{"id":25455,"date":"2026-05-28T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/messyjesusbusiness.com\/?p=25455"},"modified":"2026-05-28T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:00:00","slug":"the-invisible-embodied-holiness-of-parenting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2026\/05\/28\/the-invisible-embodied-holiness-of-parenting\/","title":{"rendered":"The invisible, embodied holiness of parenting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have this image in my head of me, in twenty years, receiving some kind of award \u2013 maybe it\u2019s the most dedicated parishioner, catechist of the year, peacemaker extraordinaire. Something acknowledging how my life exemplifies the Holy Spirit at work in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I imagine my grown children being invited to speak on my behalf \u2013 the people who know me best, ready to testify to the hidden saintliness no one else got to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou all are talking about <em>my <\/em>mom?\u201d They can\u2019t make sense of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Emily-parent-and-child-vitaly-gariev-9Ky5rMsDfo8-unsplash-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Emily-parent-and-child-vitaly-gariev-9Ky5rMsDfo8-unsplash-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Emily-parent-and-child-vitaly-gariev-9Ky5rMsDfo8-unsplash-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Emily-parent-and-child-vitaly-gariev-9Ky5rMsDfo8-unsplash-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Emily-parent-and-child-vitaly-gariev-9Ky5rMsDfo8-unsplash-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Emily-parent-and-child-vitaly-gariev-9Ky5rMsDfo8-unsplash-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Emily-parent-and-child-vitaly-gariev-9Ky5rMsDfo8-unsplash-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@silverkblack?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vitaly Gariev<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/mother-comforts-upset-child-on-the-sofa-9Ky5rMsDfo8?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Unsplash<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My children know me too well to mistake me for a saint. While I desperately wish that the side of me they saw was \u201chidden holiness,\u201d they\u2019ll never look back on childhood with fond memories of a mom who never raised her voice, lost her patience, or said unkind words.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, the quest for holiness via raising children is nothing like I would have imagined it to be. My early spiritual formation through service, justice, and ministry had given me frameworks for intentional, outward-facing action \u2014 and those were real and meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What I didn\u2019t realize is that the spiritual work of parenting would be far more physically, emotionally, and psychologically demanding than any I had done before. Living my vocation as a wife and mother is regularly marked by a messy combination of exhaustion, dysregulation, repair, and healing. Still, in ways both miraculous and almost imperceptible, the Spirit meets me there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This has been a real surprise to me after almost 11 years of parenting, how my seemingly insignificant childhood wounds lead to real consequences in how I show up for my children: My blood starts to boil when my child continues to ignore me after repeating their name countless times; I cower in shame when my child doesn\u2019t make honor roll; I rush in with yelling, belittling, or scolding when my kids say nasty things or exclude each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>This has been a real surprise to me after almost 11 years of parenting, how my seemingly insignificant childhood wounds lead to real consequences in how I show up for my children.<\/p><cite>emily cortina<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I stumble again and again. Anger, resentment, overwhelm, at times, depression. As my babies grew into toddlers with big emotions, and later into children with increasingly complicated inner worlds, I realized I was supposed to be teaching them how to handle their emotions when I couldn\u2019t handle my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I knew I&nbsp; needed better parenting skills \u2014 more patience, more consistency, better strategies for handling conflict and big emotions \u2014 and a stronger prayer life. I read parenting books, read articles, and tried (and often failed) to make new regular habits of the tools I had turned to during my single life \u2014 meditation, journaling, and art.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also went to talk therapy, which helped me develop language to describe my challenges with emotional regulation. Still, it took me much longer to realize how much of my parenting was being shaped by my own unhealed fears, insecurities, nervous system responses, and inherited patterns. As I continued to repeat the same cycles of dysregulation and shame, I pursued yet another tool \u2014 life coaching \u2014 which has shown me that Spirit-filled parenting also requires hard psychological work: noticing patterns, writing down circumstances, questioning the prescribed thoughts or beliefs I have about certain situations, intentionally creating new ones and practicing them, training my body\u2019s instincts to respond differently, to distinguish true threats from situations I can handle \u2013 and inviting God\u2019s presence into all of it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes that looks like quiet morning moments to invite the Spirit to show up in the challenges ahead of me that day, or late-night meditation moments to calm racing thoughts or feelings of regret and failure. At other times, it means making space to cry about how stressful a real situation is \u2013 health challenges, financial woes, community violence, political upheaval \u2013 and letting God love me in the midst of that fear, anguish, or worry.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-hands-through-door-nong-LtuY2lEezNI-unsplash-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25469\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6669983503102987;width:309px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-hands-through-door-nong-LtuY2lEezNI-unsplash-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-hands-through-door-nong-LtuY2lEezNI-unsplash-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-hands-through-door-nong-LtuY2lEezNI-unsplash-100x150.jpg 100w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-hands-through-door-nong-LtuY2lEezNI-unsplash-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-hands-through-door-nong-LtuY2lEezNI-unsplash-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-hands-through-door-nong-LtuY2lEezNI-unsplash-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-hands-through-door-nong-LtuY2lEezNI-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@californong?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nong<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/a-group-of-hands-reaching-out-of-a-door-LtuY2lEezNI?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Unsplash<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I call on the Spirit, too, to help me intentionally choose my thoughts before intervening in a sibling squabble \u2013 <em>I want my children to feel safe and loved<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Spirit moves as I schedule a lunch date with a few other moms in my neighborhood or a phone call with my brother, a regular morning walk or a spontaneous trip to a forest preserve. Or on the days I withdraw into isolation, the Spirit quietly whispers that I will be okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Often, my prayer to the Holy Spirit comes out with urgency\u2013 \u201cCome, Holy Spirit!\u201d \u2013 as I resist snapping after being interrupted for the sixth time in as many minutes. It may even happen in the bathroom with the door locked, as I take a deep breath, deep breath, deep breath.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This deep breath&nbsp; of the Spirit isn\u2019t visible to the outside observer. It exists behind closed doors, where my vulnerabilities are most exposed. It exists as holiness that is intimate, embodied, and costly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is in these invisible, trivial, everyday moments of rupture, repair, and healing that the Spirit continues to meet me.&nbsp; And even though it doesn\u2019t feel or look \u201choly,\u201d <em>perhaps the Spirit\u2019s work was never to make me impressive, but more capable of love.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>For more by <a href=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2026\/04\/16\/living-as-easter-people-in-the-darkness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this author<\/a> or more about <a href=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2025\/07\/24\/of-fullness-and-famine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">parenting<\/a>, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">our web site<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blogger-emily-cortina-1.jpg\" alt=\"Emily Cortina, woman with long brown hair and pink shirt\" class=\"wp-image-20205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blogger-emily-cortina-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blogger-emily-cortina-1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Emily Cortina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emily Cortina is a mother raising three bilingual, bicultural children alongside her Mexican husband. Based in Chicago, Illinois, she advocates for restorative justice and accompaniment of individuals impacted by incarceration in her local community and through her work with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicprisonministries.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have this image in my head of me, in twenty years, receiving some kind of award \u2013 maybe it\u2019s the most dedicated parishioner, catechist of the year, peacemaker extraordinaire. Something acknowledging how my life exemplifies the Holy Spirit at work in the world. I imagine my grown children being invited to speak on my&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149585913,"featured_media":25458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[698755598],"tags":[698756989,130758,8668,112332,698756990,5309,1096,698756863],"class_list":["post-25455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-family-life","tag-dysregulation","tag-embodiment","tag-emotions","tag-holiness","tag-life-coaching","tag-parenting","tag-spirit","tag-therapy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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