There are moments in the life of an organization when you know something is changing. Motherless Daughters Ministry is at one of those moments. Recently, our Board came together for a planning retreat. We spent time praying, dreaming, evaluating where we are, and asking some very important questions:
- What is God calling us to do?
- What would we do if there were no barriers?
- What is it that only Motherless Daughters Ministry can do?
Those conversations brought us to an important realization:
We are at a crossroads.
Not because we are uncertain about who we are, but because we believe God is inviting us to step boldly into what comes next.
This is a season for bold faith.
What We Heard at the Retreat
Throughout our planning, one message kept coming back to us:
Belief must be followed by action.
- We can believe that more women need us.
- We can believe that Motherless Daughters Ministry has something unique to offer.
- We can believe that God is calling us to reach more women.
But belief alone will not build what comes next.
We must strengthen the infrastructure that supports our mission—our Board, our programming, our facilitators, our financial resources, our technology, and the people who will help us carry the vision forward.
We are preparing not only for where Motherless Daughters Ministry is today, but for where God may be taking us tomorrow.
A Bigger Vision
Our goal is not simply to create more programs. Our goal is to create more opportunities for connection and transformation.
We believe there are thousands—even millions—of motherless daughters who are looking for a place where they can finally say: “You understand me.”
We want Motherless Daughters Ministry to be that place.
That means creating different ways for women to enter our community—from a single webinar or drop-in conversation to a Circle, an intensive experience, a course, a retreat, or a deeper healing journey.
There should be a door through which every motherless daughter can enter.
Something New Is Happening
Our Board retreat challenged us to think bigger about the women we serve and the ways we serve them. You will begin seeing new opportunities, including:
Connection Circles for Mature Women
The loss of a mother does not have an expiration date.
These new Circles will explore mother loss in the second half of life, caregiving, identity, resilience, legacy, wisdom, and becoming the nurturing elder we may have needed ourselves.
Daughters of Narcissistic Fathers
A new Circle will provide a safe place to explore emotional manipulation, approval seeking, boundaries, shame, self-doubt, unhealthy family patterns, and finding your voice.
When Alzheimer’s Takes Your Mother
This Circle will address the complicated grief of watching the mother you knew gradually disappear, including caregiving, role reversal, exhaustion, love, and loss.
Intensive Healing Experiences
We are developing deeper experiences around emotional absence and healing from a narcissistic mother for women who are ready to move from understanding their story toward asking: “What does freedom look like for me?”
More Ways to Connect
We also heard something else clearly: Not every woman needs the same experience.
- Some women are ready for a six-week course.
- Others need a four-week Circle.
- Some want a webinar.
- Some need an intensive experience.
And sometimes a woman simply needs a place where she can show up and say, “I need to talk to someone who understands.”
Our vision includes:
Webinars • Connection Circles • Drop-In Circles • Intensives • Virtual Summits • Meet the Authors • Special Events • Courses • Retreats • Coaching
We are also exploring more flexible registration options so women can participate in ways that better fit their lives.
Programs Are Only Part of the Vision
One of the most important conversations at our retreat was about what must exist behind the programs. If we are going to serve more women well, we need a strong foundation.
That means:
A strong and engaged Board.
Well-planned, high-quality programming.
Trained facilitators.
Financial sustainability.
Technology that allows us to reach women wherever they live.
Partnerships that extend our reach.
Volunteers willing to share their expertise.
Faith calls us to believe.
Stewardship calls us to prepare.
The Fishes and Loaves Question
During the retreat, we talked about the biblical story of the fishes and loaves. Jesus did not begin by asking what the disciples didn’t have. He asked them to bring what they did have.
That is an important lesson for us. Instead of beginning with our limitations, we are asking:
What has God already placed in our hands?
- We have 25 years of experience.
- We have programs.
- We have knowledge.
- We have women whose lives have been touched by this ministry.
- We have volunteers and facilitators.
- We have a community.
- We have a story.
And most importantly, we have a calling.
Now we must faithfully place those fishes and loaves into God’s hands and see what He chooses to do with them.
We Need You to Help Build This
Here’s something else we realized during our retreat:
The expertise we need may already be sitting within our community.
- Somewhere among the women who know Motherless Daughters Ministry is someone who understands finance.
- Someone understands fundraising.
- Someone knows marketing.
- Someone understands technology.
- Someone has publishing experience.
- Someone knows event planning.
- Someone has nonprofit leadership experience.
- Someone can introduce us to a church, foundation, corporation, or community partner.
And someone may simply be saying:
“I believe in this ministry. How can I help?”
Somewhere there is a motherless daughter who understands finance.
Maybe it’s you.
Somewhere there is a motherless daughter who understands fundraising and development.
Maybe it’s you.
Someone knows marketing or social media.
Maybe it’s you.
Someone understands technology.
Maybe it’s you.
Someone has experience in publishing, event planning, business development, human resources, or nonprofit leadership.
Maybe it’s you.
Someone can facilitate a group.
Maybe it’s you.
Someone can connect us with a church, business, foundation, or community partner.
Maybe it’s you.
And someone may be thinking:
“I don’t have professional expertise. I just believe in this ministry and want to help.”
We need you, too.
Your Expertise Can Become Someone Else’s Hope
You could help us by sharing professional expertise, joining a project team, facilitating a Circle, identifying sponsors, assisting with technology or publishing, promoting programs, helping with fundraising, connecting us with potential partners, becoming a monthly supporter, or simply introducing another motherless daughter to our community.
Believe With Us
Our Board left the retreat believing that this is not a time to become comfortable.
It is a time to move forward.
- We choose faith.
- We choose courage.
- We choose community.
- We choose possibility.
And we choose to believe that what began with five women gathering in a living room can continue growing into a movement of women helping women.
A Word of Faith to Close
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7
We cannot see everything that lies ahead. But we don’t need to see the entire road before taking the next faithful step.
Let Us Pray
Lord, thank You for everything You have entrusted to Motherless Daughters Ministry. Give us wisdom to recognize where You are leading and courage to follow. Show us how to faithfully use the resources, experiences, gifts, and people You have already placed in our hands. Bring alongside us the women and partners needed for this next season. Most of all, keep our hearts focused on the motherless daughter who is still searching for a place where she can be understood.
Amen.
With gratitude and great expectation for
A New Season. A Bold Faith. A Bigger Vision. More Ways to Connect. More Women to Reach.
Don’t just watch what happens next. Help make it happen. Connect. Heal. Hope.
We Need YOU