The Rosary: The Prayer That Saved My Life

I remember being young and my father making us pray it.  I have to admit, I didn’t want to come inside from playing to pray what I thought was the longest prayer ever created. My love for the Rosary came with a group of close friends that were supporting each other through som rough times.  I have seen the prayer’s graces penetrate my life. I have certainly grown to love the Rosary.  However, I will admit that I am less motivated to pray it alone than with a group.  If there is one person that can convince me otherwise, it is Immaculee. If you have not read Immaculee’s story of how she survived the Rwandan genocide – I can’t urge you enough to read Left to Tell or Led by Faith.  Her faith is probably the most inspiring story in recent history.

The Mother of the Little Flower: The Sister of St. Therese Tells Us about Her Mother

I am so interested in learning more about Saint Zelie.  I believe her to be a very special intercessor for the modern wife and mother.  I love that many of her letters were published.  I love the idea of reading her words to her family and friends . .

Unplanned

I have often prayed for all people to see the truth about abortion.  I truly believe our culture is ready and able to embrace life and empower women in doing just that. Abby Johnson had two abortions and worked for Planned Parenthood . . . until one day she saw something that struck her to the core.  I am interested in reading her story.

The Walls Are Talking: Former Abortion Clinic Workers Tell Their Stories

Once Abby left Planned Parenthood, she started a non-profit organization that helps men and women who work in the abortion industry to find other jobs to support themselves and their families.  Many abortion clinic workers had felt the pull to leave the industry, and Abby’s organization, And Then There Were None makes that desire possible. As people starting coming to her for help, they explained what led them to leave.  This book tells some of those stories . . .

The Bad Catholics Guide to the Catechism

I like to be informed . . . I also like to laugh

Dad is Fat by Jim

Laughter is great medicine!!  Life can’t be serious all the time  Besides, when I read “the eating habits of four year olds (‘there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor’)” I realized my son is normal and maybe I could be a little more patient with him sometimes.  My husband had a good laugh at that quote too

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The first sentence used to describe this book is a question:

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Obviously this book was written for me . . . and my husband.

I’ll just stop there with this one . . .

My Sisters The Saints

I started reading this book over a year ago.  I need to turn my phone off around 9:00 pm and that will help me in my goal of reading books instead of social media!

Saints on the Go!

We read to our son daily.  I think this book would be great to read to him.  It’s been on my list, I just need to order it!  I have a feeling we will both love it and I can see us incorporating it into his Pre-School Prayer Journal!

Our Lady’s Garden: A Coloring Book for Prayer and Meditation

Because It’s Okay for Mommy to Color!!

What book do you hope to read soon?

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The coverage had me thinking of many different topics.  It also had me thinking about how blessed I have been in my life with a family so full of wonderful women. My mother, grandmothers, and aunts have been incredible role models and have truly loved me for who I am.  One of the aspects I have long noticed about the women in my family is that they never seem to gossip, always enjoy a good laugh and really, truly listen to one another.  Although we may not always agree, I love them dearly and see them as a gift from God.

I also started thinking about the women I have read about that have inspired me to be a better Christian, a harder working woman, and simply, a better person.

Here are some inspiring resources I recommend about some truly heroic women:

Our Blessed Mother

Although there are an unmeasurable amount of resources about Our Lady, there are two I’d like to rccommend . . . The first is 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley. 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat In Preparation for Marian Consecration is an easy read and not only serves as a personal retreat, but is also incredibly informative about Our Blessed Mother’s role in our faith.

The second resource about Our Lady is the fascinating Our Lady of Guadalupe. I heard someone give a talk about Our Lady of Guadalupe and she referred to this book Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love.  So much she said fascinated and intrigued both my husband and I.  It’s not only on my “to read” list – it’s on his as well!

Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Katharine Drexel

Sitting in Eucharistic Adoration once, I came across the book titled, 15 Days of Prayer wit Saint Catherine of Siena.  One of my favorite quotes is attributed to her:

Be who God wants you to be and you will set the world on fire!

