St. Theresa of Avila famously said, “From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us!” and “A sad nun is a bad nun!” Like Pope Francis today, she knew that love and joy are are how we are called to be Jesus in the world, and that a smile is the face of that joy. I look to St. Theresa of Avila as a friend and a mentor, someone whose foibles mirror mine, who is an example of how to handle our earthly adversities with grace and humor. Not one of those achingly pious saints, who from their earliest years devoted their life to God without reservation, Theresa entered the convent as a teenager mainly because her father couldn’t handle her willful behavior, yet she became a Doctor of the Church. She went years without a prayer life, but ultimately formed such a natural relationship with God that she is an example of prayer as an honest, even bold, conversation with Jesus. So she’s the friend who can relate to my “three-steps-forward-two-steps-back” faith journey, who can guide me when I start making a mental grocery list during prayer time. And she shows me it’s okay to crack a joke now and then, even with God. St. Theresa didn’t take herself or this world too seriously, brushing off the little hardships of life with a sense of humor. One day, Theresa was riding a donkey, visiting some of the monasteries she founded. It had been raining, and the donkey lost it’s footing in the soft earth. Theresa fell to the ground, covered with mud. Instead of complaining or cursing, she looked to the sky and quipped, “If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you don’t have many!” Theresa had a connection to God that enabled her to joke with Him, just as if it were a friend who had accidentally knocked her in the mud. She didn’t get angry with the man leading the donkey or worry about where she’d find a dry cleaner who was good with habits this far out in the country. Theresa just laughed, an attitude which I’m sure brought joy and relief to her traveling partners. She was grounded (literally!) in the knowledge that “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth will seem to be no more than one night in an inconvenient hotel.” So when I “fall in the mud”—when the dog shreds my favorite shoes, when my son gets a ticket that just “isn’t his fault” or when the air conditioner gives out in the dead of August—I pray my friend St. Theresa of Avila will remind me to brush off my irritation and put my focus on God. And to do it with a laugh. Susan is the mother emeritus of three grown sons and is an avid bridge player, knitter and, like Theresa, has been known to get in trouble with a joke now and then. She blogs with her best friend Anne, at yallneedjesusblog.com.

Let’s get to know each other a bit more, as sisters in Christ. Feel free to share your answers to these questions in on our Instagram post and/or your own Instagram post, tagging #BISsisterhood. MaryRuth Hackett is a full-time wife and mother doing her best to teach her four children to love God and country. She puts her PhD to use at her blog, Parenting with Peer Review, where she weaves together practical family life, research on child development, and Catholic teaching to help mothers and fathers embrace their vocations at home and excel in parenting. Are you a convert to Catholicism? How did that happen? Yes. How much space do I get? I married a cradle Catholic who was sort of 'potlucky' about his faith. I was a staunch Protestant. We popped back and forth between the two churches while dating and for the first five years of our marriage. And then I had a miscarriage. I found amazing solace in the Church's teaching on life and saw a priest for guidance. He really embodied In persona Christi and I found myself wanting to know about The Faith and why we weren't still One Church. This one priest really helped me connect with Jesus in such a meaningful way I knew that there was something special in the Catholic faith that I had been missing. A lot of people have left the church because of personal hardship or because of the way a priest treated them; I had just the opposite experience. The loss of my baby Lily, and the treatment I received from this Priest really brought me to the faith. I did the intellectual exercises then and found that academically I couldn't argue with what my heart was already telling me and I converted a few years later. What is your favorite religious text or book? I love The Interior Castle by St. Theresa of Avila. Do you have a special Saint that you feel a strong connection to? How so? St. Theresa of Avila. Which virtue do you find yourself working on the most throughout your day? Patience. What part of your walk with Christ is the biggest struggle? Balancing everything. I want to do more and be more for and with Him, and I have a hard time seeing that I AM serving Him in my little tasks each day. When I do have time to set apart for Him I often choose to do other things anyway, so really I use busyness as an excuse for not walking with Him. The other part of it is that I want Him to walk with me and really I need to surrender and walk with Him. What keeps you Catholic? It is a daily choice to love and serve and obey. The promise of eternal happiness with HIM is what helps me with that choice. Do you have a motto / quote / saying you live by? "...Not to think too much and to do what ever awakens you to love". (I tend to over-think things.) What do you find yourself continually praying for? Strength. Daily life is just exhausting! How do you "walk the walk"? Service. I try to give as much to our parish as I can (before it starts taking away from my commitments at home). How does Christ call you to serve - is it prayer/contemplation/acts of service, etc.? Acts of service is a biggie with me! Your turn! Answer this on Instagram or in the comments:

