This post is written by Sara Estabrooks, author at To Jesus, Sincerely, and Tech Assistant for Catholics Online.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your blog.
Hi, I’m Sara from To Jesus, Sincerely.
I’m a Catholic wife, mathematician, former teacher, sometimes artist, and mom of 4 who loves the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.
When I pray, I like to write. It helps me stay focused on communicating with Jesus, and avoid ruminating on the distractions of daily life.
And then I bring it to you.
On my blog, I open wide the doors of my heart and let you in on my joys, my struggles, my questions, and my life lessons. I invite you to pray and reflect along with me.
Together, we lift our mind and hearts to God, seeking to walk the path of holiness He sets before us.
How long have you been blogging and what made you want to start?
I didn’t want to be a blogger. I wanted to pray and write, but didn’t see why people on the great big internet would want to read my personal reflections.
But my sister liked to read them.
And she encouraged me to share them. First, with friends and family. Then on Facebook, and finally I launched my blog in October 2016.
Even though I entered into blogging reluctantly, I strongly felt God calling me to it. Eventually I grew to love it.
My blog helps motivate me to set aside time for prayer and reflection. And I absolutely love being able to share with others, and encourage them to grow closer to Jesus through prayer, too.
Who do you hope to reach with your ministry?
I want to reach out to women who love Jesus, but are past the feel-good stage. Women who sometimes find life hard, or boring, or busy, or stressful. Women who want to grow closer to Jesus, but need help learning how or finding time.
My blog is for women who need a prayer life boost. Who need some rejuvenation in their spirit. Someone to walk alongside them and lend a hand at the hard work it takes to achieve holiness.
If you love Jesus with a fiery passion but sometimes feel like you’re not enough, my blog is a home for you.
None of us are perfect, but we’re all on this road together.
I want to be honest and vulnerable and encouraging and truthful on my blog. I want to lift you up and help you pave the path for Jesus to step in and change your life.
I want to help you know Him better, love Him more, serve Him and your family with your whole heart, and grow in holiness every day.
What products and services do you offer?
On my blog, I have a free monthly Virtue Challenge available. Each challenge comes with an in-depth study in the form of a blog post, and printables to guide you for the month. I also have a Virtue Challenge Team on Facebook, where you can join other members who are striving to grow in holiness.
On Instagram, I launched #MyMassTakeaway – a devotion that encourages you to open your heart to the one message Jesus is speaking to you. Lots of friends share their reflections with the hashtag, and I pull them together for a weekly linkup.
In my printables store, I have a whole selection of downloads available. And if you join my email list, I’ll keep you up to date on seasonal products, like my Jesse Tree and Holy Week Journal.
How long have you been Catholic?
I’m a cradle Catholic!
I’m thankful to my parents for bringing me up solidly in our Faith. My mom is a convert and I have so much love and respect for her.
Converts are inspiring to me.
They help motivate me to wake up out of my lazy, familiar comfort zone. To stop taking Catholicism for granted, and start treating it as the beautiful gift it is.
What is your favorite part about the Faith?
I love how our Catholic Faith fosters community.
Even our understanding of God as a Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all in one God – shows our knowledge of the deep need for relationship.
We’re never alone. We’re made for God, and for each other.
God is only a prayer away. Our Guardian Angels are always by our sides. The Saints in Heaven, especially our Blessed Mother, are there to pray for us.
We have Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, who waits for us in our churches and at the Holy Mass.
We are the Body of Christ.
We have each other. It’s okay to need each other. To call on each other for help and prayers. To love each other and form deep friendships. To miss each other and feel the hurt in our hearts when we’re apart.
It’s part of our nature – the desire for relationship is built into us by God.
And I love that the Catholic Church is where we can foster these relationships and find a home.
What is your favorite go-to prayer?
Listen, whenever someone asks me for my favorite prayer, I like to make things a little awkward.
I could tell you that I pray grace at every meal, and throw out Hail Mary’s when I’m stuck in traffic. I could tell you about my love for meditation and quiet reflection. I could pick any old standard prayer and we could move on…
Or I could tell you a favorite prayer that nobody’s ever told you before.
It’s the prayer my husband and I pray before sex.
It changed our relationship. When my husband and I added prayer to the mix, we began to treat sex as something more.
Something holy.
Who is your patron Saint and why?
Right now, I’m all about St. John Bosco.
I mean, he ran a home for droves of boys. Crazy, dirty, energetic boys. And he did it joyfully. He had lots of fun, but at the same time was very serious about teaching the kids to love God.
As a child, I was always proud of our family. My siblings and I knew how to have a darn good time. But our fun was always clean, always good. We played hard, we worked hard, and we Churched hard.
I feel like St. John Bosco would’ve had a great time with us.
Now it’s my turn to parent my passel of kids. And I want to do it right. With a lot of good clean fun, hard work together, and a heap of grace and prayers.
With John Bosco’s intercession, I want to be a happy and holy parent, raising these crazy kids of mine (both boys and girls) to love God and love life.
Just for fun, what is your favorite Catholic joke?
I don’t know that I have a favorite Catholic joke…
But I do love all the Catholic memes on Facebook that make me laugh. And sometimes if I’m in a wry mood I pop over to Catholic Twitter to check out all the lighthearted sarcasm.
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