Please enjoy the above photos as a “slice of life” of this year in Life-Giving Wounds! And if you’re on Instagram, check out the wonderful reel that Jen put together of highlights.

As we get ready to ring in 2023, we wanted to take a moment to look back at 2022! You can read a general update in our annual appeal letter (which is a pretty good read, I promise!) but here I wanted to share a few more personal reflections about the year in some relatively random peeks in the rear-view mirror. (Slightly quirky…) I hope you enjoy!

By the numbers: 11 ministry trips

I added it up, and between myself and Dan, we did 11 Life-Giving Wounds trips this year:

• Dan: San Francisco, Lansing MI, Ogdensburg NY, Evansville IN, Wilmington (University of Delaware), Boise, Kansas (Benedictine College)

• Bethany: San Antonio (keynoted at a national conference)

• Both of us: Atlanta, Alabama (EWTN appearance), Miami

Whew!

Our luggage literally started falling apart mid-year, so we upgraded to a set that hopefully will last a while - and several of my Christmas presents to Dan were travel-related (including custom luggage tags with our family’s picture on them :)).

It’s pretty darn cool to go to all these places and do retreats, talk about Life-Giving Wounds, etc. Like planting a little flag in spots all around the country - or maybe a seed would be a better metaphor, hoping that fruits of healing and community will grow from the little efforts we make and local teams we launch.

Best retreat centers:

I defer to Dan on this, because he visited more than me. His vote was for either Vallombrosa Center in San Francisco (so many trees, fountains, etc.) or the Guggenheim Center in Ogdensburg, NY (right on a lake in the Adirondacks - can you say gorgeous?) Both places will have retreats in 2023, FYI!

Best food while traveling:

Three-way tie between the potato dishes of Boise (Dan), the amazing Cuban food and mojitos in Miami (both), and Tex-mex in San Antonio (Bethany). Definitely a perk, getting to sample local delicacies!

Best gifts for our kids (according to them):

When Dan or I get back from a trip, the first thing we hear from our kids is “Hi dad! Hi mom! What did you bring me?!” So it’s pretty important to get something fun for Zelie (5) and Grace (3).

Top gifts this year include a fridge magnet that says Detroit (not joking - they fight over it), always always candy from anywhere (often the departing airport - shh), and “Donut Shop” t-shirts from an Evansville coffee shop (they’re pink shirts with a donut and unicorn on them…hit all the marks).

By the numbers: 100+ incredible volunteers

So, you may know that Life-Giving Wounds is currently a one-employee outfit (hey Dan!). We’re still pretty new, and it (probably obviously) takes time to build a foundation to hire any staff at all, let alone several.

(Side note: we’re amused when people ask us where the Life-Giving Wounds “offices” are…um, they are literally in our office, a room in our house, where we also keep our treadmill [don’t ask how often that gets used], overflow books, and kitchen linens…so yeah, still working the grassroots vibe! :))

But HOW Life-Giving Wounds has been able to do so, so much this year (14 retreats! two major online events! launching an online community! etc.!) is because of the many, many beautiful and generous people who have been willing to give their time and talent to helping with the many, many moving parts of a national ministry. This includes our retreat leaders, both for online events and our traveling retreat team; our social media outreach (hey, Jen, Hope, and Morgan!); people to help with database needs (hey Erin!) and posting new blog posts (hey Sam!) and writing our 40 blog posts this year, and our incredible board, and plotting out new projects (hey Alex and Jen and Beth and many others!).

It never ceases to amaze us how many people have received something from Life-Giving Wounds, however they’ve encountered it, and want to give back. It is hands-down the BIGGEST blessing of this year (and the whole lifespan of LGW) to have met so many top-notch people from around the country (and world, now), who have that shared passion to help adult children of divorce find healing. On the dreams list is a nationwide road trip to spend time with each and every one of our volunteers. Because they’re just amazing.

Okay, gushing done!

Biggest spiritual blessing: meeting a cloistered sister

In Alabama this year, after we did our EWTN interview, we went with Fr. John Paul Mary (hey Fr.!) to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, where the cloistered sisters (and sorry if I’m not getting that terminology right!) of Mother Angelica’s order live.

