Walking with God in the Unimpressive Seasons of Life
I have been listening to Father Mike and reading books by him for a few years now. I get excited every time I see a new book by him or that he has contributed to. I picked up this volume shortly after it released. And it immediately jumped towards the top of my ‘to be read’ pile. And this little volume is a wonderful book.
The description of this volume is:
“Most of life is made up of unimpressive moments and unimpressive seasons. While we look forward to the next “peak moment” of our lives, we cannot underestimate the importance of these ordinary seasons in our lives—because these are the times when we become the people God needs us to be.
In this latest book by beloved chaplain Fr. Mike Schmitz, you will discover that you have an important and irreplaceable part in God’s story. Learn from Fr. Mike how to small choices can help you realize your potential in this life—and in the next.”
About Father Mike we are informed:
“Father Mike Schmitz is a Catholic priest, author, and speaker in the Diocese of Duluth, MN. Working with Ascension Press, he is the author of the Belonging study program, and is featured in many others, including Altaration, YOU, Chosen, and I Will Follow. Father Schmitz has been the primary personality involved in Ascension Press’ outlet, Ascension Presents, with weekly YouTube videos offering Catholic perspectives of cultural and societal issues. Beginning in 2017, these talks were also offered in audio form as podcasts. He currently runs the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and is also the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the diocese.”
Though after the success of Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year there are likely few who do not know the name Father Mike.
The chapters in this volume are:
One Small Step
Don’t Underestimate Your Role in God’s Plan
Silence Is Not Absence
Don’t Underestimate the Value of Time
Just Show Up
How to Handle the Unimpressive Seasons of Life
Reflection and Discussion
About Fr. Mike Schmitz
I loved this little volume and highlighted numerous passages while reading it. Some of them are:
“What happens when we make New Year’s resolutions is not that we overestimate our goals or dreams—the big moments and the big plan. It’s that we underestimate the impact that our daily choices and small decisions can have.”
“When it comes to any change we desire in our lives, we underestimate what God sees in us. We underestimate the power of the single, unifying principle for our lives. Too often, we underestimate the impact of those small daily decisions. Too often, we underestimate ourselves and what God wants to do with us.”
“Here’s the thing: when you underestimate your role in God’s plan, you underestimate who God needs you to be. God tells the Israelites, and he tells us, that they have underestimated what God can do in them and through them.”
“I believe that many of us have underestimated our role in God’s story, and because of that, we have underestimated who God needs us to be.”
“Saints are just people who didn’t underestimate who God needed them to be.”
“The same goes for us. You might not know everything that God wants you to do, but if you live according to the single unifying principle of knowing Jesus and making him known, there is no way you can fail to become the kind of person God wants you to be. We cannot underestimate the power of this single unifying principle.”
“Saints aren’t made in big moments. Saints are just people who didn’t underestimate who God needed them to be. They didn’t underestimate the power of a single unifying principle. They refused to underestimate the impact of small decisions. Instead they just did what was in front of them.”
“If becoming who God needs us to be is the project of our lives, we have to be prepared to actually let it take our entire lives.”
“In the last chapter, we talked about how we cannot underestimate who God needs us to be. In this chapter, I want to talk about how we cannot underestimate how long it will take to become who God needs us to be. If this is the project of our lives, we have to be prepared to actually let it take our entire lives.”
“God’s silence is not the same thing as his absence.”
“But the truth is, we cannot underestimate what God is doing when it seems that God is doing nothing—because his silence is not the same thing as his absence. Sometimes, in fact, his silence is absolutely necessary.”
“That’s us too. In the darkness, we forget what was true in the light. We think God’s not doing anything. But he’s there. We just have to keep reading, to turn the page and finish the story. Because there’s no way to know how the story is going to end until it’s actually ended. Then we’ll know. Then we’ll understand. But until then, we cannot underestimate what we don’t understand.”
“We cannot underestimate the importance of unimpressive moments or even seasons when it comes to becoming the people God needs us to be.”
“How much of life is wasted just because we underestimate the importance of unimpressive seasons while we’re waiting for life to happen? This is life! We can’t always wait for the peak or for our growth to be done.”
“This is the key: not waiting around for the peak moment, but simply showing up. Ask yourself today: Where does God need me to be? In this unimpressive season that you are probably in, where do you need to show up? Where do you need to be? We can’t underestimate the unimpressive seasons. We have to show up to them.”
“But what if we not only showed up but became actively engaged, no matter where we were? What if we didn’t just go through the motions but actually believed and trusted that we were where God wanted us to be? God wants us actively engaged in living, not just going through the motions. He wants us believing and trusting that he is here, and that he wants us here too.”
“This is also true when it comes to prayer. Our relationship with God is prayer. So much of prayer is just showing up and being there. Just show up, knowing that God is here, and God wants me here.”
“I believe that many of us have underestimated our role in God’s story, and because of that, we have underestimated who God needs us to be.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for the wisdom contained within this small volume. When I was in university, I was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, there was a series of booklets by the founder Bill Bright, called Transferable Concepts, and by reading them many times you could almost memorize them and the message so that you could share it. This volume reminds me a lot of those books.
This little booklet is another excellent resource from Father Mike. It is a volume any Catholic would benefit from reading and that any Christian could benefit from as well. It is a book that has an important message for all believers in Jesus Christ, for all who seek to live for God.
This is an excellent read. One I can easily recommend, and challenge all Catholics to read!
Books By Father Mike Schmitz:
Made for Love: Same-Sex Attraction and the Catholic Church
Quick Catholic Lessons with Fr. Mike
Quick Catholic Lessons with Fr. Mike Volume II
The Catechism in a Year Companion, Volume II
The Catechism in a Year Companion, Volume III
…
The Sunday Homilies:
Are You Saved? The Catholic Understanding of Salvation
Ordinary Time: Finding Holiness in Everyday Life
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Contributed to:
Pray, Decide, and Don't Worry: Five Steps to Discerning God's Will
Don't Be Afraid to Say Yes to God! Pope Francis Speaks to Young People
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Audio Talks by Father Mike Schmitz:
Living Life by Design, Not by Default
Love - Sacrifice - Trust He Showed Us the Way
From Love, By Love, For Love
True Worship
The Four Last Things
Jesus Is …
Changed Forever - The Sacrament of Baptism
We Must Go Out - The Sacrament of Confirmation
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