Motherhood

J1ST 076: Rise with me through Prayer

by Nancy Bandzuch · 2 Comments

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Hey there, friends!

This week the Just One Small Thing Podcast is a challenge for you (and for me!). Since we are in the Easter season I think it is the PERFECT time to take stock of life and our faith life. Have we been moving forward? Do we actually, deeply believe the things we processed during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday? And, perhaps as important as anything, am I committed to prayer?

Because, as I have learned over the last year, it all comes down to prayer.

In the podcast I take you on a bit of a journey of thought with me (hopefully the path isn’t too twisting!). In recent months I have discovered that it ALL COMES DOWN TO PRAYER. I realized this while thinking up (nearly 200 episodes now) the Catholic Sprouts Podcast. When I challenge kids to do something at the end of each episode, it really doesn’t make sense to challenge anything but prayer. I also felt this hit home as I learned about the early Christians and that first Easter Sunday.

And, so, if you feel called to deepen your prayer life…or finally really learn how to pray, I would like to invite you consider joining the PRAYER COURSE from Catholic Sprouts.

The course is open for enrollment right now. In the course you learn Why we need to pray, How to pray, When to pray, and How to combat the struggles we all face with prayer. And not only this, but you will be part of a community of women also learning to deepen their prayer life.

But, I will only be enrolling students this week (ending April 29th, 2019). At that point I will be closing the doors and starting the course.

Think about it, pray about it, and for more details, head here: https://catholicsprouts.com/prayercourse/

When you join the Catholic Sprouts community, you not only will be part of a thriving community of over 11,000 Catholic Parents, but you also will get instant access to the Catholic Family Digital Resource Library. Simply head here to sign up!

https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/

Thanks for being here!

Your sister in the small things,

Catholic Teaching on Miscarriage

by Nancy Bandzuch · 4 Comments

Today we are talking about the Catholic Church’s teaching on Miscarriage. There has been a LOT of confusion on this point, and with the help of this GREAT BOOK written by two wonderful friends, Grieving Together (find it here: https://amzn.to/2MgFnO0), I work hard to answer some of those questions.

I cover the following questions:
1. Can we baptize our baby?
2. Can we name our baby?
3. Can we bury our baby? What do we do if we don’t have the baby’s remains?
4. Is my baby an angel? A saint?
5. Is my baby in Limbo? Heaven?
6. Is there a funeral or burial rite we can use?

I hope this information brings you comfort during this time of grief. I have been through 2 miscarriage and 1 stillbirth loss, so I know how hard this time is and how hard it can be to find some of this info.

You are in my prayers, sisters! I also encourage you to connect with and follow my friend Laura, who wrote this book with her husband. She has a beautiful ability to speak about grief. She blogs here: https://motheringspirit.com and she has a beautiful instagram feed here: https://www.instagram.com/thismessygrace/

And, don’t forget to check out her incredible book! It offers so much more helpful info for you as you grieve! https://amzn.to/2MgFnO0

And please consider joining us on Facebook! We Catholic parents need each other, so come and join a group where we can talk about raising saints, what is means to be Catholic and life as a Catholic!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2125545047685401/

Your sister in the small things,
Nancy

This video first appeared on the Catholic Sprouts for Moms Youtube Channel. To enjoy more videos like this one, that are added each and every week, just head here: https://youtu.be/aJpKhBRnWSU

I’ve also shared about my own losses a couple of times. You can read about those losses here:

Ideas for Memorializing Your Loss: https://catholicsprouts.com/over-30-ideas-to-memorialize-your-miscarriage/
Because Miscarriage Changes Everything: https://catholicsprouts.com/because-miscarraige-change-everything/

How to Find More Time For What is Important

by Nancy Bandzuch · Leave a Comment

Many of us feel like we simply don’t have enough time to get everything done…and one of these things we struggle to fit in each day is prayer. We want to live a good and holy Catholic life, and raise a good and holy catholic family, but there just isn’t enough time! And I get it, especially while raising babies, life is very full!

But, there is time to get the important things done, and this video will show you how! In this video you will find out:
1. The CORRECT order of priorities you should live your life by.
2. How creating a daily schedule can be life-changing.
3. That you need to make sure your own needs are met BEFORE you can go out and effectively meet the needs of your family.

To help you with this work (and it is on-going work, even for those of us that have been at it for awhile!!!) I have 2 resources I would like to offer you.

1. THE DAILY DOCKET FOR CATHOLIC MOMS
This simple little book offers you space to plan out and live your life based on the priorities we discussed in this video. I use my daily docket every day, and it has transformed my life!
Check it out here: https://catholicsprouts.com/daily-docket-day-planner-for-catholic-moms/

2. RECLAIM THE DAY EMAIL COURSE FOR CATHOLIC MOMS.
Want a little more help getting your life in order? Please consider signing up for a free email course. Over 7 days I will walk you through all of this information and give you ideas for putting it into practice.
Sign up here: https://catholicsprouts.com/reclaim-the-day

Thanks for being here! Consider joining us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2125545047685401/

Your sister in the small things,
Nancy

This video first appeared on the Catholic Sprouts for Moms Youtube Channel. To check out the other videos and subscribe, head here: https://youtu.be/fO3hKtW3aBo

How to Teach Your Children About Abortion

by Nancy Bandzuch · Leave a Comment

It can be tricky to talk to our children for the first time about Abortion. We might want to avoid the topic, but unfortunately, Abortion is a reality our children will have to live with and they need us to explain this topic to them first, so that they are grounded and truth and love.

