Book Reviews: Steady Days & A Mother's Rule of LIfe

As many of you know I LOVE BOOKS! - that is actually an understatement.  But really I cannot get enough books (although I do take breaks from reading sometimes).  Recently I have been reading some parenting, mothering, and faith inducing books.  These I find often give me catalytic concepts upon which I can try to establish a more peaceful and meaningful life (for me and my family).

In this quest (which I think will be lifelong - instead of going to school I plan to just research all of the information I can from books) I have found two very helpful resources: Steady Days by Jamie Martin and A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot.

Both books really spoke to me - like made me cry and laugh and just plain talk to the author (in my head) - I could relate and feel normal while reading these books.  Originally I had thought they would be very similar but alas I couldn't pick between the two and decided to just read both - Boy am I glad I did.

A Mother's Rule of Life is an inspiring faith filled quest to become a better person, wife, mom, friend everything.  It takes the nitty gritty of being a person of faith (in this case Catholic - although I believe it could be applied more broadly) and breaks it down into 5 sections.  A Rule of Life is the - "schedule" - that faith driven monks and sisters use (something I did not know).  Each section is very practical and gives you a deep start into creating this purpose driven routine so that you may ENJOY every moment of life.  It also surprisingly gives you plenty of flexible time.  This is a must read in my opinion.

At the same time Jamie C Martin takes motherhood to the professional level even quoting "you wouldn't show up to work in your pajamas" - nope I wouldn't - so why should I show up to my kids that way.  This book really hit my professional side and gave me even more inspiration to give motherhood my best and to dictate only those things which me and my husband have deemed important and thus necessary.  No one else matters in the scheme of raising our kids - we just have to figure out what works for us! 

With neither book am I taking every idea, concept, and blueprint but rather picking and choosing the best (for my family) from amongst the plethora of beauty.  And even better to me is that as I go through different seasons of being a mom I can adopt different ideas adding and deleting as necessary.  Thank you Jamie and thank you Holly you have both helped me become a better mom and person in these last few weeks of reading. 

We have started our rule of life and are still tweaking but let me tell you we have never been so free and I have never worried so little.  Life is good; life is great!

Ash of All Trades

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Garden Update

Image
We had an awesome week - weather wise - until the weekend then we got slammed by wind.  Thankfully we didn't sustain any major damage (although our patio cover tried to fly across the yard and we had to anchor it down better).  The garden is a bit wind blown and everything is leaning but we harvested some yummy food this week: Two Strawberries @ .5 Ounces Kale @ 12.25 Ounces 3 Artichoke @ 1 Pound 4.375 Ounces A Grand total of 2.07 Pounds The girls ate the strawberries and LOVED them - Little C keeps checking for more every time she goes outside and Big C tells her they are not ready then secretly asks if she can have the next ripe one!  For the kale I am going to try steaming it down like spinach and freezing it?!?  And I cannot wait to steam the artichoke and eat them dipped in mayonnaise - yummy! Happy Gardening All, Ash of All Trades
Read more

Sausage Potatoe Packets

Image
Here is our yummy version of a sausage potato packet...I am sure plenty of people make many varities of these and I hear they are great when camping but I like to make them at home! Use one Hillshire Farms sausage link. Cut it up into bite size pieces. Get some fresh or frozen bell peppers and onions. A few potatoes.  (4 for the four of us). Wash them. Poke holes in them. Cook for 2-3 minutes (not all the way) just enough for the cooking process to have started.  This way you don't have to wait 40 minutes for the potatoes to cook on the bbq. Add the sausage to a strip of foil. For a packet with some heat - chop a jalapeno or other chili. Add the potatoes, bell peppers, onion, (chilies) and olive oil. You can peal the potatoes or leave them whole - they get a bit crispier if you leave the skin on! Spread some garlic salt over the top. Mix with your hands to coat a bit. Cover with another piece of foil that is ni...
Read more

Big Girl Room Unveiled!

Image
So Little C decided that she would like a big girl bed.  And that she didn't want diapers. So for the last two weeks we have been redoing her room and potty training!  Now while neither one if completely done they are fully improved and fully functioning.  Her theme as shown above is owls and nature! Now this was a thrifty room makeover (and sorry but I don't have any nursery pictures on this computer!) but still expensive considering we went from crib & changing table to bed, dresser, and armoire.  We did luck out and actually gave Big C's furniture to Little C and purchased Big C a new bed, dresser, and desk from the neighbor (half of for only 9 month old furniture) LOVE IT!  Big C's room is still in progress so no pictures yet but back to Little C's room! Here we used some garland at Michael's (Buy One Get One Free) to make a unique "moulding" of sorts.  $50 and one extra garland later voila! Add in a decorative armoire with Porcelain dolls...
Read more