SAY YES! Lisa Hendey Shows You How

Okay, let’s cut right to the chase: Lisa Hendey wants to be on Survivor.

I mention this because it’s that revelation in Lisa’s new book, The Grace of Yes: Eight Virtues for Generous Living, that caught me completely off guard and made me laugh out loud.

Lisa is a busy evangelizer–writing, travelling, speaking, podcasting, running her CatholicMom.com website.  That she would aspire to spending 39 days on a desert island without coffee or WiFi, communing with the Creator in the majesty of His handiwork, is evidence that she’s willing to think outside the box about ways to evangelize in contemporary culture.  I can’t say I’d be happy to join her–but good luck, Lisa!

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Lisa has been a friend since 2011, when we both were privileged to participate in the Vatican Blogfest and we shared a room in an apartment near Vatican City.   We doubled up again a few years later at the U.S. Bishops and Bloggers Meeting in Baltimore–and to this day, Lisa greets me with a warm “Hi, roomie!”

So I’ve come to appreciate first-hand Lisa’s confident faith, her positive outlook and generosity of spirit.  With a hug and a smile, Lisa embraces those she meets and inspires them to join her on the journey toward greater union with God.

Now, through The Grace of Yes, Lisa offers her insights about the spiritual life to a wider audience of readers and fans.  Recounting her own experiences, she shows us how God invites us to trust Him and embrace His plan for our lives.  How He wants us to be creative, utilizing His gifts in service; and how, conversely, setting limits and sometimes saying “No” is a grace.  How God gives us the grace to act with integrity, and to practice the virtue of humility.  How He gives us the courage to be vulnerable.

Lisa is a great storyteller–and The Grace of Yes is full of deeply personal stories about her own life and stories about people who have inspired her and taught her valuable life lessons.   And at the end of each chapter, Lisa offers some questions to ponder, to help apply the important life lessons in your own life, and a heartfelt prayer for the grace to say “Yes” to God.

This would be a great book for personal reflection, for a book club, or to tuck under the Christmas tree for someone you care about.