In this video I work hard to share ideas for introducing the topic of Abortion to your Catholic Children in a way that is loving, full of mercy and will not rob them of their innocence.

Here are my three simple suggestions:

1. When describing what happens with abortion, be clear without being graphic. All on their own children will find the idea of abortion horrifying because they innately know it is. Also, don’t explain it away or make it “fluffy”.

2. Ground the entire conversation in Mercy and the Nature of God. The last thing we want to do is demonize women who have had an abortion. All too often they are victims as well! Children need to know that God is willing to forgive anyone and He is an ocean of mercy.

3. Finally, encourage children to play an active role in the right to life movement. The most powerful thing they can do is commit to praying daily for the women and babies affected by abortion. They can also give money to pregnancy crisis centers and speak up for life when needed.

I really hope this was helpful and that by watching this video you are encourage to speak about these things with the children in your life!!

Don’t forget to listen to the daily podcast of Catholic Kids:
https://dosmallthingswithlove.com/catholic-sprouts

And, please join us on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2125545047685401/

This video first appeared on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/evmGQQNGsrg

Your sister in the small things,

How to Teach Your Kids the Catholic Faith: Video Series

by Nancy Bandzuch · 1 Comment

THE THREE KEYS TO TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN THE FAITH

As Catholic Parents we have the honor and obligation to pass the faith along to our children. But, this can be hard and tricky work. Our children are well, children, and many of us are imperfect and were imperfectly formed in our own faith.

However, God made you a Catholic Parent, and therefore you need to really fight for your own faith and the faith of your children.

This video is the first in a series of videos that will help you understand how you can be an effective teacher of the Catholic Faith.

The 3 keys to teaching the faith are:
1. Personal Prayer Life
2. Profoundly Trusting God
3. Trying your best to teach.

KEEP SCROLLING TO WATCH ALL OF THE VIDEOS! They are a series and were created to be watched together.

KEY #1: PERSONAL PRAYER LIFE

The first key to teaching you children the #catholicfaith is to remain grounded in and sustained by PRAYER. That’s right, before teaching the children in your life the Catholic Faith you need to work on YOU first and make sure that you are connected to God.

As Catholic Parents our first work is to create a DAILY, DEDICATED prayer time for ourselves. I hear from Catholic Parents ALL THE TIME that they just don’t have 10 minutes a day to use for prayer. In fact, I used to feel this way myself, but you do have time to pray, you just aren’t making prayer a priority…but you need to do this!

If you are frustrated that you don’t have time to pray during this busy time of raising Catholic Kids, please consider taking this FREE 7 day email course for Catholic Parents. It is called RECLAIM THE DAY, because once your priorities are in order you WILL be able to live better and find time to pray. Join here: https://catholicsprouts.com/reclaim-the-day.

KEY #2: PROFOUND TRUST IN GOD

The 2nd Key to teaching the #catholicfaith is to have a profound level of trust in God.

Yes, don’t dive into lessons plans and Pinterest crafts yet! Effectively teaching the Catholic faith must first be grounded in faith.

1. In order to be a good teacher of the faith, you need to be a trusting believer.
—Do you trust all that the church professes to be true? Even the things that you might not understand.
—Do you trust that God cares specifically about you?
—Do you trust that God is real and alive and active in the world today?
2. God has chosen you for the vocation of Motherhood, and charged you with the task of teaching the faith. God does not inspire us to do things that we won’t be able to achieve. Through His help we need to trust that we will be able to teach our children the faith.
3. Progress in this work will be slow and frustrating.
—Faith that God can bless your small efforts.

KEY #3: WILLINGNESS TO TRY

The 3rd Key to teaching your children the #catholicfaith is to TRY! That’s right, in this video we will finally talk about what we can DO to actually teach…but we are going to TRY our very best…and know that whether our work is fruitful is completely up to God.

So, let’s endeavor to teach our children the catholic faith! Here are the ideas I outline in the video:

1. Creating Situations to Learn with your Children
ex: Coloring and Read-aloud Books
2. Use on-going Devotionals and Lessons
ex: Jesse Tree (advent), Jesus Tree (Lent) and Catholic Sprouts (listen here: https://dosmallthingswithlove.com/catholic-sprouts)
3. Create a home where faith can flourish
ex: Turn off the TV, make room for silence, Make a habit of discussing the readings/homilies, Direct your conversations toward God, and Provide Catholic Activities the Kids can reach for on their own.

Some of the resources mentioned in this video:
Catholic Coloring Pages: https://catholicsprouts.com/free-ABC-catholic-coloring-pages
Jesse Tree Advent Devotional: https://catholicsprouts.com/jesse-tree
Catholic Sprouts Podcast: https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-sprouts
Saints in Pearlier Bead/Cross Stitch: https://catholicsprouts.com/the-catholic-saints-in-cross-stitch-the-book/