Another simple beauty from Tara of Frameworthy Designs. "Seek what is above." All too often I am seeking worldly success and pleasure. But we are reminded today to just seek what is above. You can download the wallpaper for free below! Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

Lately, I’ve been fixating on a phrase: perfectly imperfect. As someone with a type B personality, I suppose this confirms for me that I do not need to be perfect. It also resonates deeply as I know God alone to be perfect, and since I am only a reflection of that perfection, the expectation for me to be flawless is simply not there. In many ways it takes the pressure off. Yet, we are barraged with images of perfection: houses, yards, wardrobes, vacations, complexions, menus, families; you name it. It is enough to make me, a believer in my own imperfection, wonder if perhaps I could be capable of this kind of perfection. So when I read that Blessed Is She is featuring ‘extraordinary women for ordinary time,’ I was hooked. I have helped to facilitate a women’s discussion group for several years now and each year we brainstorm a list of topic suggestions to explore. Every year the women express a deep desire to discuss, learn from and in most cases, discover extraordinary, contemporary women. We have tomes of stories, legend and history about women who have gone before us, but to whom do we look now? Mustn’t we acknowledge this extra-ordinariness as a possibility in our midst, if we ourselves hope to live extraordinary lives? Isn’t that what the Reign of God means? As a facilitator of this group and a mother, I believe this is essential! There is immense value in knowing and learning from the Saints and the Martyrs and I love that rich history. But sometimes I fear that by looking back at the extraordinary, we are ignoring the holy women of our own time. The truth is, they are everywhere. Thankfully we are wholly attached, a part of and in need of one another in this communion of saints as a witness to the other-worldly that we believe we are bound for: The extra-ordinary. We all are blessed to know an extraordinary woman (or several). Today rather than presenting you with my image of the extraordinary, I present to you a challenge: Name one ‘ordinary’ woman in your life who points to the extraordinary. Write her a letter. Call her on the phone. Send her flowers. Tell your friends, spouse or children how her life glorifies God. Thank her for reminding you of the extraordinary…because if you don’t tell her, who will?

Let’s get to know each other a bit more, as sisters in Christ. Feel free to share your answers to these questions in on our Instagram post and/or your own Instagram post, tagging #BISsisterhood. Christy Isinger is the mom to five lovely, loud children living in the Canadian wilds. A cradle Catholic with a deep love of papal encyclicals, G.K. Chesterton, and British TV, she blogs frivolously at Fountains of Home in between homeschooling, reading books, and neglecting housework. What part of your walk with Christ is the biggest struggle? I think that trust is probably my biggest struggle, because so much really comes down to trusting in God. It's a lifelong learning experience to try to let go of my own will, and accept Christ's. It comes up in so many different ways and can be extremely difficult, or just mildly there, but it's always something I struggle with. What keeps you Catholic? I think that I stay Catholic because I know that there is no where else to go for the Truth. It's difficult, it's demanding, it's really unpopular, but I can't turn away from the beauty of the Church. I love that there is 2000 years of tradition, of saints who gave their lives to the same cause, of Christ acting in human history. I love being connected to the Church that transcends our time and place. To know Christ is in the Eucharist is something that I can't turn away from no matter how tough things get. What do you find yourself continually praying for? Patience, peace, and forgiveness. On repeat. Thanks Jesus! How do you "walk the walk"? There are so many ways. I think a lot of daily life requires our lives to look different to the mainstream culture. Definitely being open to life in my marriage. It's obvious because I've got 5 kids under the age of 8 and get the questions A LOT. But also in our political and social opinions, it seems the political discussion in our country becomes further separated from morality and Catholic teaching, so sometimes even saying you disagree with something is taking a big stance that people aren't used to, but can open up communication on why the Church teaches what she does. Your turn! Answer this on Instagram or in the comments:

When I was in eighth grade, my mom told me, “You don’t choose your confirmation saint—it chooses you.” I waved her advice off like any fourteen-year-old, and had my heart set on St. Maria Goretti (also an amazing young woman). That is, until I picked up Lay Siege to Heaven by Louis de Wohl—a detailed biography of one of the female Doctors of the Church—St. Catherine of Siena. St. Catherine of Siena was a saint I knew I should admire, but one that I didn’t think I related to. She was the nun who told the Pope where to live, right? The one who said to “be who God made you to be and you will set the world on fire?” Yeah, that’s cool. Retweet. What I didn’t know—and what we women need to learn from St. Catherine—is that fire defined this woman’s whole life. Not only was she short, spunky, and told the Pope how it was—she also told God exactly how she felt. Her friends often reported her prayer to be hours of her “storming Heaven” for her intentions—reminding God of His promises. She never let God off the hook—He was her spouse, after all. What brutal, beautiful honesty. In our world today, fire is either misused or put out before it has the chance to grow. We encourage women to be tough, to strive to be like men and place their uniquely feminine gifts aside; or, we allow ourselves to be beaten into a quiet submission and never speak out of fear or shame. St. Catherine did neither. She saw the beauty in her feistiness, in her powerful voice, and allowed God to harness it and unleash it on the world when He saw fit. Not only did St. Catherine shock the world with her courage and honesty—she also humbled herself before God and allowed Him to lead her, no matter the cost—submitting to His Divine Will. She saw crisis in our Church during a massive schism, and decided to do something about it. Yes, she stood before the Pope himself and told him what’s what in a time where women hardly spoke outside of their households, let alone spoke to the Pope himself in the bluntest of fashions. For a young woman with a reckless personality like myself, St. Catherine was a breath of fresh air. Finally, someone who struggled with those same things I did and overcame them with the help of grace. Finally, a woman who was fiery and blunt and sassy—yet somehow still ended up being a saint. I always felt so discouraged by reading about the St. Thereses and the St. Gianna Mollas and the Blessed Mother Teresas—while they were women I greatly admired and could learn from, I never felt like them. St. Catherine became not only my confirmation saint, but my inspiration, my friend, and my example of how to be a spunky gal for the Lord. I am sure she saw my own fire that I ignore and thought I should be ashamed of and decided to pluck me out of the crowd and pray that those gifts are not wasted. She taught me to storm Heaven and never stop believing in an all-powerful God who can do the biggest of things in the smallest of people, that fire is not a gift to ignore, and that any woman—regardless of looks, stature, vocation, or personality—can become one of the greatest saints the world has ever known. She taught me to raise those fists, to speak out of turn when God says so, and to never let the evil of the world silence you. She didn’t just believe in the fire that was the Holy Spirit—she embodied it. She let it consume her and she breathed it into the world. I pray that I am given the courage to do the same. St. Catherine, pray for us. "You are a fire always burning but never consuming; you are a fire consuming in your heat all the soul's selfish love; you are a fire lifting all chill and giving light.” -St. Catherine of Siena Rachael Gieger lives in the beautiful Colorado and can usually be found in hole-in-the-wall coffee shops drinking really good chai lattes. A believer that flower crowns can be worn in every season, she finds peace while sprawled in the adoration chapel at her parish or reflecting on the works of Henri Nouwen, C.S. Lewis, and Fulton Sheen.

Let’s get to know each other a bit more, as sisters in Christ. Feel free to share your answers to these questions in on our Instagram post and/or your own Instagram post, tagging #BISsisterhood. Megan Hjelmsted is a wife, mom, writer, and former soldier whose real passion is equal parts faith and chocolate. She’s currently getting used to the joys of stay-at-home-motherhood and the great outdoors near Denver. She writes often in her head, promptly forgets most of it, and occasionally jots down life lessons and little humors at Positively Imperfect. What is your favorite religious text or book? Story of a Soul, St. Thérèse. So simple yet spiritually rich! Do you have a special Saint that you feel a strong connection to? How so? St. Jude is my special buddy. At some point in college I acquired a St. Jude prayer card (which I've long since memorized!) and every night I started asking St. Jude to pray for my now-husband. I credit St. Jude with his conversion, which happened within the year. St. Jude remained my "prayer buddy" in heaven after that, but I sought his prayers especially after multiple pregnancy losses and receiving a fertility-limiting diagnosis. Soon after, I learned I was expecting again and our youngest was subsequently due AND born on St. Jude's feast day! So, St. Jude gets a lot of props around here. Which virtue do you find yourself working on the most throughout your day? Humility - so tough. I'm always, always working on seeking God's approval before others and not comparing myself to others! What part of your walk with Christ is the biggest struggle? I'm always reaching out to others by default, or wanting others to experience God's loving power, so it's hard sometimes to stop and take a good look at myself, and ask Jesus what he wants to do for me. Or reflect on how much he loves me. I know objectively that it's true, but it takes slowing down and intentionally opening my heart over and over to really nourish that personal relationship--which ultimately helps me grow the most. And in turn I am able to better share his love through my own personal experience. What keeps you Catholic? Sheer grace! All the grace from all the sacraments, no doubt, but I have always been especially drawn to the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist during communion or adoration. I can actually feel His presence in the room and my heart cannot help but respond to it and keep returning to it. Do you have a motto / quote / saying you live by? Matthew 6:34 - Do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow has enough worries for itself. What do you find yourself continually praying for? All those in my life facing various struggles and the souls of loved ones. Also more abandonment to God's will! How do you "walk the walk"? Lots of grace! Staying close to Jesus on the Eucharist through mass or stopping by the church and sitting in front of the tabernacle for a few minutes daily helps tremendously in keeping my mindset in the right place. I also love reading the devotions from all my Blessed is She sisters, and listening to EWTN radio during all the hours I play chauffeur for my kids' activities is a God-send; so many of the programs really feed my soul. How does Christ call you to serve - is it prayer/contemplation/acts of service, etc.? I feel God made me to connect with and through others. I've worked with our church youth group and recently started helping run a moms group. I'm a helper by nature; I love to share with others and "invite them in." I was the new shy kid once upon a time, so it's always on my heart to help everyone find a place, whether it's the youth group, moms group, or just at mass. Of course, it can be intimidating and awkward sometimes to walk up to someone I've never met, but responding to God's promptings to welcome and connect with others has also led to some of the best fruits--wonderful new friendships and the whole parish being blessed by others sharing their gifts! Your turn! Answer this on Instagram or in the comments:

I think for many of us, worry and anxiety infiltrate our lives. We worry about our children or the paper that is due next week. We worry about all the chores around the house and that the bills will be paid. Then, there is so much tragedy in our world. We have anxiety over our safety and the safety of our loved ones. We fear what the future will look like. But in today's gospel, Jesus reminds us that there is need of only one thing! Today's wallpaper by Erica of Be A Heart can be put on your phone or desktop to remind you daily that our prayer life with Christ is the answer to the worry and anxiety of our lives. You can download them both for free below! Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

St. Gianna Beretta Molla is my homegirl. As a woman quickly approaching her late 20s who is Catholic, called to marriage, and gasp! still single, I find the fact that she met her husband later in life and married him at the ripe “old” age of 33 oddly comforting. And she was days away from 34. In 1955! She was probably harassed by well-intentioned family and friends much sooner and more persistently than I have been! But St. Gianna is my homegirl not for fact that she married older. Saints are forged in trial, and her faithful persistence made her a saint. Whenever God presented her a trial, she answered, “Whatever God wants.” Gianna Beretta was born in late 1922, the tenth of thirteen children. Only nine survived to adulthood. With any suffering, especially the death of a loved one, it is easy to blame God and turn away from Him. Like many health care providers I know, deaths early in life tend to drive our passion to heal others. A cousin dying of leukemia most poignantly remains a primary reason I became a nurse, and I bet her siblings’ deaths were part of Gianna’s motivation to become a doctor. Surely, Gianna suffered when her siblings died so young. Yet Gianna answered, “Whatever God wants.” After graduating medical school, Gianna wanted to join her brother Alberto in Brazil. A missionary priest, he established a hospital, and Gianna greatly desired to assist the women with her gynecology background. But Gianna’s chronic health issues kept her home in Italy. Struggling with my own diagnosis of a chronic gynecologic health issue, I have wept bitterly for the children I might not be able to have. Surely, Gianna wept as well over the loss of her missionary life abroad. Yet, when Gianna could not join Alberto in Brazil, she answered, “Whatever God wants.” Gianna established a clinic in Mesero, outside of Milan. She viewed her work as a physician to the mothers, babies, elderly, and poor she served to be her own “mission.” She considered religious life but felt called to marriage. Instead of fixating on her vocational state, Gianna worked diligently, caring for her patients as the Divine Physician cares for His children. I work hard to view my job as an ER nurse as God’s mission for me, but sometimes I believe that lie that my life has no purpose until I fulfill my vocation to marriage. Surely, Gianna must have ached to fulfill her vocation to marriage. Yet, she poured herself into her mission as a doctor and also served in Catholic Action and other organizations. In her enduring single state, Gianna answered, “Whatever God wants.” Gianna met her future husband Pietro Molla late 1954, and they married in September 1955. They quickly had three children: Pierluigi in 1956, Mariolina in 1957, and Laura in 1959. Helping my sister and brother-in-law take care of their two boys who are less than two years apart, I am sometimes frightened to be so open to life! Surely, Gianna must have been overwhelmed at the many changes in her life. Yet, she was a very happy wife and mother. In her family life, Gianna answered, “Whatever God wants.” After her third child, Gianna suffered two miscarriages and was pregnant once again in 1961. In the second month of her pregnancy, her doctors found a fibroma on her uterus that needed to be removed. Her doctors offered her an abortion and fibroma removal that would ensure her ability to become pregnant again, a hysterectomy, and removing only the fibroma. According to the principle of double effect and Catholic teaching, Gianna could have licitly select for her doctors to remove her uterus which included the fibroma and her unborn child. But Gianna elect for only the fibroma removal, saying her child’s life was more important that her own. When wrestling with ethical issues at work or moral issues in my personal life, I often look for the easiest solution. Surely, Gianna with her background in gynecology knew the risks of carrying her child to term. Yet, Gianna answered, “Whatever God wants.” Gianna was able to carry her daughter to term and gave birth to her via C-section on Holy Saturday, 1962. Gianna Emanuela was born healthy, but Gianna continued to have severe pain after the surgery. She developed an infection in her abdomen and died seven days after giving birth at age 39. Surely, Gianna gave her life for her child, modeling how Christ died for His children. In the last moments of her life, Gianna answered, “Whatever God wants.” St. Gianna was canonized in May, 2004, with her 91-year-old husband Pietro and children present. Gianna Emanuela is now a doctor herself, specializing in the care of the elderly As God allows various trials in my life, I tend to answer, “But this isn’t what I want.” Yet, St. Gianna and her example is teaching me to say, “Whatever God wants.” Through her intersession, I am teaching to embrace each trial, each difficulty, each cross with confident love, saying with imperfect trust, “Whatever You want, God.” [bctt tweet="Whatever You want, God."] Marissa is a registered nurse in her mid-twenties who works in a busy Emergency Department in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a cradle Catholic who marvels at how the Good Lord has been cradling her throughout her life.

