Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Come on you lot ... cheer up. I don't know about you, but 2018 has been a year of ups and downs for me, and no doubt 2019 will be the same. I work as an elevator attendant in a department store. I noticed in Church over Christmas that everyone was miserable with long faces as if they had a permanent bad smell under their nose. Even when singing hymns. Come on you Christians ... is that what joy feels like? Is that the way to spread Christ's message of love and hope? I know we should be serious about God's message to us; but He also meant us to be happy in life, not to endure it as a punishment. Here's my New Year's resolution. Join me: CLICK HERE  

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. With every new year, as with every new day, we receive a new beginning. With this new beginning, Jesus invites us to transform our lives; to move away from sin and to move towards happiness. So, how do we answer this invitation? Do we have good intentions, yet somehow, our chains of sin don’t allow us to break free? Alas, we succumb to continuing our sinful ways. Every new day begins unsullied, with hope. Yet, somehow, we seem to mar it with snide remarks, untruths, unjustified anger…and the list goes on. We are a sinful people, and God knows that. Yet, He still loves us, unconditionally! I Choose Happy New Year! So, on this New Year’s Day, when we all make resolutions, here’s mine: I promise to look to each new day with hope; to see God’s presence in my everyday life. Whether it be in the face of my husband, or the kindness of the grocery store clerk, I will set my sights on Christ. I will shed the old ways...

Letting Go of Bad Habits In January, 2016, on  A Seeking Heart with Allison Gingras , I had the pleasure of interviewing  Manage Your Money God's Way  hosts, Jon and Evelyn Bean.   The version of the book I  featured on the show  that week was  Your Money Counts , written Howard Dayton and adapted to reflect a Catholic approach by the Beans.  As usual the Holy Spirit is bringing just what I need, just WHEN I need it.  Well, truth be told I probably NEEDED it 25 years ago but... now that we are drowning in the financial mess not having this book for 25 years has brought us, the timing works! 2017 UPDATE:  We have learned to doggy-paddle; by this time next year we should be onto the breast-stroke.  This system, rooted solidly in biblical principle and reliant on God's grace are a HOME RUN! At the end of my show, I mentioned I would be definitely blogging my progress as I tried to implement the lessons I learned in rea...

With every years’ end, we tend to enter a time for reflection. We assess our lives, our dreams, and the course we are on. We look to see where we need to make changes; therein lies the proverbial need for the “New Year’s Resolution.” I bring you suggestions for how to approach making your New Year’s resolutions this year – resolutions that will last! These suggestions might be considered as slightly off the beaten path; nonetheless, they are a path work taking. Rather than: Going on a diet to lose weight, try to better understand why you overeat, or eat the unhealthy foods, and then resolve to fix the underlying cause instead. Going cold turkey to stop drinking or smoking, try to better understand why you do it in the first place, and then resolve to fix the underlying cause instead. Do you see where I am going here with these suggestions? .. Read more...

I vaguely thought of doing a new year’s resolution post a few days ago, and decided against it. Partially because so there are so many already out there. Mainly because I’m so bad at keeping new year’s resolutions that I’ve pretty much stopped even trying to make them, at least in the traditional sense. For the last few years, instead of trying to add in something new each year, I’ve tried to simplify life a bit and shed some of the layers that prevent me from being the wife, mother and Christian I want to be. With so many things competing for attention in life, I think this process of decluttering your soul is important not only if we want to have be meaningful presence in the life of our loved ones, but also if we want to be personally fulfilled. Continue reading at Eyes On Heaven.

It’s that time of year once again, when we assess how we are doing; when we make resolutions to do things we have yet to do, or to do things differently. We want to see positive change! Yet, we are all creatures of habit, and sometimes our habits are not good. That is why every January we make resolutions to eat healthier, to stop smoking/drinking/taking drugs, etc. only to fall off the wagon as soon as the first temptation crosses our paths. Have you ever stopped to think about why you are tempted; not what tempts you, but why you are tempted? Read more...

  The New Year is upon us - and with its coming brings New Year's resolutions - we are all familiar with them; we have all made them; we have all broken them by January 7...The media is replete with lists of the most popular resolutions which can usually be broken down into three categories: losing, quitting, and saving - as in weight, smoking/drinking, and money.  It is a rare exception that a New Year's Resolution involves our ultimate and final goal of this life - eternal happiness with the Lord in the next.  Don't get me wrong - I am not suggesting that you cease making the "losing, quitting, saving" resolutions - just that you consider adding a resolution or two that will impact your life for all eternity.  Click here for 7 New Year's Resolutions; Catholic Style

2014 Version of Me Every year I make New Year resolutions. I believe that it's good to improve myself for the honor and glory of God. I know I need God's grace to improve. When God is gracious enough to bless me with a particular grace, I should cooperate with Him. That's where personal effort comes in. So many get discouraged if or when they break their resolutions that they give up. I understand the feeling. One of my Facebook friends has a good suggestion for that problem of perseverance. This is a slightly edited version of what Elizabeth wrote: Lots of us set goals - resolutions - for each New Year. Many of us do not achieve those goals over the course of that 365 days. We lose sight of the goal or we "cheat," and decide there is no point in continuing. But what if you made that your goal for just January? And then, make it a new goal for February, and so on through the year? Do you think you would be more successful? My answer is yes.  I think I ...