Small Successes

I just discovered this great meme on Faith and Family Live! So I thought I would participate even if it is a day late. Here are my 3 small successes for the week.

1. I got my laundry done, even all of the mountains that have piled up recently as I got behind.

2. I have become more aware of things I can do to make the faith more alive for my kids, I ordered a book and am excited to start using it's ideas.

3. I have managed to keep it together all week even though my kids are sick and I am getting no sleep.

Click on the button above to visit the other blogs participating.

World Marriage Day

This Sunday February 8 is World Marriage Day as dedicated by the Catholic Church. Until I became married myself I was unaware World Marriage Day even existed. I truly appreciate that it falls the Sunday before Valentine's Day because my husband and I now have another excuse to celebrate the gift that is our marriage. Valentine's Day gets so over commercialized that we have chosen not to celebrate it in a big way but instead we celebrate our marriage and the fruit that it has blessed us with.

If you have not done so in the past this year I challenge you to celebrate World Marriage Day and join millions of other Catholics in celebrating the Sacrament that is Catholic marriage. I am not saying don't celebrate Valentine's Day but which is more important? We think World Marriage Day and try to show our kids that by enjoying a saints holiday but CELEBRATING our vocation as married Catholics.

Catholic Radio

If you are lucky enough to have a Catholic radio station in your area I hope you are tuning in. Here in Central Ohio we have St.Gabriel radio 1580 AM. St.Gabriel carries many EWTN and Ave Maria programs that are wonderful sources of wisdom. I personally enjoy Catholic Connection with Theresa Tomeo and The Dr. Is In with Dr. Ray. Catholic Connection is a great way for me to find out the latest happenings in the Catholic Church from around the globe. I know I can trust what I hear.

As a mom I don't have time to seek out legitimate news sources that report on things going on and affecting the church so I love that I can tune in every morning for an hour and get updated. The Dr. Is In is all about parenting, I think Dr.Ray Guarendi is a great source for information on parenting. I love his stance of you do what it takes to save your child's soul whether it makes you popular with them or not. During the March For Life St.Gabriel Radio was the only way I was able to hear coverage. If you are not listening to Catholic Radio I encourage you to tune it, there are so many great programs that will teach you new things about your faith. Listen in the car or while you do the dishes and support Catholic media outlets there are far to few of them as it is.

We need your help

In order to bring you the best of the catholic products available we need your help. Do you have a product you love or know of a great company? Please share so we can help make that company known to more catholics. We would love any tips or suggestions you may have as long as it is a product that supports our Catholic faith.

Keeping it Catholic.org

Although I only have a two year old I am already beginning to investigate the different options for her schooling. I was the product of a Catholic grade school, high school, and college. My first home school exposure was when I was 18 years old and my first college roommate told me she was the product of Catholic home schooling! I was amazed!

So the first thing I did when I found this web site was bookmark it! It is a fantastic resource for all those even thinking about Catholic home schooling!

Keeping it Catholic is a website devoted to keeping a home schooling program Catholic.

Keeping It Catholic is an international network of homeschooling parents, theologians, priests and laymen, chaplains and directors of Catholic home study programs, and many Catholic publishers.

Keeping It Catholic refers constantly to the Church's timeless teachings on marriage and the procreation and education of children.

Keeping It Catholic supplies national updates on Catholic homeschool issues, articles, reviews and almost 200 pages of information pertinent to Catholic family life and homeschooling.

Keeping It Catholic is an aid for the mom who wants to home school and is trying to ensure that the program is 100% Catholic.

The site is pretty easy to navigate and truly offers a lot of resources for home schoolers.

Check it out!

Render Unto Caesar

I am currently in the middle of the book Render Unto Caesar by Bishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M., Cap. and while I promise a full review when I am done this book has really caused me to re-evaluate the way I live my life as a catholic. Allow me to share with you what I read today: "If we look for opportunities to share our faith with others, God always provides them. This is why self-describing Catholics who live so anonymously that no one knows about their faith, Catholics who fail to prove by their actions what they claim to believe with their tongue, aren't really living as "Catholic"at all. It's also why asking Catholics to keep their faith out of public affairs amounts to telling them to be barren; to behave as if they were neutered. Nothing could be more alien to the meaning of baptism. The Christian idea of witness ...isn't limited to a bloody death in the arena for the faith. All Christians have the command to be a martyr in the public arena-to live a life of conscious witness wherever God places them, no matter how insignificant it seems and whether or not they ever see results."

As I read that passage I was struck, am I truly living as a Catholic or am I more like the anonymous who hides my faith away. I like to think that I am truly living out my vocation as a Catholic but now I wonder would a person know I was Catholic or even Christian after spending a day with me? I hope so, I like to think my faith pervades all that I do, but I know this was not always so. When I was younger I kept my faith to myself when I was among dissenting crowds and what a disservice I did to myself, the faith and those people. By baptism I am called to be a martyr no matter how small my sacrifice.

This passage has inspired me to become more aware of my faith and how I show it to the world, am I a good witness? I sure hope so but I must sadly admit it was a big step for me to put a pro-life sticker on my car. This whole passage has made me ponder my role in the pro-life movement am I a strong and clear voice of the truth? Am I doing all I can? As we draw nearer to the beginning of the 40 Days for Life campaign I plan on doing some real quality time in front of the Eucharist evaluating my role in the pro-life movement no matter how small I am, living it to the fullest as a martyr for my faith.

Left To Tell

LEFT TO TELL

by
Immaculee Ilibagize

Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

'Immaculée shares her miraculous story of how she survived during the Rwanda genocide in 1994 when she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor’s house for 91 days! In this captivating and inspiring book, Immaculée shows us how to embrace the power of prayer, forge a profound and lasting relationship with God, and discover the importance of forgiveness and the meaning of truly unconditional love and understanding—through our darkest hours.'

taken from http://www.lefttotell.com/index.php

Reading Left to Tell is a life changing decision. Immaculee is a future saint walking among us.... and I felt privileged to have read her story......

Througout the entire three months Immaculee gave witness to the power of prayer and the faithfulness of God.

AND THE BEST PART IS

Immaculee is speaking at the Columbus Women's Conference

February 21st, 2009

at the Ohio State Expo Center

Join us! There are still spots available!

http://www.columbuscatholicwomen.com/