. You don’t need a houseful of kids to accomplish this work. Your gentleness, your kindness, your fierce protection, can be offered in moments big and small. Whether you’re stitching up a patient or looking into the eyes of the store clerk and offering a smile, God uses mothering for good.

Today, tell a Mama in your life they're doing a good job.

And if no one has told you lately,

You are a good mother!

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Copyright 2026 Cait Winters
Images: Canva