“You are precious in my sight and honored and I love you.” - Isaiah 43:4
MERRILLVILLE – Mothers and daughters in the Diocese of Gary learned the mantra “I am enough” from speaker Jenny Krumdrick as they built self-confidence and resilience at a Mother-Daughter Retreat hosted by Our Lady Queen of Martyrs on Sept. 13.
“I teach people to adjust their thoughts with how God sees them,” said Krumdrick, an Illinois-based life coach and retreat facilitator. She delivered a fun and fast-paced afternoon wrapped around a serious message teaching that “my worth and value comes from God.”
“How do we get rid of negative labels? Go back to the source, God,” said Krumdrick. “Write a new script so he can teach you who you are and that he loves you and your family loves you. I want today to be a catapult as I introduce you to the ‘Five Day Connection Challenge,’ asking you to work on one skill for five days to help you grow in gratitude.”
Participants were first asked to connect with each other through an icebreaker game that had mothers and daughters trying to match their partner’s favorite things – color, food, movie and book.
Once engaged, Krumdrick offered five different “love languages” – words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service and gifts – to help identify their needs, then asked each mother and daughter to write down a list of things they appreciate about each other and share it with them. “How many of you really needed that, and how many will try to share those things more often?” she asked.
Krumdrick taught her audience a breathing prayer - inhale slowly for four counts, exhale slowly for four counts – to root them with God in the present, not the anxiety of the past or future, and tether them to a positive thought. “Even if you didn’t come in with a purse today, we all come with baggage,” she said. “Lay that aside and have an open heart. Pray for peace.”
“I want to connect better with my family, and I’ve already learned how to connect better with God through the breathing exercise and the prayer,” said Yanitza Nieto, 11, of Merrillville, who attended with her mother, Irma, and her sister, Yanama.
Yesenia Corral, of Shererville, said she came seeking “a positive connection with my daughter, Julissa, and my faith, and for both of us to learn to love ourselves. I liked hearing about how we let ourselves believe what (negative things) others say about us, but it’s really not true. I am enough is the truth.”
Julissa Corral appreciates the encouragement to think “more positive thoughts” about herself. “I try to be the best version of myself all the time.”
“A lot of families want to be closer to God, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but to find peace of mind,” Krumdrick said. But so often, she said, “our thoughts dwell on the nasty words of others, and we feel trapped or stuck. How can God’s love reach us if we don’t love ourselves?” Recalling how it stung when she was a teenager and just one boy called her “ugly,” Krumdrick added, “We may not even like ourselves.”
There’s no lock on that door, however, and you can go out anytime, she reminded the mothers and daughters. “We need to change our thoughts, let God get through to us,” Krumdrick encouraged. “God knows you and he’s really happy when he looks at you. From the moment you were conceived, he saw his beloved girl. His love is unconditional, and you never have to prove it or earn it.”
Krumdrick offered those struggling a simple prayer: “Jesus, help me think it, see it and believe it.”
Believe you are his beloved daughter, not perfect because no one is perfect, but a beautiful work in progress, Krumdrick advised. “He knows your heartbreak, too, and he is strong enough to carry all your heavy baggage. That helps you have more compassion to help others going through a difficult time,” she added.
Krumdrick said that God will always “put people in your life to help you. But you are different, one-of-a-kind and unique, and God wants you to shine, even if others don’t like you. Friends are important, but you deserve those who will accept you, and are trustworthy and supportive.”
During a snack break, mothers and daughters were invited to work through a series of stations that earned them tickets for a prize raffle. They entered the parish chapel to pray a decade of the Rosary, made friendship bracelets that wove together colored strings to represent themselves and God, studied positive attributes like patience and kindness by matching them with “Fruits of the Spirit” and write “an ugly statement” on a banner before erasing it with the words, “God makes me enough.”
“I hope we can help and support each other,” said Sami Sneiderwine, of Crown Point, who attended with her daughter, Adalyn, 12, and her mother, Lori, who said, “I am just grateful that they wanted me to join them today.”
Finally, attendees were invited to choose one of four activity corners that represent their strength – mental and emotional health, physical health, spiritual health or healthy relationship – and attach a note identifying why that is their strength, then think about one way to improve their weakest link. “We can be both women of faith and women of action. Pray like it’s all up to God and work like it’s all up to you,” said Krumdrick. “God is your biggest fan.”
For her five-day challenge, Krumdrick encouraged the mothers and daughters to focus on one life skill and use the next five days to grow in gratitude, smile at yourself in the mirror, look for the good in others and yourself, be curious and learn to affirm. “My ultimate goal is to have you connect with God and each other,” she told the families.
For more information about a Confident and Connected Overnight Mother-Daughter Retreat scheduled by Krumdrick Jan. 22-23 or June 25-26 in Plano, Ill. at LaSalle Manor Retreat Center, contact her at JoyfulJenny@ContagiousLight. org or visit contagiouslight.org.
Capton: Three generations of women, grandmother Lori Sneiderwine, of Merrillville, and daughter Sami Sneiderwine and granddaughter Adalyn Sneiderwine, of Crown Point, pray a decade of the Rosary together in the chapel of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Merrillville during a Mother-Daughter Retreat on Sept. 12. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
