Spiritual Formation & Motherhood: Interview w/ John Mark Comer at the Intentional Motherhood Retreat

During the Intentional Motherhood Retreat 2025, Elizabeth sat down with her older brother, John Mark Comer, for a deeply honest and encouraging conversation about spiritual formation in the thick of motherhood. For so many mothers, life feels crowded with the dailyness and busyness of caring for little ones, making it easy to believe the lie that we must do more or try harder to grow spiritually. But what if spiritual formation isn’t something you add to your already overloaded life — what if it’s already happening?

John Mark and Elizabeth explore how every mom is being spiritually formed through the ordinary moments of motherhood, becoming a certain kind of person through how she lives, responds, and loves. Drawing from Dallas Willard’s teachings on practices of engagement vs. abstinence, they talk about removing rather than adding — taking an honest audit of your life and recognizing that so much of motherhood is already shaping your soul. They discuss the difference between active and passive spirituality, the surprising ways pain and sacrifice become places of growth, the generational shift in how we view parenting, and what it means to join Christ in His suffering. They also reflect on Jacques Philippe’s idea of “choosing what you have not chosen” and learning to respond to life’s constant interruptions with consent rather than contempt.

Ultimately, this conversation is an invitation back to relationship — with God, with others, and with your own soul. It’s about noticing and naming what you’re feeling, staying responsive instead of reactive, and returning again and again to the cross in the ordinary rhythms of your day.

Submit Questions: Send a voice recording to hello@intentionalparents.org, mentioning your name and where you’re from.

Sowing a Hidden Seed

Intentional Fatherhood Retreat: February 19-21, 2026 in Costa Mesa, CA

Intentional Motherhood Retreat: April 23-25, 2026 in Franklin, TN

Join Our Legacy Builders

Watch on YouTube

Follow Us on Instagram: 

@intentional_parents 

@brook_mosser 

@emosser

FREE Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Parenting PDF

FREE Text Message Daily Devotional

Raising Passionate Jesus Followers

The Intentional Film Series