Catholic Family Fun By Sarah A. Reinhard

Icon by Amber Fabian, http://amberfabian.deviantart.com/gallery/

Today, I'm pleased to host my friend, Sarah Reinhard, on her Catholic Family Fun book tour.  Sarah absolutely embraces every word in her title.  My favorite memory of her is from the Catholic Writers Conference Live/Catholic Marketing network Tradeshow.  She was running all around the trade show, having a complete squee-fest over meeting all the well known Catholic writers, speakers, and priests.  We're talking "screaming fangirl-please hold my baby so I can get a picture of you and him for posterity" excitement.  So if anyone is suited to write a book about making the Catholic faith fun for kids, it's definitely Sarah!


First, I asked her to write a little something about what she hopes her children will remember the most about growing up Catholic:

Jesus is there, every week, in the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith (CCC 1324), but it's also been a real source of conversion for me personally.

I don't know how to explain it, but those years of sitting in Eucharistic Adoration for an hour a week, those years of attending Mass, those years of trying to find Jesus in my life...somehow, they are all summarized in that small host that is Body and Life.

God is love and he gave us his Son. It's so basic, so often said, so easy to forget and ignore.

I want my kids to grow up certain of it, and I want them to find their strength in Jesus, who is there for them, every single week, in the Eucharist.

They don't have to search high and low. They don't have to go on an adventure, embark on a journey, leave the comfort of their pew.

Jesus is there, every week, in the Eucharist.

And neither do I. It's an ongoing lesson for me as much as it is one that I want them to embrace.

Book Description

This inspirational guidebook offers activities with strategies and suggestions for fun family engagement—with one another and with faith— strengthening faith formation in young to grade-school age children.  Author Sarah Reinhard, busy mother of three, tested these activities in her own family. Taking into account the modern-day realities of parenting, she offers a reassuring, ‘you-can-do-it’ approach.  Modification of her ideas are encouraged to suit individual family interests, schedules, and budgets, so that each family can build a “domestic church” of their very own.

Activities Include
Silly Activities
Storytelling
Craft Projects
Meal Sharing
Outdoor Adventures
Places to Go
Saints to Celebrate
Ways to Serve
Ways to Pray

Mini-Review:

This is written to be a fast read, or an easy resource, ala 101 Things to Do on a Rainy Day, a book I loved as a child.  As I read through it, I was struck with how many of these things our family did spontaneously--and how many I'd thought about doing and never have because I wasn't sure where to start or how to do it easy.  The beauty of this is book is two-fold:  First, the activities are FUN.  how many times has your child has come with a "Family Fun" idea that is heavy on faith, but no one really thinks would be fun?  Second, Sarah has offered ways to mix in the faith, sometimes subtly; sometimes, with more focus.  She's put the RE in recess!


If you're a Catholic parent, especially with younger kids, this is a great book to have for rainy days or sunshine Sundays.


About Sarah:




Sarah Reinhard writes about marriage, motherhood, the Catholic faith, books, and life on a farm at her blog: www.snoringscholar.com. She is also a frequent contributor to other blogs, podcasts, and websites such as: Catholic Mom, Faith & Family Live, Catholic Foodie, and Catholic Writers Guild. Sarah lives in central Ohio with her husband and their three children.




Purchase from Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Family-Fun-Sarah-Reinhard/dp/0819816043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334762982&sr=8-1

Purchase from Publisher:  http://store.pauline.org/English/Books/tabid/126/List/0/ProductID/3778/Default.aspx?txtSearch=catholic+family+fun&SortField=ProductName%2cProductName