Our good friend and CatholicMom.com columnist Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle will be celebrating the Feast of the Assumption tomorrow, Friday August 15 with an appearance on Teresa Tomeo's Catholic Connection program. Tune in live at 9:00 am EST to hear the ladies at www.avemariaradio.net. 
I want to thanks Becky Cash and Cheryl Schell of HomeBizMomCast.com for inviting me to appear on yesterday's show. I had such a great time talking with them about the topics of home based businesses, personal productivity and Getting Things Done. I hope you'll check out their show to learn a little bit more about my work and background and that you will become a subscriber to their terrific resources. 
Congratulations to my good friend and our CatholicMom.com Adoption columnist Heidi Hess Saxton on the announcement of her recent project, the Extraordinary Moms Network. Heidi's new site offers encouragement and guidance for adoptive mothers and foster moms, those considering foster care or adoption, and all women who invest their lives in other people’s children. It promises to be a great resource for all of us!
Heidi and her publisher Cheryl Dickow of Bezalel Books also deserve kudos from the great news that Heidi's new book Behold Your Mother will be translated into Spanish! This is such a wonderful book and its translation into another language will be a huge blessing for many.
I've been having a lot of fun vicariously road tripping with Heidi and Sarah on their "Jet Setting is for Sissies" 2008 Road Trip. 
Congratulations to Mary Kochan and Joshua LeBlanc for the launch of the new Theology of the Body channel at Catholic Exchange. This looks to be a tremendous resource, packed with information and top notch columnists. Click here to visit this great resource and be on the lookout for more great developments soon from Catholic Exchange.
With her usual eloquence, Danielle Bean shares a fitting tribute to Edwina Froehlich at her blog today. This co-founder of La Leche League touched countless lives. 
One of the most frequent requests I receive is from moms looking for playgroups in their areas. Thanks to Moms Group Manual, I can now point them to iPlaygroups.com with confidence. If you belong to a church or community playgroup, it would be great if you could list your group online so that others can search for you and connect. As always, with these types of internet tools, please be extremely cautious and exercise discretion when meeting or exchanging information over the internet. Living As A Confident Daughter Of God
Thank you to Elizabeth for sharing the following information:
TORCH (Traditions of Roman Catholic Homes), a National Homeschooling Group now has a local chapter in Rome, New York. Aptly named THE ROMAN TORCH, membership is open to anyone, regardless of religious affiliation. There is a brochure detailing TORCH and it’s advantages for our Catholic community. Our meetings and other activities will be held at St. Paul’s Church, corner of Bedford and Cyprus Streets, Rome, NY. Please contact me for meeting dates, a brochure or questions! Elizabeth S. thehomeschoolers@aol.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RomanTORCH
Looking to spread the word about a group in your area? Feel free to email me at lisa@catholicmom.com and I'll do my best to help you reach others with your information.
I hope that you will join me in participating in this wonderful study, slated to begin in January 2008. I just completed my online registration and am looking forward to making this study one of my spiritual resolutions for 2008. Won't you please consider joining me? What a lovely way to begin our new year! The following information was shared by Cheryl Dickow of Bezalel Books who will be running the Women's Study:
Woman’s Study Sponsored by Catholic Exchange
In 1988 John Paul II wrote an Apostolic Letter on the Dignity and Vocation of Women titled “Mulieris Dignitatem.” He began the letter with two very critical references. His first, appearing in the initial, opening paragraph, was taken from the Second Vatican Council and states, "The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling." The subsequent reference, appearing in the second paragraph of his letter is a quote from one of Paul VI’s discourses which states, "Within Christianity, more than in any other religion, and since its very beginning, women have had a special dignity, of which the New Testament shows us many important aspects...; it is evident that women are meant to form part of the living and working structure of Christianity in so prominent a manner that perhaps not all their potentialities have yet been made clear."
Together, these statements lend additional historical authority to the crux of John Paul’s Apostolic Letter in which he goes on to say that A woman is to be found at the center of this [Christ’s death] salvific event. John Paul’s words on this important subject are absolute poetry and reveal the way in which he truly moved and had his being with God. John Paul’s understanding and mission to empower women to acquire the influence and power to aid humanity from ‘not falling’ was clearly evident. Further on John Paul writes The Church gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine "genius" which have appeared in the course of history, in the midst of all peoples and nations; she gives thanks for all the charisms which the Holy Spirit distributes to women in the history of the People of God, for all the victories which she owes to their faith, hope and charity: she gives thanks for all the fruits of feminine holiness.
To celebrate the twenty years since John Paul’s 1988 Apostolic Letter on the Dignity and Vocation of Women, Catholic Exchange is presenting a unique, timely look at some of these women John Paul referred to when he gave thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine “genius.” This enlightening ten week course will begin January 7, 2008 and conclude March 10, 2008 and can be enjoyed from the privacy of your own home while conversing with women around the world. There are three components of the women’s study where the overall objective is for each participant to get to the heart of her worth and value in Christ by knowing, more intimately, her sisters in faith. Women will receive the book “Renewing Your Christian Self in a Secular Word: Wisdom from Old and New Testament Women” by award winning author and speaker Cheryl Dickow and access to Catholic Exchange podcasts and online discussions. Registration is now beginning. The cost of the program is $35.00.
To register for the program download the registration form from Catholic Exchange and send it, with your check or money order to: Bezalel Books P.O. Box 300427 Waterford, MI 48330. You will receive your book, an introductory letter outlining the course, and your password for the podcasts and online discussions within three weeks.
I can't wait for my next issue of Canticle Magazine. Over at her blog, Heidi Hess Saxton gives readers a little sneak peak of an article the magazine will feature with Francine Huff, author of The 25-Day Money Makeover for Women
Subscribe to Canticle Magazine today and don't miss Francine's article.
You might recall my recent interview with beautiful (inside and out) Catholic musician Sharmane Adams. If you're a Sharmane fan, like I am, you'll want to listen to a full length conversation between Sharmane and my pal Susan Bailey at Sacred Heart Radio.
Susan is the editor of Grapevine Magazine, the host of the Grapevine News Minute Podcast, and a fabulous musician too!
Take five, and listen to these two inspirational women. You'll be impressed!
