by Catherine | Jan 23, 2015 | Faith, Uncategorized
I thought I’d share a few of my favorite things I stumbled upon this week.
-1-
Our inaugural Dinner Club for Underachievers evening went splendidly! I’ll share more about our fun night another time.
Another Catholic blogger, Emily Stimpson, wrote this beautiful post called Pinterest Lies: The Secret to Successful Entertaining. Emily agrees that the success of a gathering with your favorite people is not determined by how Pinterest worthy it was. Hooray for underachieving and just going for it! My favorite part of her post was her willingness to share photos of the less than glamorous parts of her home (a grimy stove hood, a bowl catching a leak under a sink, etc.). If we wait until we have a perfect house to get together with friends, we’ll never see each other!
-2-
While I was watching EWTN’s coverage of the 2015 March for Life, they showed the full trailer of the upcoming movie The Drop Box. As the film website says,
The Drop Box tells the story of South Korean pastor Lee Jong-rak and his heroic efforts to embrace and protect the most vulnerable members of society. It is a heart-wrenching exploration of the physical, emotional and financial toll associated with providing refuge to orphans that would otherwise be abandoned on the streets. But The Drop Box movie is also a story of hope—a reminder that every human life is sacred and worthy of love.
South Korea is not the only country grappling with the issue of orphan care. Around the world, there are more than 150 million orphans waiting for forever families to call their own.
Watch the beautiful trailer. It’s well worth the 3:05.
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The Drop Box will be released in theaters starting March 3. To learn more about the stories behind the film, read the film’s blog.
-3-
Just in time for the March for Life, my dear friend Amanda Teixeira wrote this beautiful post for the FOCUS blog called, “Who are the real heroes of adoption?”
“We aren’t the heroes in adoption. We are simply a blessed couple who was entrusted with the most precious gift of all: a child. We didn’t do anything special or amazing other than stay open to God’s will for growing our family. We didn’t do anything superhuman.
Others did, though. I want to tell you about the people who get overlooked at times in our pro-life culture: the birth family, and in particular the birth mother.”
So awesome! Read the rest here.
-4-
Apparently I was inspired by a lot of March for Life related stuff this week. While I was doing dinner dishes, I listened to the 1/12/15 podcast of the Jennifer Fulwiler Show when she interviewed Eva Muntean, the co-founder of the West Coast Walk for Life and Ignatius Press marketing manager. Her story of escape from communism and appreciation of American freedom is remarkable! It is no wonder that she would go on to be a pro-life advocate for the weakest among us. Listen to the podcast for yourself.
-5-
Can we talk about how I nearly peed my pants when Jennifer Fulwiler shared this post with the latest details about The 2015 Edel Gathering?! Audrey Assad AND Jesus AND Haley Stewart are gonna be there?! It’s a Catholic girl’s dream come true!
-6-
I’m participating in a peg saint doll exchange, and I’m chomping at the bit to get started on painting my little St. Padre Pio! Do you have any of these peg saint dolls? I love how this blogger converted a shot glass display case into a fun way to display these little dolls. So cute!
-7-
Last week, we challenged our GodTeens to select a patron saint for 2015. Then, they were supposed to “introduce” the saint to the rest of us at the next meeting and explain why they picked him/her. Guess what??? Every teen that was at that meeting did their homework and put a lot of thought into it. Hearing their reasons for picking their patron was very inspiring.
If you’d like to find your own patron saint for 2015, it’s still January, so it’s not too late. If you’re stumped, maybe Jennifer Fulwiler’s Saint’s Name Generator can help you!
* * *
Head over to Kelly Mantoan’s blog This Ain’t The Lyceum for more 7QT posts!
![The 2nd “P” in Our Family’s Rule of Life: Person]()
by Catherine | Jan 21, 2015 | Faith, Family, The Homefront
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m revisiting our Family’s Rule of Life (inspired by Holly Pierlot’s book, A Mother’s Rule of Life.) This is my third post in the series.
In the first post, I:
- explained what a “Rule of Life” is
- discussed my vocation (Child of God, wife, mother) and its essential duties
- shared our family’s mission statement
- set myself up to dive into the “5 P’s.”
The 5 P’s are:
- Prayer
- Person
- Partner
- Parent
- Provider
In the second post, I discussed the 1st “P”: Prayer.
