Did You Miss Any of our Top 10 Faith Post in 2020?

Happy 2021!  I hope your year has started with many blessings.

Ours sure has. Some challenges, too, of course. But, many blessings as well.

One such blessing is the promise of the year ahead and all the opportunities there may be to live, learn, and celebrate our faith - and to share some of what we do here in case it helps you.

The other day, as I was looking back in order to plan forward for upcoming liturgical living, I realized I had never checked in to see what my most popular sharings of 2020 were.

Upon doing so, I quickly saw that among our most-visited posts were a combination of faith-related and review /giveaway ones. That made total sense, since, again in 2020, that is mostly what I found time to share.

In case you missed any of the Top 10 Faith Posts from 2020 - or just want to revisit a favorite post for inspiration or its free printable, I collected a linked list here for you.

I pray that as you scroll through our Top 10 Faith Posts, you will find inspiration to continue to live and grow in faith with your family in 2021. 

Top 10 Faith Posts of 2020

~10~

Perhaps the Lenten art, music, and poetry ideas that I prepared and shared for our AMP club last year can help you as you plan forward for this year's Lent.

~9~

We enjoyed celebrating St. Angela of Merici on Jnuary 27 with easy eats and conversation. 

Now is a good time to put simple eats on your grocery list in preparation for celebrating St. Angela of Merici this year!

~8~

Free printable copywork and journaling sets are helpful on saint days and any day.

If you missed our one for St. Bonaventure, get it here.

~7~

Celebrating Mama Mary and gardening are both worthwhile endeavors. Combining the two can be a fruitful delight. Perhaps, you might consider making an edible Mini-Mary Garden this year.

~6~

Pizza toasts are popular eats in my home. Retelling the story of the Passion as we make them makes them into liturgical living eats. Perhaps you'd like to do the same this Lent.

~5~

I got a message requesting the creating of an Act of Faith Copywork set and was happy to create and share one. 

Now, this year, my kids will be using this free handwriting printable to help prepare for their confirmation. Maybe yours can, too.

~4~

Saint Valentine's day will be here before we know it. Perhaps you' enjoy going on the same Nature Scavenger Hunt we did. Get a free printable hunt sheet.

~3~

Our Lady never lets us down. 

Help your children learn the short Memorare prayer so they can fly to her whenever there's a need!

~2~

It surprised me to discover that my request to join me in praying for wayward children became such a popular post. 

It broke my parenting heart to be in a position to make such a request, and I continue to appreciate and offer prayers to St. Augustine, St. Monica, and St. Ambrose on behalf of my child, myself and you and yours, if you need them, too.

I am confident our prayers are heard and, in the end, all will be well!

~1~

Prayer is such a vital part of life - formulaic and spontaneous.

It appears many appreciated the free Apostles Creed prayer copywork set I made. I pray that using it helped your children grow in handwriting skills and succinct, solid understanding of our faith!

If there are other Catholic prayers, quotes, or material you'd like me to create and share as free printable copywork and journaling sets, just ask. I am always happy to help as I can!

In fact, please never be shy about making any requests for content you'd like to see here! Like many folks who share online, I have more ideas in my head than focus and time to share about them all. So, I like to tailor what we share about here to what you'd most like to see. I can only do that if you let us know.

Please leave a comment here, let me know via social media, or just tell me next time you see me (since some followers here actually know me in real life, too!)  We love feedback! 

Oh, and if you'd like to browse past Top 10 collections, find them here.

May God bless you a yours 2021 unfolds.

Happy New (Liturgical Year) Question Game {A Free Printable}

Would you like an activity to help you and yours reflect and connect this new liturgical year - or even on the new calendar year which will be coming up before we know it?

Then, please let the fruit that came of my family's crazy First Sunday of Advent schedule this year be something that blesses you and yours.

The Making of the Game

This year, a commitment that my boys had precluded our family from being together to celebrate the new liturgical year the way we typically do. So, I got to work thinking about how I might help us to reflect and connect when we were all together again.

What I came up with was a Happy New Year Question Game.

Inspired by a marriage help exercise that I recalled reading about in John M. Gottman's The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, I created a game that could help my family reflect and connect together as we conclude one year and start the next.

Basically, I typed up a list of 100 questions and some rules, then, printed them out and waited until we were all together to play.

The game worked well, so I thought I would share it here in case you and yours would like to try it.

Playing Is Easy

All you need to play are some time to sit together, the Happy New Year Question Game printable, and pieces of scrap paper and pencils for each player to write 25 numbers and keep a tally of their score upon.

Then as it says on the game printable:

1. Each person, take a piece of paper and pencil, randomly decide 25 numbers between 1 and 100, and write these down in a column on the left side of your paper.

2. Hand another player the list, and tell that player your first number. That player reads the question that corresponds to the number you stated. If answer the question, and, if you answer it right (the other player judges that!), you receive the amount of points listed after the question and the other player receives one point. If you answer incorrectly, the other player must state a correct answer, and no one receives points.

3. Next, the player who you handed the questions to takes a turn. (If playing in a group, players may not hand the list to anyone who has participated in the last two turns.)

4. Continue to take turns like this until someone reaches 25 points. That person wins the game… and, in reality, you all win for having spent time communicating and reflecting.

Reflect, Connect, and Seed Spiritual Growth

If our experience is anything to go by, in doing this, you and yours will share laughter and thought while reflecting on the past year and planting seeds for spiritual growth in the next. Find the Happy New Year Question Game printable here. You could also, of course, use the question list for personal journaling or journal prompts for your children. I'd love to hear about your experience if you choose to play (or journal)!

Happy New Liturgical Year!

A Question for 2017

For several years running, I have joined others in the exercise of choosing one word or phrase to act as a guide for the new year.  This year, as the old year has transformed into a new one, many words and phrases have come into my mind and heart:

Pause.  Reflect.  Connect.  Relationships.  Purpose.  Gratitude.  Create.  Clear.  Encourage.  Embrace.  Today.  Health.  Live. The list continues... 

However, on it there has been no single word that the Spirit seems to be persistently - and ironically - trying to get me to listen to, and, likewise, there has yet to be a phrase that has echoed from my heart to my head, creating an aha in my soul.  Nope.  There has not even been a simple pair of words whispered to me in such a gentle, yet firm way that I know they must be my words for 2017.  

Rather, during the past few weeks, a question that I have often used to reset myself and my children through the years has come to mind and lips over and over again:

What can I do right now to make the next moment better?

So it is, that I have decided NOT to embrace a single word, or even a short phrase, for 2017, and, to, instead let this question lead the way.  Undoubtedly, as I do, I will, by default, listen... and ACT.  I will recognize what is enough...today.  I will, at times, pause, reflect, connect, create, clear, and encourage. I will embrace gratitude, work on relationships, live with purposeful pause.  I will, with God's grace, live in the very precious present while building a better future. 

Yes, that is what 2017 is already about for me.

What word, phrase, statement, or question might guide you throughout 2017?  I'd love to hear about it!