Tag: Marcellino D’Ambrosio

Small Success: Getting Things Done Edition

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Small-Success-Thursday-400pxThursdays at CatholicMom.com begin with a look at the past week’s Small Successes!

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I’ve been inspired by my friend Lisa Lawmaster Hess and working on getting things a LITTLE more organized around here. It’s a slow process. I did figure out that the set of small rocking chairs behind my desk, while cute, were too much of a temptation for me. They’re toddler rockers–one for each of my kids–and 2 are so small that no one but a small child can sit in them. So…they became tables for my Desk Overflow.

too much stuff on couch
Shameful.

I took All The Stuff out of those chairs (and out from behind those chairs) and it pretty much covered the whole sofa.

So I moved an upholstered chair into the space where the rockers had been, because I know I won’t pile stuff onto that chair. Then I put away All The Stuff.

And my living room looks a lot nicer now.

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It’s time to get ready for Lent, and I’ve been working hard over at Cook and Count to load up all the meatless recipes I can find. You can find all of them right here:  Meatless Recipes at Cook and Count.

Grilled Veggie Burrito: recipe coming soon to Cook and Count!
Grilled Veggie Burrito: recipe coming soon to Cook and Count!

There are more to come, and as I post them, you can access them through this same link.

(AND I learned how to add a copyright line to my photos!)

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If you’re reading this through a link at CatholicMom.com, that’s because I successfully installed the link tool in the CatholicMom post. I’m in training right now to be the Substitute Blogmother during Sarah Reinhard’s upcoming maternity leave. (And she is super patient while she gets me up to speed on All The Things.) This was my very first linky-thing, and it worked! It worked!

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In other CatholicMom.com related news (AKA more shameless self-promotion), I have two posts about Lent that you might want to visit. Click on over!

Book review of 40 Days, 40 Ways

Tech Talk:  Lenten Inspiration from CRS Rice Bowl

Share your Small Successes at CatholicMom.com by joining the linkup in the bottom of today’s post. No blog? List yours in the comments box!

© 2015 Barb Szyszkiewicz

Book Review: 40 Days, 40 Ways by Marcellino D’Ambrosio

franciscanmom1 Comment

40 days 40 ways for featured image40 Days, 40 Ways: A New Look at Lent is not your typical Lenten devotional book. This chapter-a-day volume features a daily penitential or devotional practice. But that’s just the beginning of what Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio offers the reader each day. The meat of each chapter is a reflection or meditation that helps Catholics understand how to live the faith in concrete ways. Practices such as the Rosary, Eucharistic adoration and the Sign of the Cross are explained simply but thoroughly, giving the reader new appreciation and understanding. While that’s not the express purpose of the book, the sections on “why we do what we do” were among those I found the most fascinating.

Dr. D’Ambrosio’s book offers a combination of reflections on Scripture, examples from history, stories of his own experiences and plenty of concrete ideas for keeping Lent well. He shares his broad knowledge of history, Scripture and the Church in a manner that is encouraging, not intimidating; I found it engaging, fascinating and motivational.

Don’t let the day-by-day format of Dr. D’Ambrosio’s book discourage you. This book can be read day by day, but it’s just as useful to people like me who tend to fail at committing to daily devotional books. The beauty of this book is that it can be picked up at any point in Lent, and opened to just about any page, because each short chapter stands on its own.

The daily reflections challenge the reader to live out the faith through acts of charity, penance and prayer. More than a challenge, though, these reflections offer encouragement and hope. Dr. D’Ambrosio shows that penance does not have to involve feeling down on yourself; the actions suggested in this book will lift your spirits and transform your soul.

Learn more about Dr. D’Amrbosio at his website, The Crossroads Initative.

The fine print: I was provided with a preview copy of this book for the purposes of this review. I received no other compensation for the review, and the opinions expressed here are my own.