I LOVE that quote.  I often pray – Dear God, help me to be who you want me to be – and set the world ablaze!  However, there is much I do not know about this saint.  Reading this book in the chapel was quite interesting to me and gave me more knowledge about the truly heroic woman.  Not to long after, I was in the Eucharistic Adoration chapel again.  I came across a similar book, but this time the saint was Katharine Drexel. As I read 15 Days of Prayer with Saint Katharine Drexel, I truly felt as though I was receiving advice from heaven.

Saint Gianna

We live in quite an amazing time.  Saint Gianna Beretta Molla- wife, mother and physician has been canonized and three of her children are still living!   Gianna Emanuela, the daughter of the great modern saint, stated to me in an email  that this is her favorite book about her “Saint Momma”: The Journey of Our Love: The Letters of Saint Gianna Beretta and Pietro Molla. As someone who not only feels Saint Gianna has interceded for my own personal prayers, but also a person who loves history and reading historical documents – this type of book is a gold mine!  How cool is it to be able to read the letters a saint wrote to her husband – and that he wrote to her!  The art of letter writing has become almost an ancient ritual in modern times, but also quite a nostalgic memory for many of us.  I wish I could read the letters my grandparents wrote to one another during WWII.  People wrote with such elegance and detail.  Having this book as a way to model marital love is quite a blessing and treasure.

Saint Zelie Martin

Speaking of love letters . . . and motherhood . . .and marriage . . . I have a fairly new addition to my “favorite saint list”.  For years I have been quite fond and devoted to Saint Therese’ of Liseux.  Not so long ago, both her mother and father were canonized.  One time I was reading a letter Saint Zelie wrote to her brother, and I was so struck by the love she had for her husband.  In this particular letter, dated January 1, 1863, Zelie writes:

I’m always so happy with him, he makes my life very pleasant.  What a holy man my husband is.  I wish the same for all women; that’s my wish for them for the New Year.” 

It is my belief that if asked, she intercedes for husbands and wives.  This book, Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus (1864-1885) is an incredible way to see how two very faithful people dealt with daily struggles and real challenges.

Immaculee Ilibagiza

Immaculee lives in New York and survived the Rawandan Genocide.  Her experience and the way prayer and faith helped her through unimaginable horror and enabled her to truly understand forgiveness is more than inspiring.  Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust  and  Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide (Left to Tell) are both incredible accounts of a woman who is most certainly a hero of faith.

If you are looking to be inspired by women of faith . . . I strongly recommend these women!  Who inspires your faith?

Who is a hero to you?

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Affiliate links below will allow me to continue writing – I only link what I would recommend!  Thank you for your support and for reading my work!

My answer to “What are you reading right now”?  would be . . . “well, I started My Sisters the Saints about two months ago and Say Goodbye to Survival Mode about 3 years ago.  I’m hoping to finish one of those books soon.”

Then I think, what I’m REALLY reading now is every Paw Patrol book we own; every Curious George story ever written; and whatever my son picks out before bedtime.

Well, not WHATEVER he picks out.

A few nights ago I told my four year old to pick out a book.  He immediately picked Darth Vader and Son. . .

which I immediately took,

opened his bedroom door,

tossed it in the hallway and turned to him saying,

“pick another one”.

He asked, “Why”?  I answered, “because that’s a daddy book.”

Hey, I didn’t say what I was thinking – I hate that book, it only makes sense to daddy because he has every Star Wars movie memorized.  It’s great for a daddy/son bond.  

My innocent son then goes back to the book shelf and looks through the books saying, “What’s a lady book?  What’s a lady book?”

It cracks me up that he says “lady” and not girl, woman or mommy.  But anyway, I answered, “anything else“.

He then picked a book with Big Bird playing a drum on the cover.  It was great, because I had never seen that book before.  It was “new” for both of us.

I honestly don’t know what my favorite book was as a child.

