"The STORY of a SOUL"

"We must become the change we want to see." Mahatma Gandhi

I've been quiet, lately, on Blogger...on Facebook...in email.

Not because I've been so busy that I don't have the time to interact with others through technology...don't we make time for the things that matter most to us?...but because I have been spending more time in solitude contemplating what matters most to me, and what changes need to occur in my life.

A talker and writer by nature, I'm inclined to make more noise than filter out that which doesn't need to be internalized.

So, over the past seven or eight months, I've been talking less, and listening more. 

Listening to the messages from the media...be it television, radio or Internet news....listening to messages from friends and acquaintances through blogs, Facebook, emails...listening to what my children have to say...and listening to messages from God through literature, prayer, and Mass.

Some of the messages are wonderful.  Family-oriented, they are positive and healthy for me, my spouse, and children.  They make me want to be a better wife and mother, daughter and sister...a better Catholic...a better caretaker of our Earth.

Others, though, have me second-guessing myself, drawing my attention away from what matters most during the day...God...my spouse...my children...our home.

One thing I know for certain, in order for me to feel a sense of peace about the direction that my family is headed, I need to be the change that I so badly want to see for my children.  That means less noise...more filtering!  That means internalizing the healthy stuff like prayer...solitude...nature.  

And don't those just go hand in hand?

This week, I thought that I might share with you a few of the titles of books that have had me so preoccupied of late!  Books that have made a profound impact on the way that I view God and my religion, my marriage, and parenting.  

Because in the end, these are the very most important things in my life.

"The STORY of a SOUL," The Autobiography of The Little Flower has been such a touching read.  It is hard to believe that this sweet girl entered the Carmelite convent of Lisieux (France) when she was only 15 years old!  From a very early age (childhood) she possessed a passionate love for our Lord and had an unusual depth of understanding of how to live a life for Christ, (not doing "great and wondrous deeds", but rather doing "little things with great love").

St. Therese's autobiography has had a profound effect on my own life, confirming for me that what I do day to day (mothering) can and does make a difference in the world.