A Mother's Rule of Life
In comments on an earlier post Amy asked what I thought of this book by Holly Pierlot. I've decided I'm going to blog about it bit by bit.
One may wonder what a Protestant is doing reading a Catholic publication. ;) Mrs Pierlot grew up in a Catholic home... Went astray for a bit... Had a "born again" experience and started attending Protestant churches where she felt people understood her experience more... Then, at her mother's pleas she started attending Mass again... And found Jesus was there, too, and so she returned to her Catholic roots. I think Mrs Pierlot is well positioned to speak to the heart of all Christian women, be they Catholic or Protestant... And touch that heart profoundly.
I've always found Catholicism to be a comforting religion. Growing up my best friend was Catholic... We had fun comparing our Bibles and seeing which books hers had that mine didn't. I loved how her fiery Mexican grandmother, who lived with them and spoke only Spanish, had that gentleness that would come over her when she'd return from Mass, wearing her mantilla and clutching her rosary. I was confused at how all their Christmas presents would be under the tree for days before Christmas, how they'd go to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and come home and unwrap gifts before going to bed... I wondered why Santa didn't visit Catholic houses. ;) In her book Mrs. Pierlot mentions having questions about life that she couldn't find answers to in the Protestant church.. Questions I have... And she mentions finding those answers in the Catholic church. And that's what I love about the Catholic church... The Catechism holds tenets of faith that have been tried and tested over hundreds of years... So much of it based on solid Bible teaching. Everything is black and white. While in Protestant churches there seems to be so much division... So many people still seeking... So many people discovering "new" truths... And you read the Catechism and find they are OLD truths and I find that very comforting. It's comforting to realize that some profound revelation I have had about God and Christian living is not something of my own imagination... but something that many other people through history also knew.
It's not that I'm about to convert.. ;) My husband is decidedly Protestant and I have promised "wither thou goest, I will go" so I'm decidedly Protestant too. Though I have to admit, Steadfast has a Protestant colleague with a Catholic wife and we often joke "we could do that!" ;) The fact is there are some things in the Catholic church I can't wholly embrace. But yet, I feel that "kinship"... I identify with Catholic writers like Danielle Bean and Holly Pierlot... My heart recognizes theirs. But it also recognizes the hearts of Beth Moore and Elizabeth George. ;)
Anyway... In this book, Mrs Pierlot creates a guide for moms to create priorities in their lives. She focuses on the five P's... Prayer, Person, Partner, Parent, and Provider. Over the coming weeks I will blog my thoughts on each "P" -- they will probably be rambling as my thoughts usually are (as you see here) ;) And there will probably be random blogs/photos/quotes in between the P's... But I do intend to cover them all. While I was reading "A Mother's Rule of Life" I was also reading "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, "A Woman's High Calling" by Elizabeth George, and "Created to Be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl. (See Thing #1 in "5 Weird Things About Me") An amazing thing is that so many times I would read some truth in Mrs Pierlot's book that I had read, or would later read, in one of the other three books! It really made some things click for me, so don't be surprised if I draw pearls from those books, as well, while blogging on the first book. ;)
One may wonder what a Protestant is doing reading a Catholic publication. ;) Mrs Pierlot grew up in a Catholic home... Went astray for a bit... Had a "born again" experience and started attending Protestant churches where she felt people understood her experience more... Then, at her mother's pleas she started attending Mass again... And found Jesus was there, too, and so she returned to her Catholic roots. I think Mrs Pierlot is well positioned to speak to the heart of all Christian women, be they Catholic or Protestant... And touch that heart profoundly.
I've always found Catholicism to be a comforting religion. Growing up my best friend was Catholic... We had fun comparing our Bibles and seeing which books hers had that mine didn't. I loved how her fiery Mexican grandmother, who lived with them and spoke only Spanish, had that gentleness that would come over her when she'd return from Mass, wearing her mantilla and clutching her rosary. I was confused at how all their Christmas presents would be under the tree for days before Christmas, how they'd go to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and come home and unwrap gifts before going to bed... I wondered why Santa didn't visit Catholic houses. ;) In her book Mrs. Pierlot mentions having questions about life that she couldn't find answers to in the Protestant church.. Questions I have... And she mentions finding those answers in the Catholic church. And that's what I love about the Catholic church... The Catechism holds tenets of faith that have been tried and tested over hundreds of years... So much of it based on solid Bible teaching. Everything is black and white. While in Protestant churches there seems to be so much division... So many people still seeking... So many people discovering "new" truths... And you read the Catechism and find they are OLD truths and I find that very comforting. It's comforting to realize that some profound revelation I have had about God and Christian living is not something of my own imagination... but something that many other people through history also knew.
It's not that I'm about to convert.. ;) My husband is decidedly Protestant and I have promised "wither thou goest, I will go" so I'm decidedly Protestant too. Though I have to admit, Steadfast has a Protestant colleague with a Catholic wife and we often joke "we could do that!" ;) The fact is there are some things in the Catholic church I can't wholly embrace. But yet, I feel that "kinship"... I identify with Catholic writers like Danielle Bean and Holly Pierlot... My heart recognizes theirs. But it also recognizes the hearts of Beth Moore and Elizabeth George. ;)
Anyway... In this book, Mrs Pierlot creates a guide for moms to create priorities in their lives. She focuses on the five P's... Prayer, Person, Partner, Parent, and Provider. Over the coming weeks I will blog my thoughts on each "P" -- they will probably be rambling as my thoughts usually are (as you see here) ;) And there will probably be random blogs/photos/quotes in between the P's... But I do intend to cover them all. While I was reading "A Mother's Rule of Life" I was also reading "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, "A Woman's High Calling" by Elizabeth George, and "Created to Be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl. (See Thing #1 in "5 Weird Things About Me") An amazing thing is that so many times I would read some truth in Mrs Pierlot's book that I had read, or would later read, in one of the other three books! It really made some things click for me, so don't be surprised if I draw pearls from those books, as well, while blogging on the first book. ;)
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(we can all have the best of both worlds, no?)