Small Steps to Success by Sarah Reinhard

I’ve been following Catholic mom-stars Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss for as long as I’ve been reading (and writing) online. These two ladies have walked me through many a trial, and I’ve shared tears and laughs with them.

They didn’t know it at the time, of course. I was just one of their invisible fans, enjoying the immense work they do online. Though I’ve gotten to know each of them a bit better in the last few years, I still face close calls with my bladder and have difficulty not just going into psycho fan-girl mode with them.

They are, after all, Catholic moms, just like me. They get up in the morning, face the battles of their days, and plow on through to bedtime.

Maybe that’s why they are so popular. Maybe that’s why I’m just one of about a million of their fan-moms. Maybe that’s what makes their latest project, Small Steps for Catholic Moms: Think. Pray. Act. Every Day., such a treasure.

Small Steps isn’t a tome about how you can be more of a super-mom. This isn’t a book that will unlock the secrets of momhood and give you the elixir of needing less sleep.

What you’ll find, which is better, is a daily dose of inspiration, wisdom, and encouragement from women who know how lonely and hopeless it can be in the trenches of motherhood. This isn’t preaching, this is touching and giving in the most beautiful of Catholic traditions. This is a cup of tea with friends, a hug from a fellow trooper, an embrace from God Himself.

In Small Steps, you get just what it says: a quote from a saint, a short prayer, and a to-do item. Every month is centered around a virtue, and the companion journal gives you a chance to jot notes and reflect more deeply about that virtue, even as each day of that month takes you on a small step toward that virtue.

This book couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Early in my current pregnancy, I was hugging toilets and buckets and trashcans every morning. My prayer time was slashed in favor of sleep. By the time the kids woke me up, that precious quiet time was…gone. By the time the kids were in bed at night, I was collapsing along with them.

Small Steps is a lesson for all of us: we don’t reach sainthood in giant leaps, unless we look back over our entire lives. Instead, the road to heaven is a series of moments, of small steps we take, holding on tight to the hands of those who have gone before us and who are carrying us when we fall.

Would you like a chance to win a signed copy of Small Steps for Catholic Moms? Leave your name in the comments by next Friday, and we’ll choose one lucky winner.
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The contest ended June 18...congratulations to our winner, Erin G (commenter #34)! For those of you who didn't win, don't forget that this book (and its companion journal) make a great gift idea.