My Generous Blogging Friends

I wasn't going to post anything today.  I was going to give you all (or y'all, for you Southerners out there) a bit of a break.

But this morning when I was scrolling through the list of blogs I read daily (this blog roll shows up on my Blogger Dashboard page, where I go to write new posts or edit old ones), I was surprised to see a picture of a copy of Finding Grace included in a picture collage next to the text of today's post on "Footprints on My Heart."

When I clicked on there to read the post, I found out that my young blogging friend Sarah Therese has begun to read my book.  I am both touched and terrified.  Whenever I know that someone is reading it, I get a bit nervous.  That's one thing about having a published book that was difficult for me: once it was "out there," it was open to criticism and bad reviews, and I had to brace myself for soul-crushing rejection (hyperbole, anyone?).  I was pretty much sick to my stomach for about three weeks after it was released in August of 2012, and then with the help and support of my husband, I began to relax.  I kept reminding myself that it was okay if no one in the entire world liked it; I had honestly written it first and foremost in an effort to give glory to God; secondly as a gift to my kids and grandkids; and thirdly in hopes of inspiring just one young person to fight the good fight in this new topsy-turvy world of ours, where right is wrong and wrong is right.   And to be honest, I never truly thought it would get published anyway, and that was okay with me as long as the aforementioned people gave it the thumb's up.

So far, readers have been very kind.  Another generous blogging friend, Erica over at "Boys, Books, and Balls," read it recently and gave it this mention and this kind endorsement.

It seems strange that I have blogging friends that I will never actually meet, but I do feel a special kinship with these women.  I had no idea, before I started participating in blog link-ups not too long ago, what a rich and vibrant world of Catholic blogging was going on out there on the Internet, and I never even knew about it.  Most of the blogs I read are written by women much younger than I am; many of them are raising small children and are right in the heart of their child-bearing years.  Many of them homeschool and have very large families--not just by today's standards, but by the standards of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Most practice NFP, and no matter how big their families are already, they are delighted to welcome another baby made in God's image and likeness.  Erin from Australia, one of the bloggers with whom I've had many "conversations" over the past months, has just announced that she is expecting her 10th child, due around Christmas--and her oldest child will be 20 when the new babe arrives!

Truly, I feel fortunate to have discovered this vibrant and uplifting world of Catholic blogging, a world filled to the brim with family values and faith--just when I thought the world was going to you-know-where in a hand basket.  It's a world where one can find a comfortable kinship with other Catholics, when so often these days it seems as if we're expected to apologize for believing in and following the tenets of our beautiful Faith.

Thanks to all of you Catholic blogging women out there who have given my morale a tremendous boost.  And thanks, Sarah Therese, for plugging my book on your lovely blog.  I can't wait to hear what you think of it...or can I?  (LOL, as they say.)