Let’s get to know each other a bit more, as sisters in Christ. Feel free to share your answers to these questions in on our Instagram post and/or your own Instagram post, tagging #BISsisterhood. Laura Kelly Fanucci is a writer and mother to three little boys who never stop talking. She works part-time from home for the Collegeville Institute at Saint John’s University and just published Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting. Laura and her husband live in the suburban wilds of Minnesota and you can find her at Mothering Spirit, talking about parenting as a spiritual practice. What is your favorite religious text or book? The Psalms. It's all in there: joy, anger, hope, despair, fear, love, praise, and lament. The Psalms remind me that God wants - and can handle - the whole of our lives. And I love all the images of God in the Psalms: mother, father, shepherd, midwife, healer, rock, redeemer, creator, refuge... Do you have a special Saint that you feel a strong connection to? How so? Lately I can't stop thinking about Mary Magdalene - what it meant to be the apostles to the apostles and one of the women to whom it was given to see the Resurrected Christ first and proclaim him to the world. What does it mean to each of us as women to be called to share Christ's good news - especially in a world that will misunderstand us as much as it misunderstood her? Which virtue do you find yourself working on the most throughout your day? Patience. Parenting is a refining fire, but wow, do I need my selfishness burned off each new morning. What part of your walk with Christ is the biggest struggle? Keeping hope. Trusting that resurrection is real and that God will always bring light from darkness. What keeps you Catholic? The Eucharist. The community of the Church. Scripture. Sacraments. Do you have a motto / quote / saying you live by? I always go back to the wisdom of Blessed Mother Teresa: "Let nothing so fill you with sorrow that you forget the joy of Christ risen." What do you find yourself continually praying for? Couples experiencing infertility, miscarriage, or the loss of a child. People with broken hearts. Reconciliation within families. Those living in poverty. How do you "walk the walk"? One stumbling step at a time. Trying to teach my kids that forgiveness is one of the biggest parts of the Christian life - so it's okay if we keep messing up and having to ask each other for forgiveness. How does Christ call you to serve - is it prayer/contemplation/acts of service, etc.? I think through writing as prayer. I feel tugged towards a more contemplative view of the world: to try and see with new eyes all the small or surprising moments of grace that the world overlooks. And to share them with the ones who are hungry to hear that their lives are holy, too. Your turn! Answer this on Instagram or in the comments:

In today's gospel, a scholar asks how to gain eternal life. Jesus turns the question back to him, asking what the law says. The scholar replies, ""You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27) Katrina of Hatch Prints designed this beautifully for us today so that we can always remember that all we must do is LOVE to gain eternal life. You can download for your phone and computer below! Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

We are so happy to have you here. In our Facebook groups and Twitter chats. At Blessed Brunches and the Beauty From Ashes Retreat. No matter where we come together, the community is at the heart of everything Blessed Is She does. You - each and every one of you - are the extraordinary women whose prayers and love keep our community alive and vibrant. In that spirit, we have a new membership offering to give women new ways to connect with each other and the support that our ministry offers through a monthly workshop series. Members get access to the monthly workshops as well as get the Lent/Advent journals auto-shipped to their door. You can learn more here about our membership launch today. Each of the women in our community is truly extraordinary, and the new membership offers a new way for us to support each other on this journey with Christ every day.

