The Mom Weekly Volume 152: July 7, 2026 

You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here. https://themomweekly.com/

Notes:

I hope you’ll remember from this Weekly how much I love you,

Mom

Belovedness

Dad and I attended a kind of hybrid concert/praise & worship night a couple of weeks ago. The artist was Sarah Kroger, who has for a long time been a gifted songwriter, music artist, and worship leader.

About a decade ago, Sarah Kroger read Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen, and she said that it changed her life and her spiritual life. She has written a song, “Belovedness,” prayers, a devotional, and a children’s book all on that theme.

Here is an article about “behind the song.” ).

She also has a lullaby version of the song, that I like even better than the original (if that’s even possible!)

And so when she was to perform at a local parish, I got tickets for the two of us.

I am so glad that we went. While I knew of her, I didn’t know her songs very well, so I played some of her music before we went. I kept getting a little verklempt listening to “Belovedness.”

I want to encourage you to listen to this song on repeat, and to know that you are Beloved. This is a big theme of Dad’s, and the more ways that we can remember it, the better.

You’ve owned your fear and all your self-loathing

You’ve owned the voices inside of your head

You’ve owned the shame and reproach of your failure

It’s time to own your belovedness

You’ve owned your past and how it’s defined you

You’ve owned everything everybody else says

It’s time to hear what your Father has spoken

It’s time to own your belovedness

He says you’re mine

I smiled when I made you

I find you beautiful in ev’ry way 

My love for you is fierce and unending

I’ll come to find you, whatever it takes

My beloved

You’ve owned the mess you see in the mirror

You’ve owned the lies that you’re just not enough

You’re been so blinded by all you’re comparing

It’s time to own your belovedness

You are completely loved and fully known

Beloved, believe He died to make your heart His home

In addition to the music, some of the best parts of the evening were Sarah’s reflections on her life and discovering “belovedness.”

She said that she talks and sings about being “Beloved” a not because she has it all figured out, but because she herself needs to be continually reminding herself she is the beloved. She gave the crowd seven ways that she has found it helpful to remember belatedness, and I want to share them with you:

1. Make prayer a priority
2. Practice daily affirmations/Speak truth over yourself
3. Get into therapy 
4. Practice mindfulness
5. Give yourself grace
6. Root out comparison (and delete social media if necessary)
7. Foster community 

Interesting/Notable:

How to Define America in 30 Objects: What artifacts capture 250 years of work to attain the dreams of the Declaration? (The Atlantic Gift article)

Opioid of the Masses (From 2016) By J. D. Vance (The Atlantic Gift article)

This was fascinating. As the editors said, “This essay originally ran in 2016, shortly after its author published his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. We are republishing it on the occasion of its tenth anniversary, so that our readers can judge for themselves how well his assessment of the man he now serves as vice president has stood the test of time.”