«  
  »

Kicking off the “Small Steps” Blog Tour

By Lisa Schmidt

SmallStepsBanner728x90What am I grateful for today? Many things, but this in particular: to be a member of the CatholicMom.com family and work alongside women like Lisa Hendey and Sarah Reinhard. I am also honored to host the blog tour kickoff for the newest book in the CatholicMom.com Book series, Small Steps for Catholic Moms, by Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss. It’s a perfect prayer companion for busy moms. More on that in a moment.

First, a favor. Can you Think, Pray, and Act with me today? Will you join me in completing these three small steps?

Yes? Great! Let’s get it on, friends!

Small Step 1: THINK. Think about the follow quote from St. Bernard of Clairvaux

“Prayer is a wine that makes glad the heart of men.”

Por favor, repítalo.

“Prayer is a wine that makes glad the heart of men.”

Small Step 2: PRAY. With that quote in mind, reflect and offer the following prayer.

I seek happiness in many things, God: human relationships, food, work, sex, and money. I am sorry for the times I have put these things above you. I want to give you the first place in my heart always.

Small Step 3: ACT. Agree to set in motion the following call to action.

Add more family prayer time to your day today. Even if you usually pray together at bedtime, add something more — an afternoon Rosary or the Angelus. Rejoice together in God’s presence.

Small Steps for Catholic Moms

That’s it. Wasn’t so hard, was it?

The text above comes from the January 19 entry in the book Small Steps for Catholic Moms: Your Daily Call to Think, Pray, and Act by Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss. Originally published years ago, the book has been updated and republished under the CatholicMom.com Books series in partnership with Ave Maria Press.

Small Steps offers daily prompts and suggestions — three small steps — for every day of the year. Each day’s entry includes:

  1. Words to contemplate from a saint or Scripture;
  2. Daily words of prayer written by Danielle and Elizabeth, and
  3. A small call to action — a little something to do.

When the book arrived in my mailbox I thought: God love Danielle and Elizabeth! How did they know I needed just this very resource at this exact moment? New baby to arrive any day, in the throes of first-year homeschooling, Joel’s upcoming ordination to the permanent diaconate, and heck, might as well throw in a move and new job while we’re at it. Just kiddin’ God. So yeah, I’m craving balance. 

Breathe, girl. Small steps. Small steps. 

As narcissistic as I may be, Danielle and Elizabeth didn’t write the book just for me. They wrote it for moms like me … and you, and you, and you, too. It’s for all of us hardworking mamas, journeying through a myriad of stages and phases, as we collectively call upon God’s graces to balance our active lives with contemplative ones. One small step at a time, friends.

It’s Giveaway Time!

I’m thrilled to offer a copy of Small Steps for Catholic Moms to one lucky reader. I’m feeling a little 37-week-pregnant-spunky, so I’m trying out a new giveaway format. Simply trying to manage my giveaways a little better — we’ll see how it works.

Here’s how to enter: You can see the fancy Rafflecopter form below. For those who’ve never used these forms, the gist is you get to collect more points for completing the various tasks provided. For example, if you “like” The Practicing Catholic’s Facebook page, you get two points, follow us on Twitter and you earn two more, leave a comment below and you stack up another two, etc. More points equals more chances to win the book. If you already follow and like us on our social media accounts, give yourself credit. We appreciate your loyalty! Now if you want to enter but find the form confusing, drop me a note and I’ll walk you through it in small steps. Get it, small steps!

Better sit down. More awesome news ahead!

Now for the mutha of giveaways. Here’s your chance to win a signed set of all the CatholicMom.com books. That’s six terrific books by Catholic moms who are walking the walk and talking the talk. Here’s the lineup:

Head over here and enter to win all six books in the CatholicMom.com Book series. You’ll even get an extra point in my Rafflecopter contest if you do.

Use the form below to enter and win Small Steps for Catholic Moms from lil ol’ me here at The Practicing Catholic. You’re going to love this book. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

October 1st, 2013   Schmidt, Lisa
, ,  
«  
  »

34 comments to Kicking off the “Small Steps” Blog Tour

Join the conversation!

«  
  »