Today, I’m jumping into the 2nd “P”: Person. In a nutshell, “Person” encompasses everything related to what’s going on with us physically, what’s happening internally, and how/why we’re doing and acting the way we are. The goal in searching out all of this self-knowledge is for us to gain true humility–to see ourselves as we really are. When we’re able to do that, we will realize how dependent we are on God, we will be emboldened to use our gifts, and we will be more motivated to improve on our weaknesses.
My study of “Person” involved 3 major umbrella topics:
- Healing (purifying pain vs. pain in need of healing)
- Spiritual Direction (Freedom and Integrity)
- Personal Needs
Healing
We all have pain, but Holly Pierlot provided a distinction between purifying pain and pain in need of healing that was a big help to me.
Purifying pain brings with it the grace to accept it, and to give oneself trustingly, offering oneself to the Father with Jesus. Pain in need of healing brings despair and discouragement.
In other words, God does not expect us to shoulder every cross that comes our way. While some pain can be purifying (it strengthens our resolve to live a life of heroic virtue) and can lead us closer to God, there is some pain that we should seek healing from. Keeping this in mind, I decided to make a few appointments for myself.
Physical Pain in Need of Healing: Without getting into all of the details (especially for my male readers!), let’s just say that an OBGYN is going to help get everything back in place that has been out of place.
A blood panel with my new internist revealed some hormonal irregularities and deficiencies. I was suuuuuuuuuuuuuper low on Vitamin D, and my progesterone levels were low, too. I’m managing them with medication and supplements to get things where they should be.
Non-Physical Pain in Need of Healing: Remember those 4 questions that are helping me to respond instead of react? Slowly but surely, I’m learning that I allow past hurts to dictate my reactions. I’m going to start meeting with a psychologist through Catholic Social Services to help me get to the bottom of things, teach me new anger management strategies, and work to heal those past hurts.
Spiritual Direction
Remember how I made a 2015 Board of Spiritual Directors? I’ve already gained so much from those holy men and women, but I’m still hoping to have my own personal spiritual director that I can meet with on a monthly basis. The goal is to find him/her by the end of the month so that I can start working with him/her toward Christian freedom. As Holly Pierlot’s university professor, Fr. Tom Daley, told her, “Freedom is taking responsibility for who you are to become.” When I decide to take responsibility for who it is that God is calling me to be, I will experience Christian freedom. In order to do that, I need to work toward becoming ordered internally. Holly Pierlot says, “The only way to get closer to God was to become ordered enough inside to enable me to experience him within.” My hope is that my spiritual director will help me to see what I am allowing to prevent me from having that internal order, and what I can do to change that.
Personal Needs
We all have our unique needs that help us to stay ordered internally. For me, they are:
- Quiet
- Personal morning prayer while the house is quiet
- Wednesday afternoon “Mother’s Helper”
- A high school neighbor girl watches the kids for two hours in the afternoon every Wednesday. I use the time for whatever I’d like as a mid-week recharge–blogging, running errands, a craft, meal prep, sewing, or a household project.
- Mother’s Sabbath
- Every other Saturday, I get to spend a few hours out of the house to recharge. I don’t have a set agenda, but I like I go to the Catholic bookstore, sit at a nearby coffee shop, work on the blog, read, or write in my prayer journal. One Saturday a month, I am making it a goal to end that time in confession.
- Exercise
- Philip and I came up with a schedule so that we can take turns getting in a workout in the morning.
- I take Monty for walks around the neighborhood after dinner while Philip gives the kids baths and gets them ready for bed. (As they’re finishing their evening chores, I come back to finish the dinner dishes and close up the kitchen for the night.)
- Nutritious Food
- Continued meal planning and scheduled date nights at new restaurants keep us from veering away from a planned, nutritious meal
- Rest
- Philip and I instituted an early bedtime. During the week, we are supposed to be in bed at 9:30 and have our lights out at 10. We have our good nights, but we have been staying up later this past week to spend more time together.
- We still take “family naps” on the weekends.
- Friendship
- Dinner Club for Underachievers (The inaugural dinner this past weekend was a big success, and we are excited to have this regular fixture on our calendar)
- Bunco one Friday night a month
- Weekly Bible study
- Occasional dinners out with friends
- Regularly scheduled playdates
- Intellectual Stimulation
- Regular pockets of time to read (after morning prayer, during the kids’ naps, or before bed)
Questions for you:
What are you doing to take care of yourself? Are you allowing the vocation as a wife or mother to become an excuse to ignore your own personal needs? How can you enlist your husband, wife, children, or friends to help you to take better care of yourself? I’d love to hear your ideas!
