Programming Highlight: Morning Devotionals

Programming at Hannah's House is chosen with great care and attention to the enrichment of our resident's minds

bodies, and spirits. Every morning we begin our day with a devotional from 9:00 to 9:30. This is a great way to gather all of the residents together in a calm and sacred space to reflect on the day ahead of them. The purpose of our devotionals is two-fold.

First, our morning devotionals helps each women have quiet reflective time to develop their own spiritual connection. While Hannah's House is a Christian-based agency, devotionals encourages each women to find and connect with their own beliefs in a safe space. Regardless of what a women believes about a higher power, devotionals are designed to let them explore those beliefs and find inner peace.

Secondly, devotionals is also about connecting to each other. Starting our mornings off as a group allows our women to support each other in their spiritual growth in a safe community space. During devotionals, the women are able to share journaling, thoughts, and other daily reflections as well as intentions, affirmations, and daily prayer.

Staff usually leads morning devotionals, but during our program each women is welcome to lead if they so desire. We encourage our women to share readings from books or devotionals they might encounter on their own. This empowers our residents to share their personal journey and growth as they feel comfortable.

We draw from a wide variety of books during devotionals. Sometimes this takes the form of Bible passages and Bible studies, other times the focus is on self-help books or self-care readings. Often, there is a balance between different topics that are diverse yet connected. This allows for each women to hopefully connect with the words and readings for the day. At times, podcasts, videos, and TedTalks can all be used to start the day off strong.

After an initial reading, devotionals usually involves some quiet journaling time. Each women is given a personal journal when they enter our program along with a Hannah's House Baby Love journal and a self-care journal. We use these materials during journaling to draw prompts and ideas from a wide variety of sources. Sometimes we begin the day with quiet music and a small craft such as adding something to our gratitude board.

After everyone has had some quiet time to journal, we open the floor for sharing. Nobody is required to share as we understand journaling can be a very personal endeavor. However, there is always great growth and freedom should be sharing during this time and many women enjoy this part of the morning.

Finally, we close up devotionals often with a second short reading and any final affirmations, thoughts, reflections, and prayers for the day.

Devotionals are a fluid and flexible part of our programming. While we are dedicated to conducting them the same time every morning for consistency and structure in our community, the topics are meant to vary to cover all types of spiritual growth and development. With a full home, devotionals can be a warm and lively group reflection but also a safe space for personal exploration of spiritual development. It is our hope that this sacred space helps each women find the peace, hope, and personal growth that they need to transform their lives here at Hannah's House.
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Blessings,
Hannah's House