I can tell you though, there is one book that I read to my son that has become of favorite of mine because it makes us laugh, and we quote it whenever we see the watermelons in the supermarket.  We don’t just love it because it gives us an inside joke when we are food shopping – he loves it because it’s Paw Patrol, I love it because it’s super short and easy to read.

This particular one is called “Chase’s Space Case“; but I really recommend these Step Into Reading books!  They are fun and are very helpful in teaching children how to read!  Our son also loves a Thomas the Train edition.

I wish I could say the reason why I need more balance is because I am constantly reading to my son instead of reading books that are more my reading level.

The truth is, what I’m reading now is . . . too much social media.  I spend way too much time looking at my phone and getting sucked into my computer.

I need to find a balance.

Today I pray:

Dear Lord,

Help me, when I look at my hands, to see

less of my phone, or a keyboard;

and more of

my son’s hand;

my husband’s hand;

my Rosary;

food for my family;

and

folded hands thanking You.

Help me to remember that I need You more than anyone or anything.

Help me to serve you through the family and friends you gave me.

Amen

I recently became a part of an incredible group of Catholic Bloggers.  These women are so inspirational, supportive and faithful.

So being on the phone, computer and social media isn’t always bad.  It can be uplifting and extremely helpful.

Together, we decided to start a group for mothers that are doing their best to parent; and most especially, raise faithful, compassionate, Christian children.

We want to invite you to join us.  We named the group the Zelie Group; because . . .
St. Zelie was the mother of St. Therese the Little Flower. Somehow, simple Zelie Martin raised a Doctor of the Church. It wasn’t because she was extraordinary– quite the contrary. She seems especially ordinary from what I’ve read. But she had faith. She was truly devoted and loving to her husband. She did her motherly duties with great love even in times of frustration.

St. Zelie has become an inspiration and a guide for me. I love how much she loved her husband.  I love that she raised such holy women; especially one of my favorite saints, the Little Flower. I love that her witness reminds us that not all saints tame dragons or start a new religious order. Some kiss boo-boos, cut peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into four triangles and read stories. I can pray with my kids and take them to Mass. I can cultivate my garden with patience, trusting that God will help my little flowers bloom in His time.

The Zelie Group is a place to share this journey of Catholic motherhood with others who are trying to raise saints in the modern world.

In order to get to know one another, we in the Zelie Group are beginning a weekly link up called “Just Enough Info.” It’s an interesting paradox that in a time when people overshare on social media (TMI!), many are struggling to fit in and connect. Perhaps it’s time to start sharing JEI: Just Enough Info.

Kerry from Fishbowl Fortune

Please check out their websites and show them some love on Facebook and Instagram

The post A Prayer About Balance appeared first on Prayer Wine Chocolate.

And not just by playing, “let’s balance these on our heads”.

Reading a book about adoption is an awesome spring board and conversation starter.

Reading a book about adoption allows me to stop and say, “We are so happy and grateful we adopted you” without it sounding random and alien to him.

I noticed that he likes some books more than others.  I am constantly on the search for more resources and choices that will broaden our discussion and help our son realize that although the way he came to our family is not the traditional way; we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here is a list of books we have and our son loves:

Below are a list of affiliate links.

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born

Written by Jaime Lee Curtis

Illustrations by Laura Cornell

My son LOVES this book.  When I tell him to pick a book he often comes back with this one.  I find myself telling him how different his adoption was than this story (which interrupts the telling of it quite a few times from beginning to end), but he doesn’t seem to mind.  Something about this book intrigues him.

A Mother for Choco

Written by Keiko Kasza

This is another favorite of his and mine.  It is written much like the classic, “Are You My Mother” by Philp D. Eastman.  Not only does the book talk about adoption, but it discusses not looking like your mom the way other children do AND it gives me an opportunity to hug and kiss my little love as I am reading the book.  This is a huge hit in our house – and has been since Xavier was about 2 years old.  I definitely recommend it.

Yes, I’m Adopted!