In today's gospel Luke says, "Peace to this household," (Luke 10:5) Lauren from When Beauty Met Truth. And even though this cute, cute house looks so peaceful in and of itself, God tells us that there is peace for all of our homes and those who live in them. How do you cultivate peace in your house? You can download this for your phone and computer below! Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

How lucky are we to get to have another beautiful piece by Tara of Frameworthy Designs! Today's second reading says, "we were called for freedom," Galations 5:13 You can download it for your phone and computer below!Phone wallpaper Desktop wallpaper

This post originally appeared on The Heart's Overflow. I have a list. It's a list of names. Other mothers that I pray for. I update my list every month, or as the need arises. New names get added, other names move to different categories. My list has categories. Pregnant women, that's one category. But not just pregnant women. Women pregnant for the first time. Women pregnant for the seventh time. Women who continue to work and run errands and exercise as if nothing has changed, and women who spend 9 months curled up on their couches and vomiting into their toilets. Women who wanted to be pregnant, desired it, dreamed of it, prayed for it for months, sometimes years. And woman for whom a new life is an unexpected shock, joy is clouded by fear and stress, another mouth to feed, another body to cloth. Grace and peace and good health, O Lord. The babies keep coming, the months tick by, and the names in this category come and go. Then there are women who want to be pregnant, but aren't. Women who long to hold a baby of their own for the first time, and women who's babies are grown, and long for one more. Please God, just one more. Women who are in and out of doctors appointments, trying different diets, supplements, and medications, and each month brings another disappointment. This category, unfortunately, doesn't change as much. There are other categories besides these: working moms and stay at home moms. Moms who's husbands travel a lot, or are in school, like mine, and do a lot of solo parenting, and single moms who bear the weight of parenting alone. There are moms finishing school, moms attempting to home school. There are moms sitting with their children in doctors offices and therapy appointments, turning their worlds upside down for a child with special needs or health complications. And there are moms suffering through their own poor health, each day they rise above it and care for their families. Lord, hear our prayer. There is a category for when the unthinkable happens; mothers holding their children's hands in hospital rooms. feeling the helplessness that comes with watching a child suffer. Lord, show us your mercy and love. And there are mothers saying goodbye to their children and entrusting them to the arms of Jesus. And grant us your salvation. When I look at my list of names I am reminded that I am not in this motherhood thing all by myself. I am reminded that when I have hard day, or week, someone else is too, and I can offer my own trials up for them. I am reminded that there are other women praying for me. When I look at my list of names I am reminded that motherhood comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and that there is no room for me cast judgments or comparisons. Because it's hard. This motherhood thing is really hard, and we are all trying our best for our families. When I look at my list of names, I am reminded that what every mother needs and deserves is compassion, understanding, a listening ear, and a praying heart. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love   Anna is married to her best friend and mother to one miracle baby boy. She teaches piano and violin lessons as a side gig to being a full time stay-at-home mom along with gardening and knitting. As an adult convert to Catholicism, she continues to find new reasons to love the Catholic faith. She is proud to call Saint Paul home, and can be found blogging at The Heart’s Overflow. WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR PRAYER? Get ready to be radically changed by the Lord and His presence. Be drawn into intimacy with the Lord by way of weekly videos, a community within the Blessed is She app, and invitations into reading scripture in a whole new way. BEGIN THE WELL: ABIDE

