I am always fascinated by talk of virtues. There are different lists of virtues…
the theological virtues and the moral virtues in our Catechism
and different authors have proposed different lists of virtues, like the
10 virtues explained in the treasury of Moral Stories in The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett
the 24 Virtues in Character Building: A Guide for Parents and Teachers by David Isaacs.
Lately, I’ve been reading through The Virtues Guide by Virginia Lieto, defining, offering scriptural quotes and practical suggestions for 46 virtues!…and you can get your FREE copy of The Virtues Guide on her site.
I also look forward to reviewing these two awesome books I have received recently:
Seven Saints for Seven Virtues by Jean M. Heimann and Real Women, Real Saints by Gina Loehr, both available through Servant Books.
I have been compiling my own list over the years…recognizing the key virtues exemplified in the lives of the Saints.
I was so happy to receive a copy of The Grace of Yes by Lisa Hendey for review!
This is a well-written, thoughtful book on the virtues of Generous Living: Belief, Generativity, Creativity, Integrity, Humility, Vulnerability, No and Rebirth.
Lisa presents eight virtues that certainly piqued my curiousity! Some of the virtues or graces like Generativity…I had to look up! and I was eager to read more about them and how Lisa relates them to experiences in her life.
I really like the personal stories from Lisa’s life…they just further articulate what I already like so much about Lisa as a friend, Catholic Mom, Catholic blogger, mentor and founder of CatholicMom.com. I enjoy the thoughtful questions listed for the reader to ponder and the delicate prayer at the end of each chapter steering us to live the described virtues in practical ways.
Addressing the grace of Creativity and the work of our vocation, Lisa sees our “Yes, Lord” carried out through:
- praying for God’s Will to be done in and through me;
- being grateful for every opportunity (even when they don’t match my plans)
- asking for help and graciously accepting it,
- paying attention to minute details, taking pride in the work to do it right
- seeing success as a gift and grasping for it,
- leaving a legacy without getting all puffed up about it.
Addressing the grace of Humility, Lisa reminds us to look to Our Blessed Mother Mary who gave all the glory to God while giving her continual “yes” to His Will, agreeing to become the Mother of God…and watching the Son of God, her Son…be rejected and mocked and eventually suffer and die on the Cross.
Our struggles surely pale in comparison to what Our Lady faced throughout Jesus’ Life…but we can ask her to lend us her “yes” and help us to be docile to God’s Will and grow in this virtue of Humility.
Chapter 5 includes Lisa’s experience visiting Rwanda, walking through horrific sites that still give her nightmares, listening to devastating accounts of violence and loss and witnessing forgiveness and healing taking place before her eyes.
After having met little Fulton this summer, I can’t help smile and nod at the Courage and Faith of Fulton, his Mom and their family, as described by Lisa in Chapter 6.
I especially got a kick out of Lisa’s dream goal that she presents in chapter 8 and how she hopes the grace of her ‘yes’ would play out in it. You’re just going to have to read  The Grace of Yes to hear it in her own words!
I thoroughly enjoy Lisa’s writing style, her wisdom and her humility and I’m ready to embrace the #GraceOfYes !
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