— 1 —   This Week’s Post:   Dear Cindy ~ Discouraged and Tempted  This week I kicked off the Dear Cindy series by sharing a Reader’s question and my response to her question.  Next week I plan to explain what I mean when I advise you girls to strive for holiness through a Sacramental Life in Christ. 

— 2 —  Not Alone Series:  This week’s topic was Vulnerability with Friends.  Nikki from Catholic Heart for Home helped me to better relate to my single friends with one simple sentence:

“….she gives gentle and relevant support for the whole of me not just the want to get married part.”

Morgan from Follow and Believe concluded with the following:

“…My married/engaged friends are such great models of holy romances. They help me to know what I’m truly looking for in a relationship, what matters and what doesn’t. And you know what? While they might not be able to relate to my particular situation, they’ve had struggles of their own. Maybe I can learn from something they’ve had to deal with!”

 —3 —   Spotlight On #1:  I had a hard time choosing just one person to spotlight this week.  This week’s first spotlight is once again on Emily Stimpson.  I am getting a deeper understanding of the life-changing teaching of Theology of the Body through her book, These Beautiful Bones . Additionally, Emily continues to amaze me with her posts over at Catholic Vote.  Her latest, What Makes A Body Beautiful, makes me want to drive to Steubenville and give her a hug.   In a nutshell:  We can all be beautiful.  

— 4 —  Spotlight On #2:  I have been so blessed to ‘meet’ amazing girls through the blog world and one of my favorites is Celeste from Sacred Sharings for The Soul.  She is somewhat stealthy but if you only knew the dedication she has to teaching young girls about the virtue of chastity!  She is young and wise and is the perfect role model for young girls.  Have you seen any of her gorgeous posts? This week, she asked this ‘hit you in the gut’ question:

“In moments of spiritual desolation it is important to ask ourselves this very question “Are we in love with all the good things of God, or the God of all good things?”

— 5 —   Spotlight on #3:  This week’s spotlight #3 is on Maura from Made In His Image.  Maura most likely needs no introduction but in the event you do not know her, I featured her on my 7QTs back in March.  This week she shared a post called:  To The Broken and Beautiful Girl.  Don’t click without a Kleenex in hand!

Maura also Tweeted this truth:   “The man God has for you will say, “I’ve seen you at your worst and I’m staying.”

— 6 —   Spotlight On #4:  Mandy from Messy Wife, Blessed Life writes about the revelation she made after her recent miscarriage in her guest post, When Our Good and Holy Plans Fall Through:

“…That large family may be in our future still, but I no longer make assumptions.  Because for the first time, I’ve stopped thinking that I know what God has planned for me.  And I’ve stopped making plans for myself.  And for the first time, I feel much more receptive to God’s will; when I stop telling Him of my plans, I leave room to be able to hear His.”

— 7 — The Troops of St. George:  Gregg is taking our son on a hike tomorrow with the new troop from our parish!  Can I get an ‘Amen!’ on the need to infuse future men with virtue, decisiveness and integrity!?! 

Who are the Troops of Saint George?

“…We are a Catholic apostolate for Catholic men and their sons. We are Catholic first above all else. Our campouts feature the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the sacrament of Confession, and time-honored Catholic devotions.

We are not interested in arts and crafts or meetings for the sake of meetings. Rather, we’re interested in meeting the challenges of being a godly and Christian man for our wives, children, grandchildren, and culture. We want our sons to become true men infused with virtue, decisiveness, and integrity….”

God love and bless you!

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