This post originally appeared on Blessed Are The Feet. I need a qualifying clause before I begin this post: This is a post about sacrificial love in marriage. It’s a post I want to write because I think it is worthwhile. However, I am terrified to write it because I know my husband will likely read it and laugh his head off at what I am about to tell you that I am learning about marriage. Because my skills at actually putting this into practice are less than stellar. Thus the need to learn. So listen, I’m going to say things about marriage. Good, solid, helpful things. And then I am going to try to do them better than I do them now. And you are going to read them and not think I know all about what I am doing in this whole marriage thing and that I have it all together. Okay? Good. Now that that’s settled, let’s continue. When we went to Assisi for the weekend during our time in Rome in December, I was excited about many things. I mean, did you even just hear what I sad? I was IN ROME. And spending the weekend IN ASSISI. With the man that I love. ALONE. In a place where there’s CAPPUCINO and GELATO. And St. Francis too! So much good stuff. The one thing that I was not really looking forward to (not that I had negative emotions about it, just that I wasn’t particularly longing for it) was the fact that Assisi is not only the birth and resting place of St. Francis, but also of St. Clare. I have never had much of a relationship with St. Clare the way I do with many other saints. I’ve sort of always felt that Clare was the introvert to Catherine of Siena’s extrovert and I was squarely on the Catherine side of the spectrum. Of course, I respect her holiness and her role as a saint. Clare was just never my saint, you know? And then we went to Assisi. And St. Clare determined that she most decidedly WAS my saint and got all bossy and up in the business of my marriage. I tried to be all, “What can you possibly know about this, you are a clositered nun?” But then she was, “Beatific vision, babe.” And I liked her sass. No, really, it was much quieter and gentle than that, because St. Clare, but there was something about that time away with my husband and the example of the way Clare loved Francis that bound itself to my heart and has yet to let me go. It was one of the reasons behind my Franciscan reading plan for the year. And one of the reasons I am choosing the word “present” for this year. And it’s a constant mental dialogue in my head these days as I consider the way I relate to my husband. Clare, the cloistered nun, is schooling me on the heart of marital love, which is a sacrificial self-gift that wills the good of the other (my dear husband) and desires us to be united in that love. Clare’s love for Francis was not some celibate romantic love. It was an altogether different kind of love than the one I share with my husband. But if it was anything, it was true and it was truly sacrficial. And in that, there are many lessons for me to learn. The first lesson St. Clare is teaching me is to relish the chance to give and receive physical affection to my husband. Don’t freak out. I am not about to turn Clare and Francis’ relationship into some hippie love fest. But let’s talk about this. One of the first sites relating to Clare’s life I laid eyes on was the small window in San Damiano where she greeted visitors. It was also, a sign informed us, the window through which she was able to pay her final respects to Francis after his death. She leaned through to kiss his hands and feet it said. I was captivated by what that moment must have meant for Clare. She loved Francis in a way I will never fully understand. In life, their vows, and their own commitment to practice those vows in their most extreme form, likely mean that there was very little physical contact between Clare and Francis, even what there would have been between normal friends who happened to be religious. But in death, Clare was finally able to touch Francis’ body and give physical witness to her love for him by venerating his hands and feet which bore the wounds of Christ. In that contact with Francis, she touched both him and her Lord. And I am quite sure she felt immense, intense gratitude for the opportunity, albeit stung with sorrow and grief. I, on the other hand, can share a physical embrace that can take multiple forms as I please with my husband. And often, I do not appreciate the beauty of that aspect of married life–being able to drape my arm over his side at night because I simply want to know someone is there. Being able to lay my head on his shoulder when I am tired or sad or vulnerable. Being able to walk down the street holding his hand. And, yes, being able to share the intimate embrace of marital love. Too often, I take our physical relationship for granted, or even resent feeling obliged to make time and space for that affection when I am busy or tired or simply wanting time alone. These days, however, I think of the gift Clare made of herself to Francis when she cloistered herself away so that she could belong to all Franciscans as mother and sister, and to the Franciscan movement as foundress. In doing so, she also left a wall of distance between her and Francis that was a great sacrifice. And when in death, she could once again embrace him, however briefly, I can only imagine the bittersweetness of that poignant moment and how she must have held it close to her heart until they were reunited again in heaven. If only I could take a bit of that spirit and infuse it into my daily physical interactions with my husband, how much sweetness might I find in the privilege of the touches of married love? I don’t know quite yet, but I am learning. Clare is a willing teacher. The second lesson St. Clare is teaching me is to appreciate where this man has led me. When we had made our way through the spaces of San Damiano, seeing where Clare slept and died, where she sat to eat and performed a few miracles too, we stopped for a moment to rest in the courtyard. Just over the top of the wall of the cloister peaked the tops of the mountains of Umbria. The blue skies clear and crisp and the rolling beauty of the place just tickling the tips of the horizon above the wall. I realized that every day as she walked the grounds of her cloister, Clare had the opportunity to look back at what she had left behind there in the rolling hills of Umbria. The family, the freedom, the comfort of the life she had once known, all peered at her over the wall and invited her back, or at least invited her to brood sadness, loneliness and resentment for what she no longer had. And all that she no longer had, she had left behind because she had chosen to follow Francis on this grand faith adventure he was leading. The comparison is not lost on me. Here, I am far away from so many places and people I love, following the man I love most of all on this grand missionary adventure. From what we know about the level of holiness that Clare reached there in the little cloister of San Damiano, I’m guessing she didn’t let the beckoning hills draw her along the winding spiral from the slight sadness that is the cost of sacrifice to deep sadness, bitterness and resentment. I think Clare cultivated an appreciation for the life she got to lead because Francis had run out to live the gospel as an adventure. So these days, I’m finding more contentment in being where I am. When sadness rears its head for the missing of all I’ve left behind to follow the man I love on this grand adventure in faith, I let it come and then blow away on the breezes of a tropical sky. When he gets a little more adventure than me because my life is now tied to the women we serve out of our home, it is a little like a “cloister moment”, and dear St. Clare, she keeps sidling up beside me graciously and showing me how to walk it well. I am learning to love the life this man’s spiritual adventure has purchased for me in the hard sacrifice of leadership, in familiar ways and in new ways and even in its hard moments. And in doing so, I am learning to love this man the same, in both the familiar and the ever new of our sacramental love, in the together adventure and the alone lonely. I am not over my tendency to let my sadness explode as blame on his shoulders when it collides with the stress of this life, but I am learning not to. And St. Clare is a gracious and patient teacher. The third lesson St. Clare is teaching me is that smallest opportunity to serve this man is a worthwhile endeavor to show my love. At the top of the Basilica of St. Clare, there is a room full of glass cases that hold artifacts from the lives of Francis and Clare and the first Franciscans. A beautiful set of intricately embriodered vestments that Clare made in her quiet moments of free time. And the small shoe she sewed together from rough leather and thick thread to cover Francis’ foot when the wounds of the stigmata made it impossible for him to continue to walk barefoot as his rule prescribed. And a small silver box containing the locks of her shorn hair, the ultimate sign of her commitment to Francis and the life she dedicated to full service of him and his brothers. I think about what it must have been like for Clare every time news reached her that Francis had a need that she could use her skills to fill. The love with which she must have sewn that shoe knowing that she could aid Francis in bearing the cross Jesus had offered him. The self-sacrificial love of her hair, cut off as an offering of her life to his vision. The motherly tenderness with which she made garments and clothes for him and the brothers. I bet Clare’s heart leapt every time word reached San Damiano that Francis had a specific task he needed her to perform–a tangible way she could show her love for him. I have those same chances every single day. So many small requests from my husband to serve him in some small way. I can choose to fulfill those requests in joy, grateful for the opportunity to help the man I love in a tangible way, or I can fulfill them begrudgingly, annoyed at the disruption of my own activity or being asked to do something he could do for himself. I am learning to stop and offer a little prayer of gratitude before every small act of service I am asked to offer my husband. When I close my eyes to offer that prayer, I always see that sewn shoe and the locks of Clare’s hair. And I feel her invitation to learn to find joy in the daily sacrifices of love, in the tenderness of the ways I get to serve this man I love, and the unity of spirit and purpose we can achieve when I see his needs as my own and meeting them as a good I do for both of us. I still huff a good bit. But I am learning not to. Because Clare is teaching me. And she is a pretty good marriage mentor, this saint who lived the life of a cloistered nun. I am glad she picked me when I thought she was not for me. And I am grateful she’s all up in my business these days. St. Clare, pray for me. Colleen Mitchell is wife to Greg and mother to five amazing sons here on earth and five precious little ones in heaven. In 2011, She and her husband serve in Costa Rica where they run the St. Francis Emmaus Center, a ministry that welcomes indigenous mothers into their home. She works out what it means to love Jesus and live the Gospel as an adventure at her blogBlessed Are the Feet.