Fr. John Paul being Fr. John Paul, he got us a private audience with one of the sisters. We sat on opposite sides of the grill and had the most amazing, spiritually enriching conversation ever. Fr. and the sister have known each other for a while, and she too is an adult child of divorce. Just the way she thought so prayerfully before answering anything was beautiful. And at the end, she promised her and her community’s prayers for LGW, and said it’s a blessing to her to know of the ministry (and hopefully she can somehow join us on retreat some day!)

It gave all three of us “spiritual chills” so to speak - definitely a highlight of the year.

Favorite new project: online community

I’m speaking personally, and I think Dan would agree, that the best NEW thing we did this year was launch our Mighty Networks online community. We’ve long wanted something that would provide a platform for retreatants to stay connected post-retreat, including those in our online retreat who are scattered around the country/world.

Overall, we’re really pleased with how Mighty Networks has done this, in a private environment. There’s more we want to do with the platform, but it was beautiful (for example) to see the conversations it facilitated during our online retreat, which we didn’t have before. So that’s a nice resource to add to our box!

Biggest challenge: smart, sustainable growth

It’s been such a big year for LGW in so many ways, such a growth year. We’ve grown in practically every category we can think of: ministry events, numbers of ACODs accompanied, people reached online, revenue raised, donations received, volunteers activated, etc. It still astounds us how quickly the ministry is growing (humbles us, too!). So we’re at a point where we want to be smart about growth, invest in the right expansions of projects and personnel, leverage all of the resources we already have, and basically take everything to the next level of scope and effectiveness.

That probably sounds jargony, sorry! It’s just to say - and perhaps you can send a prayer our direction - that 2023 feels like a big year, too, to discern prayerfully where we should grow, and how to grow in a sustainable way. We want to be around for the long-term, and a lot of that depends on how well we lay the foundation for our various chapters, our investment in volunteers/staff, and more.

We’re definitely reminded of the parable of the talents, and wanting to return to the Lord more than he gave us to begin with! It’s a daunting/exciting place to be as a ministry!

Most heartwarming feedback:

There’s literally no way to pick just one. To hear / read people’s reactions to coming on retreat or doing a support group…I think I tear up just about every time, to know that people felt heard in a deeper way, felt God’s love in a new way, felt strengthened and encouraged to face whatever ongoing family challenges they have, the list just goes on…all credit to our Lord for the abundant healing mercies he is bringing through Life-Giving Wounds!

I think one comment that really struck me this year was from several people who got married this year and told us (in effect) that Life-Giving Wounds was a huge reason why they felt ready and able to give that tremendous “yes” to marriage despite their backgrounds. I mean… amazing, humbling stuff. Praise God!

And finally, for a laugh: the most absurd retreat experience: dog confessional

I just thought this one needed to be shared, as the winner this year of the craziest thing to happen on retreat! (This should be a running category each year!)

August, Evansville: Saturday on retreat, time for adoration and confession. Great, prayerful atmosphere. Beautiful music, hearts opening to the Lord. Confessions happening.

A second priest arrives to hear confessions…with a three-legged dog at his side. Recently rescued, can’t be left alone, so “Champion” (not his real name, just a Parks & Rec shout-out) is going to be in the confessional too. But first could a retreat leader get him some water? Not in a bottle! A bowl, thanks.

So, retreatants are told in the confessional line: you can go to this confessional with Fr. X, or this one with Fr. X…and a dog. Your choice.

Thankfully, the retreatants were all chill about this unusual confessional arrangement, God’s mercies still flowed abundantly, and it provided many laughs at the social after adoration!

Just an example of the unexpected in ministry! :)

In conclusion:

Founding and leading Life-Giving Wounds has been an adventure of faith from the very beginning, and this year has been no exception!

We’d be grateful for your prayers as we say goodbye to 2022 and set sail in 2023 – for wisdom, God’s providence, and gratitude for all the blessings the Lord continues to bestow.

Happy new year! St. John Paul II and the Holy Family, pray for us!

 

About the author: Bethany Meola is the co-founder and Vice President of Life-Giving Wounds.