Following is the monthly feature that appears in the print edition of The Catholic Post, featuring a Peoria diocesan reader.
How you know me:
I am a member of Holy Family Parish in Lincoln, and I’m married and have three grown children. I am a registered nurse by profession and am co-owner of a small case management company. I am active in several ministries in my church to include: choir, Eucharistic minister to the homebound, and I’m also a sacristan. I am also an active member of the Eastern Area Cursillo community. My real passion in life is mission work and in particular foreign mission. I go to Mexico once or twice a year for service work, and in 2013 I went to Africa. I co-founded and currently run a non-profit organization for the children of Tanzania called Love Repeated.
Why I love reading:
I can’t imagine life without books. Reading opened a whole new world for me beginning when I was just a little girl. One of my favorite places as a child was the Elkhart Public Library. Books allow me to check out of my sometimes harried life into a dream world for a while. I have learned so much from others writings and am enriched immensely by reading.
What I’m reading now:
I am currently reading We, the Ordinary People of the Streets (Resourcement: Retrieval & Renewal in Catholic Thought)
My favorite book:
I have so many favorites and they seem to come at different stages in my life but two I could not do without are: Contemplative Provocations
Because of my love for mission, the book by This Flowing Toward Me: A Story of God Arriving in Strangers
I also love the classics by the great spiritual writers such as: Thomas a’ Kempis, St. Terese of Lisieux, and all the church fathers, but I also find some of the more contemporary writers, such as Heather King and Amy Wellborn also very interesting and inspiring.