Let’s get to know each other a bit more, as sisters in Christ. Feel free to share your answers to these questions in on our Instagram post and/or your own Instagram post, tagging #BISsisterhood. Joan Geiger is a newlywed who works full-time as a Registered Dietitian. In her spare time she enjoys going on random adventures with her husband, reading her favorite blogs, writing music, and drinking coffee. She also blogs at Everything is Yours. What is your favorite religious text or book? One of my favorite books is one that I actually just read for the first time, My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir by Colleen Carroll Campbell. I was assigned to read the first three chapters of it for a women's group that I belong to, and after getting to the third chapter and being "hooked" on the book, I just kept reading and loved it! I'd highly recommend this book which highlights the lives of various saints and shares how they can accompany us on our life's journeys. How do you "walk the walk"? I try to "walk the walk" by treating others with respect and compassion. Being a dietitian, I am presented with this opportunity on a daily basis as I encounter many people and try to treat them with kindness from the minute I say hello. When at home or with family, I do my best at trying (key word is trying!) to be as loving as I can, and to get in my regular prayer time in the morning, and journaling/prayer before bed. How does Christ call you to serve - is it prayer/contemplation/acts of service, etc.? I feel that Christ calls me to serve through acts of service. Within the past year my husband and I have been able to get more involved with our parish's EDGE program on Wednesday nights. Though it's only an hour of our time each week, it's been really rewarding getting to know the youth in our small groups and to see them grow and transform over the school year. We also have felt a calling to become more involved in a newer ministry at our parish, Sposi Novelli, which is targeted toward newlywed couples. We have really enjoyed getting to know other married couples and being a part of a community that is growing! Your turn! Answer this on Instagram or in the comments: