Finding My Way

Hello friends. I am writing to invite you to join me once again on this journey of faith formation that I have been exploring. For a week or so, I have been debating with myself about what the next phase of my blog will be. Maybe you can help me work out the details.

I spend a lot of time debating my competing needs for the freedom to explore and the discipline of structure. I named the blog “Everyday Catholic Woman” because I want to have an underlying mission of addressing the ways that our faith impacts our everyday lives, and I have tried to stay true to that idea. At the same time, the logical part of my brain craved some kind of framework to guide my writing.

So I started with the weekly study of a female saint. I really loved those weeks as I learned so much about some amazing role models of faith. Their amazing stories inspired me, and I was able to focus by establishing the weekly pattern of general overview on Sunday, meditations on themes Monday through Friday, and call-to-action on Saturday.

But after following that plan for 20 weeks, I started noticing that my weekday themes were starting to be a bit repetitive. I worried that I wasn’t finding fresh ideas, so I contemplated a change of pace. That is when I came to the idea of studying the Psalms.

That, too, began as an inspirational approach. It also reduced the amount of time it took to prepare to write, which I discovered was a necessary step as I was becoming overwhelmed with a more-busy-than-usual school year and the beginning of my theology studies.

However, that feeling of repetition certainly crept back into my heart as I spent more time with this idea. As we approached the Lenten season together, I began to question where I was going, and I realized that I would need to take some time away from blogging to finish the semester of my theology studies and give full attention to a strong end-of-year for my students.

Having accomplished those two things, I sat down with my computer last week to dive back into this blog. I wrote a couple more entries on the Psalms, but it was difficult to get going.

I realized that I have a fire in my soul when it comes to so many things, but the structured look at the Psalms wasn’t allowing me to get there. So I took a couple days to contemplate and pray about it, and this morning I deleted the entries I wrote last week and planned to post next week. I think it’s time for another change of pace! …even if I’m not entirely sure, yet, what that will be.

So I am going to spend more time exploring my options today. I’m going to continue reading some of the resources I’ve been considering over the last couple days, and maybe I’ll write a couple drafts.

While I’m working, I would appreciate your prayers. I hope to find a way to really share all that I am learning with all of you. I want to be able to inspire you the way I have been so inspired. So, let’s pray together today, and I’ll share more details of my ideas tomorrow!

Thanks for still reading, even after a break!