I think by now most of you know I enjoy crafting. It is something that fills me up, that brings me joy. As a mom, I want my kids to have a love of creation and creativity. I enjoy sharing my projects with them and letting them help pick out colors, materials, etc. I also love to learn new craft skills (see these cookies or my brief stint at crochet pattern design). As a person, I am a learner. Some people thrive under pressure, others in peace and stillness. I thrive in any type of learning environment/learning experience.

The desire to learn this new craft become all consuming. I am slowly pulling my head out of the sand from such a period of time – English paper piecing people, it’s super awesome and I love it! However, like all parents have said to their children, there can be too much of a good thing.

My outburst of energy and excitement for the new thing completely outshines all the other projects and sometimes, responsibilities, that need my attention. For obvious example, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted here, for which I sincerely apologize.

I love this blog. I love the space to write, a place to share my thoughts, ideas and hopefully my feeble witness to our beautiful faith lived in the everyday ordinariness of my life. As I’ve mentioned before, I am as surprised as anyone that this blog is still even a thing, since my usual habit pattern is to follow the bright shiny new craft/project until another one comes along. That is almost what happened these past few months.

No, I haven’t been English paper piecing this whole time (for those who didn’t click the link, basically it’s a kind of hand sewn quilting method). I was writing, a lot actually. Just not here.

I’m pleased to announce, and hopefully by announcing it here I will find the inspiration, stamina and discipline to finish, that I am in the process of writing a book.

Yikes, I said it. Yes, I am writing a book. 2 if I’m perfectly honest, but one is more of a long term goal versus the immediate project. I’m avoiding saying “trying” because that’s the kind of attitude that has filled up too many craft bins of unfinished “bright shinies” that no longer hold my interest.

So, this book. It’s actually in a rather different direction than what I usually write. The book is tentatively titled In the Person of Christ and is an in-depth look at St. Paul’s Christological hymn in Philippians 2:5-11. The idea springs two places. First, from the popularity of the Lent and Advent Lectio Divina journals. Second, from a blog post I read about a group of monks who have all 150 Psalms memorized so that they are able to say their daily prayers without needing any texts. Amazing, right!?!

From my general and theological reading, and conversations with friends, it has become apparent to me (and this is also apparent to many other Catholics), that our love for God’s Word is quite simply, lacking. We know a few stories, some nice parables, perhaps a miracle or two, but that’s it. The Bible isn’t often an integral part of our daily prayer, and our primary exposure is readings at Mass. There are books upon books, videos upon videos, about the Scriptures. These are fantastic resources, but they can be often large, overwhelming, or simply contain too much information for any fruitful prayer to result.

We should love the Scriptures. We should be able to keep it upon our lips and hold it at the forefront of our thoughts. My book will, I hope, inspire you to pray more deeply with this specific passage as well as see the fruits of having a Scripture passage memorized.

This book is part journal, part guided lectio, part Scripture study and part memorization tools. Here’s how it will work. I am breaking down the hymn into its individual verses. Each chapter begins with the focus verse and a page for guided lectio divina and journaling. This is similar to the lectio divina journals. Then, after praying with the Scripture, I offer a well researched and concise study of the verse. I have spent a great deal of time reading articles and listening to lectures about the Christological hymn. St. Paul packs so much into these few verses, it’s incredible! That is why I wanted to take it slowly, verse by verse, so we can really soak up and allow God’s Word to mould our hearts.

The final piece is memorization. There is something to be said about the things we can rattle off without thinking. How many songs do we know by heart? How many math facts can we say without thinking? What stories and fables from our childhood do we still remember? Our brains have an incredible capacity for information and when we work at it, for memorization. How wonderful would it be if, like those monks, we had a Psalm for when we are worried, or when we are bursting with joy? In this case, by the end of the book you will have memorized 7 of the most powerful verses in the New Testament. The message of these verses quite literally changed the world.

This book is still in progress, but I do have a draft of the first chapter to share with you. I would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, comments, critiques, anything that you think would help make this project a success. (A quick note, I do know that some of the footnotes may not be complete/in the proper format yet. As I said, work in progress) My aggressive timeline is to have a final draft in the hands of an editor before we start up homeschool in mid-August. Click on the link below to see the draft.

In the Person of Christ Chapter 1 Draft

I hope you enjoy this sample. If nothing else, please pray for the success of this book and the people who will read it. It is my deepest wish that through it, they fall more deeply in love with God and His Word.