It's not a secret that I LOVE the Saints. I love using the Saints when I teach my kids the Faith, because it is literally the easiest way to SHOW them what it looks like to follow Jesus.

I also love reading about the Saints on my own.

In particular, I love Saints who were mothers. And so, to celebrate the launch of a new season of the Catholic Sprouts Podcast (listen here: https://catholicsprouts.com/podcast), I'm counting down my top Mom Saints and sharing an invaluable lesson I learned from each.

6. St. Marguerite D'Youville: Babies and Mission

5. St. Monica: How our children can be transformed by our sacrifice.

4. St. Clotilda: The Quiet Witness of a Mother.

3. St. Margaret Clitherow: Living life so well that I can challenge my children to follow in my shoes.

2. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Drawing all the strength I need from the Eucharist.

1. The Blessed Mother: Remaining joyfully obedient.

Thank you for listening, and if you are looking for a fun way to bring the stories of the Saints into your home, check out our HUGE WAREHOUSE SALE, where several of our Saint Books are marked down...some up to 60% OFF!

https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/collections/warehouse-sale

I get LOTS of emails that say something like, "I'm worried my kids will grow up and leave the Church."

I don't want you to worry about this, but if you aren't teaching the Faith at home…you probably should be worried.

Study after study shows that CCD programs, youth programs, and even a wonderful Catholic School education alone won't transfer the Faith to the next generation. They simply MUST receive the Faith from their parents.

If you read that and can only think, "but how?!?" go take a listen.

You really don't need to worry. You've got everything you need, and I'll help you get started.

Also--if you need some tools in your home that will make teaching the Faith doable (even if you are short on time and aren't a theologian), check out our HUGE Warehouse sale, which is going on now.

Everything is marked down — up to 50% OFF! https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/collections/warehouse-sale

Teaching my kids to read has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

As a kid, I was put in the "slow readers" group at school, and I knew my kids needed a little extra reading support. I am currently teaching my 5th child to read, and the lessons keep coming!

Chief among these lessons is the power of the spoken word. I love reading aloud to my kids...and listening to them read. But this time I just COULD NOT handle reading and rereading our usual stack of early readers.

(NO MORE BARBIE AND STAR WARS STORIES!)

And so, our team got to work writing a beautiful new Early Reader that George has been reading to me all summer, and it's finally ready for you.

You will feel like a ROCK STAR parent, teaching reading AND the faith at once. SCORE!

To check it out, head here: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/collections/early-reader-collection

After three years, I have decided to breathe new life into this podcast.

Tune in for a life update, a powerful experience of answered prayers, and a little mission I am embarking on.

If you are interested in learning how to pray Every Single Day, even when life as a mom is nuts? Just head here: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/pages/the-secret-to-daily-prayer-for-catholic-moms. It a free audio course, so happy listening!

And thank you for tuning in! If you are new here, please head over to Catholic Sprouts and find one of our resources that will serve your family.

https://catholicsprouts.com

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy

Hey friends!

Please enjoy this short episode explaining how the Eucharist IS the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Join us, and let's continue to work to BRING THE EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL HOME!

Explore with me how I came to know, believe and love the Church's teaching on Mary!

Thank you for listening to the Just One Small Thing Podcast. Tuning in each week means so very much! Want to hear more great Catholic content perfect for the whole family? Make sure to tune in each day to the CATHOLIC SPROUTS PODCAST. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-sprouts-podcast/

Looking for a way to support this podcast? Here are some ideas:

1. Say a prayer for us! This would be SUCH a gift!

2. Share this podcast with a friend!

3. Purchase something in the Catholic Sprouts Shop: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/

4. Drop Nancy an email at [email protected] with a word of encouragement or an idea for a future episode.

This podcast is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. May we all meet there one day!

Your sister in the small things,

Nancy

Storytime! Since we are talking about the saints celebrating their feast days this week, including St. Dominic, I took this opportunity to share my own Dominic/Holy Rosary stories. Both take place in France outside of Toulouse, but they are set about 10 years apart.

In part one, I am a solo traveler to rural France where I realize my High School French is 0% helpful and no one there speaks English at all. Through a strange and beautiful prayer exercise in the "green cathedral," I am introduced to St. Dominic.

In part two I am married and pregnant with my fifth baby. During this trip I learned the hard way that mid-zed SUVs don't fit well inside medieval towns and stay three doors down from where St. Dominic once lived.

I hope you enjoy these stories and they inspire you to start or keep praying a daily Rosary!

Thank you for listening to the Just One Small Thing Podcast. Tuning in each week means so very much! Want to hear more great Catholic content perfect for the whole family? Make sure to tune in each day to the CATHOLIC SPROUTS PODCAST. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-sprouts-podcast/

Looking for a way to support this podcast? Here are some ideas:

1. Say a prayer for us! This would be SUCH a gift!

2. Share this podcast with a friend!

3. Purchase something in the Catholic Sprouts Shop: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/

4. Drop Nancy an email at [email protected] with a word of encouragement or an idea for a future episode.

This podcast is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. May we all meet there one day!

Your sister in the small things,

Nancy

This week on the Catholic Sprouts Podcast we are exploring what it means to be Catholic. This is an important question to tackle as we build and nurture our identity as Catholics. It is our goal to nurture our identity as Catholics here at Catholic Sprouts, which is why we are launching the CLUBHOUSE today. The CLUBHOUSE is a membership for Catholic kids, and I'm explaining all of the details in this episode.

You can learn more and join us (doors open 8-1!) right here: https://catholicsprouts.com/clubhouse/

Thank you for listening to the Just One Small Thing Podcast. Tuning in each week means so very much! Want to hear more great Catholic content perfect for the whole family? Make sure to tune in each day to the CATHOLIC SPROUTS PODCAST. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-sprouts-podcast/

Looking for a way to support this podcast? Here are some ideas:

1. Say a prayer for us! This would be SUCH a gift!

2. Share this podcast with a friend!

3. Purchase something in the Catholic Sprouts Shop: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/

4. Drop Nancy an email at [email protected] with a word of encouragement or an idea for a future episode.

This podcast is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. May we all meet there one day!

Your sister in the small things,

Nancy

Well, I decided to spill the beans on a project that we have been working on for a long time, and I am hopeful will come into being this fall: a church history book told through biographies of the saints. I have grown frustrated with how many church history books tell history either through secular leaders (like emperors) or heretics. So, we decided to write a history of the church told through the movement of the Holy Spirit as demonstrated through the lives of the saints.

This week on the Catholic Sprouts podcast I talk through the biographies of saints celebrating feast days this week, and two of the saints celebrating feast days are included in this upcoming history book: St. Christina the Astonishing and St. Simeon Stylite. These two oddballs are great examples of how God can use ANYONE to build up His Church if we are open to the moments of the Holy Spirit.

We are still pulling this book together, but you can plan to look for it later this fall!

Thank you for listening to the Just One Small Thing Podcast. Tuning in each week means so very much! Want to hear more great Catholic content perfect for the whole family? Make sure to tune in each day to the CATHOLIC SPROUTS PODCAST. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-sprouts-podcast/

Looking for a way to support this podcast? Here are some ideas:

1. Say a prayer for us! This would be SUCH a gift!

2. Share this podcast with a friend!

3. Purchase something in the Catholic Sprouts Shop: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/

4. Drop Nancy an email at [email protected] with a word of encouragement or an idea for a future episode.

This podcast is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. May we all meet there one day!

Your sister in the small things,

Nancy

We are finally done with all of the CST topics! Yay! From here forward this podcast will be weekly, and will explore, in a more adult way, the topics we are covering on the Catholic Sprouts podcast. The plan is to hit record on this podcast as soon as I finish recording the Catholic Sprouts Podcast, and that is exactly what I did today!

So, friendship. I have often felt like I was a "bad friend", simply because I have been blessed with so many amazing friends! In my rambling way, in this episode I discuss how good Christian friendships are, often, meant to make us feel uncomfortable. I also share that I'm not interested in a friendship with a mom where all we do is talk about our kids (sorry, not sorry). And, at the end I reflect on Jesus's desire to be our friend, and how I need to be a better conversationalist (and slow down) when I am in prayer.

I hope you found these thoughts helpful--and that you have a wonderful Christian friend in your life that will challenge you to embrace holiness!

Thank you for listening to the Just One Small Thing Podcast. Tuning in each week means so very much! Want to hear more great Catholic content perfect for the whole family? Make sure to tune in each day to the CATHOLIC SPROUTS PODCAST. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-sprouts-podcast/

Looking for a way to support this podcast? Here are some ideas:

1. Say a prayer for us! This would be SUCH a gift!

2. Share this podcast with a friend!

3. Purchase something in the Catholic Sprouts Shop: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/

4. Drop Nancy an email at [email protected] with a word of encouragement or an idea for a future episode.

This podcast is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. May we all meet there one day!

Your sister in the small things,

Nancy