Reconnecting

Hello friends. It has been quite a while since I’ve written, and I’ve missed this. I am excited about a return to our shared journey in faith, and I pray for the Lord’s guidance along the way.

I have been thinking about Advent as a good time to start writing again, but I got another inspiration today that I wanted to follow. So this message serves a dual purpose. I want to let you know that I plan to start writing again, at least weekly, starting next month. I also want to share some information about a program that am hoping to launch in my area very soon.

The program I want to share is from an organization called Endow. You can find out more about them at this link. Endow creates materials for Catholic women to form study groups who come together to learn more and grow in the faith. These groups meet weekly (or at some other frequency as they choose) to read and discuss various topics relevant to our faith in our lives. There is no homework; there are no reading assignments between meetings. Women just spend an hour or an hour and a half together reading carefully prepared materials and using discussion questions to delve deeper into the content.

I want to host an Endow group, but I don’t really have the space to do it in my home. So I have been pursuing other venues. I pitched it at my parish, hoping we could use some of the classroom space there, but the DRE felt that it would take away from some of the faith formation activities they are already trying to promote. So I have been looking for other venues.

I believe I have a lead on some space that I might be able to use, so I hope to write again soon announcing the start of my first 8-week Endow group study. Maybe some of you live in the Cincinnati area and would want to join us! I hope to begin in January.

In the meantime, today Endow is launching their Giving Thanks Campaign 2019. They ask us to share why we are thankful for the gift of Endow. I suppose it sounds strange for me to be thankful for Endow when I haven’t even begun my first group, but I am thankful for what I’ve gained so far.

I got my host packet last summer, so I have already read through the first study I plan to host. It is about the Letter to Women from St. Pope John Paul II. I had recently read that letter myself for a project in one of my theology classes, and I loved the way the Endow materials led me deeper into its meaning in my life. It is so exciting to share this study and have discussions with a group of women!

I have also been following Endow in several ways, and I get regular video messages from their Director of Digital Growth, Mallory Smyth. Her messages are always inspirational, and I am thankful to receive them.

I am also thankful for the hope in my heart that comes from my excited anticipation of what it will mean to get together with a group of Catholic women to share our faith and learn more about living it every day. Endow’s Executive Director, Katie Smith, writes, “When a woman fully understands her authentic feminine genius, the entire world is lifted up around her.”

Please pray for me, that I will be able to figure out the last few details that allow me to host an Endow group …and that I will actually find other women who are interested in joining the group! For those of you who can’t join me, you can bet I will be sharing highlights from our group with all of you here. Also, if you are not in the Cincinnati area but are interested in an Endow group, you can find one at their website.

I want to thank anyone who is actually reading this after I took such a long break from writing, and I hope to share a lot more with you very soon. Have a beautiful day today on this Feast of the Presentation of our Blessed Mother. May her example and guidance be a blessing for us all.

• If you would like to support Endow in their work to spread the mission of Catholic women, you can do so at this link.