Three years ago a woman with whom I shared a few mutual friends told me she and her husband were thinking of joining a group for married couples and she wondered if my husband and I would be interested as well.

I love groups and was eager to learn more. But knowing my husband and his hesitancy in joining things, I did some research, sent him a few links, and assured him that the informational meeting was just that: informational. We would not need to commit to anything we weren’t comfortable with. We took time to pray about it and discerned that we would give "Teams of Our Lady" a try.

Our group has been a blessing to our marriage, a support to our individual prayer lives, and a place of refuge for all of us. Among the prayer commitments of Teams of Our Lady are things I strived to do as a Christian before I joined, such as weekly Mass and time for daily prayer, but one particular one is praying the Magnificat daily for our team, and all of the teams throughout the world. In the mad rush of the day, in managing a home and caring for our three children, it has been a blessing to stop before we lay down to sleep and pray the beautiful words of Mary entrusting all to her.

She is our mother, given to us by Christ, and we have been given to her by Him.

I know not everyone has a particularly strong devotion to Our Lady, myself included, but I would encourage you to take time and sit with the words of our Lord: “Behold, Your mother” (John 19:27).

[bctt tweet="She is our mother, given to us by Christ, and we have been given to her by Him. // @jacquiskemp" username="blessedisshe__"]

This Saint focuses beautifully on our relationship with the Blessed Virgin, Our Mother, in this book.

Jacqueline Skemp is a daughter, sister, wife, and mother who endures living in Minnesota after leaving California for her one true love. She is a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book called Rise Up. You can find out more about her here.