* * *
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at the 3rd “P”: Partner. As you might expect, this one is all about marriage. I think I’ll spend the rest of my life learning about this “P”!
![The 2nd "P" in Our Family's Rule of Life: Person]()
by Catherine | Jan 21, 2015 | Faith, Family, The Homefront
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m revisiting our Family’s Rule of Life (inspired by Holly Pierlot’s book, A Mother’s Rule of Life.) This is my third post in the series.
In the first post, I:
- explained what a “Rule of Life” is
- discussed my vocation (Child of God, wife, mother) and its essential duties
- shared our family’s mission statement
- set myself up to dive into the “5 P’s.”
The 5 P’s are:
- Prayer
- Person
- Partner
- Parent
- Provider
In the second post, I discussed the 1st “P”: Prayer.
Today, I’m jumping into the 2nd “P”: Person. In a nutshell, “Person” encompasses everything related to what’s going on with us physically, what’s happening internally, and how/why we’re doing and acting the way we are. The goal in searching out all of this self-knowledge is for us to gain true humility–to see ourselves as we really are. When we’re able to do that, we will realize how dependent we are on God, we will be emboldened to use our gifts, and we will be more motivated to improve on our weaknesses.
My study of “Person” involved 3 major umbrella topics:
- Healing (purifying pain vs. pain in need of healing)
- Spiritual Direction (Freedom and Integrity)
- Personal Needs
Healing
We all have pain, but Holly Pierlot provided a distinction between purifying pain and pain in need of healing that was a big help to me.
Purifying pain brings with it the grace to accept it, and to give oneself trustingly, offering oneself to the Father with Jesus. Pain in need of healing brings despair and discouragement.
In other words, God does not expect us to shoulder every cross that comes our way. While some pain can be purifying (it strengthens our resolve to live a life of heroic virtue) and can lead us closer to God, there is some pain that we should seek healing from. Keeping this in mind, I decided to make a few appointments for myself.
Physical Pain in Need of Healing: Without getting into all of the details (especially for my male readers!), let’s just say that an OBGYN is going to help get everything back in place that has been out of place.
A blood panel with my new internist revealed some hormonal irregularities and deficiencies. I was suuuuuuuuuuuuuper low on Vitamin D, and my progesterone levels were low, too. I’m managing them with medication and supplements to get things where they should be.
Non-Physical Pain in Need of Healing: Remember those 4 questions that are helping me to respond instead of react? Slowly but surely, I’m learning that I allow past hurts to dictate my reactions. I’m going to start meeting with a psychologist through Catholic Social Services to help me get to the bottom of things, teach me new anger management strategies, and work to heal those past hurts.
Spiritual Direction
Remember how I made a 2015 Board of Spiritual Directors? I’ve already gained so much from those holy men and women, but I’m still hoping to have my own personal spiritual director that I can meet with on a monthly basis. The goal is to find him/her by the end of the month so that I can start working with him/her toward Christian freedom. As Holly Pierlot’s university professor, Fr. Tom Daley, told her, “Freedom is taking responsibility for who you are to become.” When I decide to take responsibility for who it is that God is calling me to be, I will experience Christian freedom. In order to do that, I need to work toward becoming ordered internally. Holly Pierlot says, “The only way to get closer to God was to become ordered enough inside to enable me to experience him within.” My hope is that my spiritual director will help me to see what I am allowing to prevent me from having that internal order, and what I can do to change that.
Personal Needs
We all have our unique needs that help us to stay ordered internally. For me, they are:
- Quiet
- Personal morning prayer while the house is quiet
- Wednesday afternoon “Mother’s Helper”
- A high school neighbor girl watches the kids for two hours in the afternoon every Wednesday. I use the time for whatever I’d like as a mid-week recharge–blogging, running errands, a craft, meal prep, sewing, or a household project.
- Mother’s Sabbath
- Every other Saturday, I get to spend a few hours out of the house to recharge. I don’t have a set agenda, but I like I go to the Catholic bookstore, sit at a nearby coffee shop, work on the blog, read, or write in my prayer journal. One Saturday a month, I am making it a goal to end that time in confession.
- Exercise
- Philip and I came up with a schedule so that we can take turns getting in a workout in the morning.
- I take Monty for walks around the neighborhood after dinner while Philip gives the kids baths and gets them ready for bed. (As they’re finishing their evening chores, I come back to finish the dinner dishes and close up the kitchen for the night.)
- Nutritious Food
- Continued meal planning and scheduled date nights at new restaurants keep us from veering away from a planned, nutritious meal
- Rest
- Philip and I instituted an early bedtime. During the week, we are supposed to be in bed at 9:30 and have our lights out at 10. We have our good nights, but we have been staying up later this past week to spend more time together.
- We still take “family naps” on the weekends.
- Friendship
- Dinner Club for Underachievers (The inaugural dinner this past weekend was a big success, and we are excited to have this regular fixture on our calendar)
- Bunco one Friday night a month
- Weekly Bible study
- Occasional dinners out with friends
- Regularly scheduled playdates
- Intellectual Stimulation
- Regular pockets of time to read (after morning prayer, during the kids’ naps, or before bed)
Questions for you:
What are you doing to take care of yourself? Are you allowing the vocation as a wife or mother to become an excuse to ignore your own personal needs? How can you enlist your husband, wife, children, or friends to help you to take better care of yourself? I’d love to hear your ideas!
* * *
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at the 3rd “P”: Partner. As you might expect, this one is all about marriage. I think I’ll spend the rest of my life learning about this “P”!
![Put It To Work 11]()
by Catherine | Jan 19, 2015 | Faith
Happy Monday! You know what that means — it’s time to Put It To Work! We’re gonna take St. Pope John Paul II’s advice to stop wasting our suffering and start putting it to work by uniting it to the cross. Mondays, which can be a stressful or chaotic day, is the perfect time for us to set our sights on God and swap prayer intentions with the promise of “putting them to work” for one another.
Instead of allowing today to turn into a “manic Monday,” we’ll actively unite any little suffering we might have during the week to the cross for the other person’s intention.
Here are my intentions for the week:
- For one of Philip’s colleagues whose mother passed away, and for safe travels for all of those who are attending the funeral today.
- For my Aunt Debby and all of those who are looking for a new job.
- Please continue to pray for my friend, Nicole, and her family as they shoulder the heavy cross of miscarriage. (You can read about their baby Samuel’s story here.)
- For a special intention.
Your turn! What intentions can I start “putting to work” for you this week? I will add them to my prayer journal and pray for you by name throughout the week. Please share them in the comment box below, on the blog Facebook page, or send them to me via the “contact” form on the main menu bar.
Thank you for your prayers!
![The 1st “P” in Our Family’s Rule of Life: Prayer]()
by Catherine | Jan 16, 2015 | Faith
Yesterday, I shared that I’m revisiting our Family’s Rule of Life (inspired by Holly Pierlot’s book A Mother’s Rule of Life). If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read yesterday’s post. I explained what a “Rule of Life” is, discussed my vocation (Child of God, wife, mother) and its essential duties, shared our family’s mission statement, and set myself up to dive into the “5 P’s.”
The 5 P’s are:
- Prayer
- Person
- Partner
- Parent
- Provider
Today, let’s look at the 1st P: Prayer
I’m a very visual learner, and I love schedules, so reading how Holly Pierlot laid out her prayer routine in A Mother’s Rule of Life was very helpful. Thanks be to God, my prayer life continues to deepen and change since I first wrote about it last February, so I wanted to revisit things in the blog.