Written by Sharlie Zinninger

Illustrations by Tiffany Cunliffe

This book is extremely simple and our little boy has been a fan since he was about 2 years old.  The pictures are fun, bright and clear.  The book rhymes and talks about looking different.  I also think my son just loves the page where their is a picture of the planet earth and the author says how parents meet their children by car, train or even an airplane.  He’s mesmerized.  It’s simple and full of love.  He always asks me to read it again and he even likes when I read the “About the Authors” page.  I’m not kidding.

The next two books are a little to lengthy for his attention span right now, BUT, I love having them on his bookshelf.  Even if he never prefers them over the Star Wars and Paw Patrol books, I love that he will see the titles.

I Wished For You

Written by Marianne Richmond

God Found Us You

Written By: Lisa Tawn Bergren

Illustrations by: Laura J. Bryant

Another book we like is not about adoption per se, but is about how people from different backgrounds look the same in some ways, but different in others.

We’re Different, We’re the Same

Written by Bobbi Kates

Illustrations by Joe Mathieu

The next two books are not about adoption at all – but they are super fun :).

This Book Just Ate My Dog

Written and illustrated by: Richard Byrne

My brother and his wife bought this book for our son. My husband just read it to my and son and me.  We were all cracking up together!  I had to share!

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes

Written by Eric Litwin; Illustrations by the Creator of Pete the Cat: James Dean

This is read in a way that sounds like a song . . . it is so catchy.  Beware – it will stay in your head.  The good news is – it is so catchy!!!  Such a happy book – we love it!

Do you have an adoption book you would recommend?  Please share!

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Inspiration and Hope

Heaven is For Real – I started reading this book before bed one night, and by the next day, I was done.  I could not put it down.  Normally it takes me at least a week to finish a book, but this was extremely easy to read.  It was also fascinating and comforting. From the assurance that all miscarried children are in heaven – to the details about Jesus, Mary (check out the added information in the back – I was only reassured of Mary’s role from this non-Catholic child’s experience) and the Holy Spirit, this book brought me peace and hope.  As always – the book is better than the movie!

Humor, Laughter and Dreams Coming True

Instant Mom – I started reading this to hear more about Nia Vardalos’ road to becoming a mother, but soon found an inspiring, funny story about how dreams come true.  Nia not only describes her road to motherhood (which is incredibly inspiring) but also her road to Hollywood.  She is hilarious and down to earth.  Her testimony about her journey to both Tinseltown and Motherhood is enjoyable from start to finish.  I recommend this book to anyone and everyone – from those going through infertility, for those hoping and praying for success in their career and for anyone who loves a good laugh!

Hope, Courage, Mercy and Inspiration

Led By Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide CD set

I read this book, but the link above is for the audio CD set – incase you’re busy and want something to listen to in the car. This is actually Immaculee’s second work – the first recounts her experience during the genocide – and how praying the Rosary helped her survive and overcome such an unimaginable tragedy.  Led by Faith has a chapter dedicated to summarizing that experience – so you don’t need to read her first book to understand and appreciate Led by Faith.  Immaculee, through her Faith in God, forgives the unforgivable.  Her account of the Rwandan genocide and her own personal journey to America is more than inspiring.  I highly recommend any of her books.  I also recommend listening to her talk in person if the opportunity ever presents itself.

Short Stories of Inspiration, Faith and Modern Miracles

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Catholic Faith Stories

There are nights when I just want to read a short story.  I love reading true stories from people who experienced something extraordinary and heart-lifting.  When I longed to become a mother, miracle stories kept my hopes up and assured me  that prayers do get answered and miracles do still happen.  I love that I could read as little or as much as I wanted before closing the book and getting some shut eye.  It really helped me end my day on the right note

Powerful, Thought Provoking Fiction

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult had me glued to each page.  I could not put it down.  I never saw the movie. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a good work of fiction.  This is actually the only nonfiction book I have on this list.

Have you read any of these books?  Which would you recommend?

Sharing this on a link-up at Theology is a verb and Reconciled to you

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