Fabulously Featured: Sole Searching Mama

Welcome to Catholic Sistas’ newest series, featuring some of our friends in the Catholic blogging world entitled Fabulously Featured which will run on Wednesdays. I have always wanted to introduce you to some new blogs to follow and support, but seriously lacked the time to put this together before now. In a Facebook group of fellow Catholic women bloggers, I asked ladies to answer some questions for this series, and they were all too excited to participate! I give you their answers in their own words. 🙂

 

SoleSearchingMama

Susan at Sole Searching Mama brings with her writing a good balance between visual and word smithing. I love that! You step into her blog and immediately feel at home. The variety of topics captures the reader – I know it did me! – and you will want to stick around and read about the latest goings-on out in Kansas. Without further ado, let’s learn a bit more about what makes Susan’s blog tick. 🙂

Susan of Sole Searching Mama

Susan of Sole Searching Mama

ESTABLISHED:

I started blogging in 2012 when I realized that I was failing miserably at creatively crafting our family stories into the ever-popular scrapbooks. I have a sister who lives overseas, and parents who love to keep up with the happenings of our family, so it only made sense for me to share our snapshots and adventures with them through the blogosphere!

THEME:

Sometimes I wish my blog had a singular focus, because it’s kind of a Wal-Mart blog. You get a little bit of everything when you stop by! But, the heart and soul of the blog is definitely our six sons, and their adventures (LOTS of sports!), their amazing personalities, milestones, and the beautiful things they teach my husband and myself about life and love.  I also write about running, motherhood, homeschooling, healthy living, and our Catholic faith.

INSPIRATION/MOTIVATION:

Originally, I started blogging to share little stories about our family life with with friends and family. I have always enjoyed writing and taking pictures, so blogging provided a way for me to creatively share the good stuff of life with others.  What keeps me motivated when it comes to writing are my readers! They are so kind and supportive.  I am constantly humbled and blessed by their sincerity and generosity! Occasionally my readers will e-mail me questions or topics that they would like for me to write about. I’m always honored by their requests and enjoy having new topics to write about.

FAVORITE ELEMENT:

What I love most about blogging is that often times I feel that being a mom of six boys and homeschooling does not allow me to get out and minister to others through volunteer work, or to socialize with other moms as much as I would like to. Blogging provides a unique opportunity to connect with other moms, to be encouraging, and to share my faith and journey of motherhood with them in a positive way.

FAVORITE POST:

My blog is a miniature figure in the virtual world.  Most of the posts I write are read by only a few.  But, I suppose for providential reasons, I’ve been blessed to have a few posts read by a large audience. One of those well-read posts is on the topic of raising boys.

This post is for all of the young moms out there who faithfully wake up every day and give everything that they have to their families.  And, it is for all of the mom’s who have said to me over the years, “How do you do it??” Those little words have placed a great weight on my heart.  A weight of worry, that we are waking each day perceiving other moms to have perfect homes, perfect kids, perfect husbands, perfect lives.  We all know those “other moms” who never struggle, can handle the many messes of life better than we can, breezing through the diapers and soccer practices and homework with a fit physique and culinary talents that could easily make her a star on Food Network.

BALANCE:

When I first began blogging, I wrote as often as possible, sometimes waking early or staying up late to share a post. But, with six busy boys and a husband who is ill, I have honestly had to let it all go. My only advice would be to write about the things that you enjoy, not the things you think your readers want to hear about. Just be yourself! And, if you feel that you have to blog all of the time or constantly maintain your social media status, and those two (often self-imposed) expectations are stressing you out, just take a pause. If you’re a mom, aside from your relationship with Christ, NOTHING is more important than your spouse and children. We only have a short amount of time with these precious souls, to love them, to nurture them, to *experience* everyday life with them, and if we’re plugged in or distracted, we will miss it!! And, no amount of really great blogging can ever replace the beauty of real life!

AUDIENCE:

I suppose I’m primarily writing to other moms, but especially to young moms. I hope that what I write, whether it be about raising sons, loving your spouse, homeschooling, living a healthy life-style or staying connected to Christ is encouraging and supportive to them.
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CATCH PHRASE/TAGLINE:

I don’t have a catch phrase or a tag line, but what’s funny is when my blog began to grow, a few really well-meaning readers kindly tried to tell me that I misspelled “Sole” and that it should be “Soul” Searching. The title of my blog is meant to reflect all of the things I think about while I’m running. Every step out on the road is a chance for me to daydream, to pray, to be thankful, to regroup, and to work out the struggles and challenges of the day and approach them with a more positive focus when I get home.

ADVICE:

My honest answer is I would encourage anyone who is considering blogging to step outside the Catholic box, and not worry about it being an overtly Catholic work.  One of my favorite bloggers, Kathryn at Team Whitaker, does an amazing job of expressing the beauty of life in a very natural way through her blog while still maintaining a very Catholic identity. Her writing appeals to so many, including non-Catholics, and I think for that reason it is a very strong tool of evangelization! If you love to craft, cook, take pictures, run – whatever it is, use your writing to share about real life and your love for Christ and your Catholic faith will naturally shine through!

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Have a question or comment for our featured blogger? Please leave them in the comments below!

Would you {or someone you know} like to be fabulously featured?

Send an email to Martina@CatholicSistas.comand reference the Fabulously Featured series and we’ll get the ball rolling to get you or your friend featured!

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