What hasn’t changed is the necessity of routinizing our days. Without a schedule, my prayer life flounders. As Holly Pierlot says, “God isn’t so obviously urgent, because he doesn’t pester us for our attention like our children or a sloppy house can.” I followed Holly’s advice to come up with a list of all of the different prayers/practices that I want to comprise my spiritual life. As I’m writing this, that means:
- My personal daily prayers (More on my personal routine below)
- Family evening prayer (Share intentions, teach the children a new prayer each month, and our standard bedtime prayers – Guardian Angel prayer, and say “God bless ______” every member of the family)
- Couple prayer before bed (Read a reflection on a mystery of the Rosary and pray one decade together followed by spontaneous prayer and intentions)
- Shared holy hour (Philip and I alternate attending a shared holy hour once a week)
- Mass (Every Sunday and a goal of starting 2x/month with the kids to daily Mass)
- Confession once a month during my “Mother’s Sabbath” on Saturday afternoons
- Finding a spiritual director (by the end of this month) and starting monthly meetings
After making the list, Holly says we have to find pockets of time for those things before everything else. Otherwise, they’ll get relegated away to the things that seem more “obviously urgent.” So, I set about finding regular, dependable pockets of time when I could have my personal prayer, we could come together as a family, and Philip and I could pray together as a couple. Routinizing our prayer lives has helped us to stay on track. Today, I thought I’d dive a little deeper into my personal prayer routine to give you an idea of what it looks like. I’m mainly focusing on my morning, afternoon, and evening prayers, but know that we have family prayer and couple prayer mixed in there throughout the day.
Morning Prayer
I love how I’ve been starting my days. I set my alarm to 5:45 so that I can get up and have some dedicated quiet prayer time before my day starts. There is no way I would be successful at having my quiet prayer time if I didn’t have Philip. We’ve been working on “training” Jane and Walt (our preschoolers) to stay in their rooms until 6:30. (More on the morning routine and how we juggle everything in a future post on our schedule.) Philip helps to keep things reasonably quiet and starts breakfast on the days that he’s not going to the gym. Meanwhile, I retreat downstairs.
First, the coffee. Morning prayer demands coffee, and my coffee demands a whole lotta delicious creamer.
Then, I find my morning prayer materials:
My prayer journal is a simple, lined leather-bound journal that I bought last year at Walmart.
When I came up with this new prayer routine, I decided to add a few things to my journal to personalize it. I thought it would be helpful if I typed up and included my prayer routine on the inside front cover. This way, I would have it handy as I memorized when I would include the various practices during the day.
Opposite my prayer routine is a typed-up version of the Morning Offering.
I simply printed off the docs and taped them inside of my journal.
With my materials ready to go, I close my eyes. I start by asking God to help me quiet my mind, I ask Him to open my ears and soften my heart. Then, I start by journaling my little conversations with God. After saying “hello,” I open up to the daily readings. Then, I might find a corresponding passage from the Catechism, read a Gospel reflection, or journal whatever God is putting on my heart. Afterward, I’ll choose a vice to tackle for the day and think of a penance for every time I fail. I’ll review my daily schedule, asking God to sanctify our day. Then, I’ll close with a Morning Offering.
Kid Naptime
During the kids’ naps (and Jane’s quiet time), I give myself more flexibility and choose from a variety of things:
- Consider my progress in tackling the virtue I want to work on, renew my desire to change
- Read my current spiritual reading material (usually something written by a member of my Board of Spiritual Directors or something about my vocation)
- Read a psalm
- Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet
On the inside back cover of my prayer journal is a typed-up version of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I like to listen to some beautiful versions of the chaplet being sung on Spotify. Do you have a favorite version to share?
Bedtime
After Philip and I have our couple prayer time and I drift off to sleep, I like to review the hours of the day and do an examination of conscience. I close by praying the Act of Contrition, and I add my other favorite prayers (Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Memorare, St. Michael). I like to do my formal examination of conscience on Saturdays during my “Mother’s Sabbath.”
Questions for you:
What does your prayer life look like these days? Have you found a routine that’s working for you? What is helping you to stick with it? If not, what are the obstacles?
* * *
Tomorrow, we’ll take a little break from our Family’s Rule of Life for a fun post. I’ll pick up next time with the 2nd P, Person.
![The 1st "P" in Our Family's Rule of Life: Prayer]()
by Catherine | Jan 16, 2015 | Faith
Yesterday, I shared that I’m revisiting our Family’s Rule of Life (inspired by Holly Pierlot’s book A Mother’s Rule of Life). If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read yesterday’s post. I explained what a “Rule of Life” is, discussed my vocation (Child of God, wife, mother) and its essential duties, shared our family’s mission statement, and set myself up to dive into the “5 P’s.”
The 5 P’s are:
- Prayer
- Person
- Partner
- Parent
- Provider
Today, let’s look at the 1st P: Prayer
I’m a very visual learner, and I love schedules, so reading how Holly Pierlot laid out her prayer routine in A Mother’s Rule of Life was very helpful. Thanks be to God, my prayer life continues to deepen and change since I first wrote about it last February, so I wanted to revisit things in the blog.
