As a new small faith community group, Praying College Moms offers a place for moms to share what they are praying for – and how – and offers support and advice as needed. Every college age student’s experience takes them to new levels of questions and maturity.  Sometimes college age students don’t want help navigating these challenges, but moms know their kids still need the basics: love and understanding! Talking through one student’s darkness and another student’s light, our group’s focus is on hope, optimism and care. These moms feast on prayer and fast from worry – and help each other along the way!

Laurel Howanitz, the mother of four children, founded the original group at St. Mark’s in Fall 2012. “I began this group to help moms with college age kids forge a camaraderie with other college moms through Christian fellowship.  We used to live in Knoxville, Tennessee, and our parish there had a similar group that really helped me a lot when my older children when off to college."

Groups typically meet once a month and may go on hiatus during the summer months. Once a month allows for busy moms to fit it in their schedule without being overwhelmed. The chemistry and easy flow of our groups make it so easy to share problems, ideas, and joys!  It is a great sounding board.

And So We Pray Book Series: Our author, Maribeth Harper, has written the And So We Pray book series for our PCM ministry and for discussions in small groups.  We have been so blessed to have Maribeth as our writer - she is an answer to our prayers! 

Care Packages: The care packages we assemble are a way for parents and families to engage in supporting their college children around the country.  Our care package program makes it easy to send your child something on a regular basis. The groups bring together a variety of items for the boxes and we know our children love receiving their goodies. 

The shared experiences of mothers going through the empty nest college years instills trust in group members.  If there is a situation with our college age child, we trust that we can talk to our group in confidence and feel good just talking about it. Some come to gain support as they guide their kids on their journey of discovery and maturation.  We also recognize the power of a group praying together with one voice as a vital force in our lives.  This power helps us cede control and trust that it will all be OK.

We believe prayer helps the students see God’s role in planning and directing their lives more to God as they leave the nest. Our fervent hope is that our students will learn to recognize that any peace and joy they experience is from God. It is also an indication that they are making the “right” choices in their curriculum choices, career planning, relationships, and general good health and wellbeing.  In a time when their rational mind still is not fully formed, they need to learn to trust in God AND seek the advice of professionals to make their decisions. We all know the result when they learn only from their peers!

The moms pray fervently for all college age young adults. Most pray daily for all the college age students in their parish, that they may hear, and recognize God at work in their lives, keep their moral integrity, achieve their academic goals, experience intellectual growth and academic success, make good interpersonal choices, maintain good health and sleeping routines, and daily inspire and help those in need around them.