What hasn’t changed is the necessity of routinizing our days. Without a schedule, my prayer life flounders. As Holly Pierlot says, “God isn’t so obviously urgent, because he doesn’t pester us for our attention like our children or a sloppy house can.” I followed Holly’s advice to come up with a list of all of the different prayers/practices that I want to comprise my spiritual life. As I’m writing this, that means:
- My personal daily prayers (More on my personal routine below)
- Family evening prayer (Share intentions, teach the children a new prayer each month, and our standard bedtime prayers – Guardian Angel prayer, and say “God bless ______” every member of the family)
- Couple prayer before bed (Read a reflection on a mystery of the Rosary and pray one decade together followed by spontaneous prayer and intentions)
- Shared holy hour (Philip and I alternate attending a shared holy hour once a week)
- Mass (Every Sunday and a goal of starting 2x/month with the kids to daily Mass)
- Confession once a month during my “Mother’s Sabbath” on Saturday afternoons
- Finding a spiritual director (by the end of this month) and starting monthly meetings
After making the list, Holly says we have to find pockets of time for those things before everything else. Otherwise, they’ll get relegated away to the things that seem more “obviously urgent.” So, I set about finding regular, dependable pockets of time when I could have my personal prayer, we could come together as a family, and Philip and I could pray together as a couple. Routinizing our prayer lives has helped us to stay on track. Today, I thought I’d dive a little deeper into my personal prayer routine to give you an idea of what it looks like. I’m mainly focusing on my morning, afternoon, and evening prayers, but know that we have family prayer and couple prayer mixed in there throughout the day.
Morning Prayer
I love how I’ve been starting my days. I set my alarm to 5:45 so that I can get up and have some dedicated quiet prayer time before my day starts. There is no way I would be successful at having my quiet prayer time if I didn’t have Philip. We’ve been working on “training” Jane and Walt (our preschoolers) to stay in their rooms until 6:30. (More on the morning routine and how we juggle everything in a future post on our schedule.) Philip helps to keep things reasonably quiet and starts breakfast on the days that he’s not going to the gym. Meanwhile, I retreat downstairs.
First, the coffee. Morning prayer demands coffee, and my coffee demands a whole lotta delicious creamer.
Then, I find my morning prayer materials:
My prayer journal is a simple, lined leather-bound journal that I bought last year at Walmart.
When I came up with this new prayer routine, I decided to add a few things to my journal to personalize it. I thought it would be helpful if I typed up and included my prayer routine on the inside front cover. This way, I would have it handy as I memorized when I would include the various practices during the day.
Opposite my prayer routine is a typed-up version of the Morning Offering.
I simply printed off the docs and taped them inside of my journal.
With my materials ready to go, I close my eyes. I start by asking God to help me quiet my mind, I ask Him to open my ears and soften my heart. Then, I start by journaling my little conversations with God. After saying “hello,” I open up to the daily readings. Then, I might find a corresponding passage from the Catechism, read a Gospel reflection, or journal whatever God is putting on my heart. Afterward, I’ll choose a vice to tackle for the day and think of a penance for every time I fail. I’ll review my daily schedule, asking God to sanctify our day. Then, I’ll close with a Morning Offering.
Kid Naptime
During the kids’ naps (and Jane’s quiet time), I give myself more flexibility and choose from a variety of things:
- Consider my progress in tackling the virtue I want to work on, renew my desire to change
- Read my current spiritual reading material (usually something written by a member of my Board of Spiritual Directors or something about my vocation)
- Read a psalm
- Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet
On the inside back cover of my prayer journal is a typed-up version of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I like to listen to some beautiful versions of the chaplet being sung on Spotify. Do you have a favorite version to share?
Bedtime
After Philip and I have our couple prayer time and I drift off to sleep, I like to review the hours of the day and do an examination of conscience. I close by praying the Act of Contrition, and I add my other favorite prayers (Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Memorare, St. Michael). I like to do my formal examination of conscience on Saturdays during my “Mother’s Sabbath.”
Questions for you:
What does your prayer life look like these days? Have you found a routine that’s working for you? What is helping you to stick with it? If not, what are the obstacles?
* * *
Tomorrow, we’ll take a little break from our Family’s Rule of Life for a fun post. I’ll pick up next time with the 2nd P, Person.
