​St. Edith Stein said, “emotions occupy the center of a woman’s soul.” 
​
"Women are set apart and endowed with unique graces that," as Venerable Fulton Sheen once said, "determine the level of our society."

We must not neglect ourselves when we nurture others!

Often, too often, in fact, we knowingly neglect ourselves. We pour out, pour out, pour out…until we’re out.

This service, which women are particularly great at, is met with some resistance however.
In my many years of coaching mommas it’s clear to see that they get trapped on the wheel of service, but it is not with joy.

The sparks of resentment, exhaustion, and depletion constantly threaten to flare into an uncontrolled fire within them.

They speak of the outlets they let others enjoy, the cost absorbed so others may be active and engaged, but they themselves are battening on spoil. 

One of the greatest servants, St. Mother Theresa, stated that the busier she and her sisters are in their care for the poor, the more they pray. 

When more people need them, how dare they take more time for themselves! Was that your thought?
Rolling along here with me, I can hear you thinking that it is laying down our lives for others that is heroic. YES! In hating one’s life you’ll find it, while loving one’s life causes the loss of it. YES.

I am not here to twist Scripture. Even Jesus would go and take time up, out and away before entering more deeply into his preaching, ministry and ultimately death.

Mom’s need a slot, a piece of the pie. They likely need it worse than anyone else preciously because they are literally the servants of all.

If they DO NOT STOP off to drink deeply at the fonts of prayer, bodily movement and of optimized nutrition then they miss the mark…and they know it.

I was just speaking with a mother of 8 who regularly attended a gym to take in a series of classes and as the one class ended the male trainer yelled across the the gym asking her in a hyped voice, “who’d you do this for?” 

She responded, “I did it for my 8 kids!” He roared back, “No, you did it for you!”
To understand how right she was…and how wrong he was. 

The world will not sift this the same way, but you know that taking care of yourself ultimately makes you better available to take care of others.

Your center then, your emotions in the soul, will clearly and brilliantly speak truth. 
Give yourself time for formation so you can gift yourself to others…fully and vulnerably.

Dedicatedly,
Rebecca Dussault

P.S. I form women in how to find this balance of efforts. There is a balance and you MUST find it to thrive. Hop on a call with me at www.fitcatholicmom.com/talk to see what needs done to help tweak your lifestyle into greatness that glorifies Him.
 
Spots are limited due to caring for myself and my crew so grab yours NOW!

I didn’t sign up to live lopsided and neither did YOU.
I also didn’t sign up to exist on fumes wishing things were different…though I embrace learning to "die to self" in every form.
Any of us can really get into a rut and run the risk of operating lopsided whether for a few days, weeks or even years as I encounter in lots of moms.

Eventually we either pause long enough to criticize and correct ourselves back onto course or become resentful, impatient and full of self made blockages.
This isn’t what’s really in it for you or me! We were made for more. 
You've bought a lie if you can't plainly see that this isn't right or good.
We pour ourselves out every single day, but also must get the fuel we need!
In fact, I like to think of lots of different little fonts to stop off at and get refueled for the greatness God certainly intends.

I, too, am just rising out of a rut of my own making these last few weeks!
I am a busy mom, wife, athlete, entrepreneur, farmer, homeschooler and parish volunteer just to categorize a few of my time expenses.
Well, it has been a rough up-start as I introduced my 17 year old to the world of taking all his classes through an online charter school in condensed fashion with 18 week semesters boiled into 6 week courses! Yikes.
I had no idea I’d spend this part of my year, albeit a small portion, returning to a rhythm of being in high school for several hours a day. 

This is the effort it has taken and while it is an amazing opportunity for him, I had no idea it would rob me of a very significant portion of my time. 

My prayer life got crowded and overly condensed.
My workouts started to slip.
My rest was quite compromised.
My overall ability to keep to my homeostasis or better yet, continue to live in a “holy tension” as I call it, was off-kilter!

Self made cycles of living lopsided! 
We all have time for what we make time for and I just carved myself back into the picture and how much happier, healthier and holier I feel for it. Thank you most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This isn’t just for me. It’s for YOU too.

I’d love to come alongside you for a time of formation and keep you accountable to the woman you want be, living the life you imagined…with energy and infectious JOY.
Now is the time!
Glorify the Lord by your very busy life and go ahead and give a call to me for a free chat. What would you loose by spending around an hour on the phone with me to see where you’re at and chart the path to where you need to go?

Inspired by Him,
Rebecca Dussault
​

You’re making the world wait...

You’re making the world wait for your greater gift of self while you say things like, “once the kids are raised, when I finally get the time or if I had more money…”

With this tactic you end up stalling out on dreams and purposes which far exceed just putting another so-so meal on the table today or punching the clock at the job you disdain all week long.

Did you ever think it was novel to be a life long learner at some point? Did you think you’d keep developing in character, stamina and grace? 

Did you ever hear yourself say that you would always learn to love to learn?

Well? What are you doing to learn more about yourself and the unique gift of just who you are?

When will all the things line up for you to finally push that gas pedal on your mission, ministry or master piece?

I’m here to tell you that it won’t line up!

No. It’s a hard and dangerous uphill route to where you’re going and you’re not prepared.
If you’re not feeding the daily muscles you need to finish this race and keep this faith then you’ll not have a part in what’s to come and…

If you’re getting to the end of each day with a longer list of what you didn’t do than what you really did do then you’re stalled out and waiting because you’re keeping that gift of yourself safely wrapped up and stashed out of sight. 

You’re in bare minimum mode and that’s just surviving, not thriving.

"Everyday I understand better what a Grace it is to be Catholics.  Poor unlucky those who don’t have Faith: to live without a Faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for the Truth, is not living but existing.  We must never exist (vivacchiare) but live." (Pier Giorgio Frassati, Letters to his Friends and Family, pg. 214).​

Believe me when I say, I don’t find it convenient to be quite pregnant again, homeschool all my kids, keep up with our new farm and hold the balance of our family finances together through self-directed entrepreneurial efforts here at Fit Catholic Mom.

It’s totally inconvenient. It’s hard. It’s almost pure uphill.

But, it’s necessary. We’ve got our sanity and our sanctity on the line!

I do know what it takes out of me and YOU, and to that end, I know what must be put into me and YOU to accomplish this. 

I must be hitting my daily pillars of faith, fitness and food. I also must do this in a very sustainable and Catholic fashion so that it sticks and imbibes me with the truth behind what I’m doing and who I am. 
I can’t do it sick, run down or in the cloud and funk of anxiety or depression.

I have to do and be the best wife, mother and coach I can be by getting my fill at certain fonts and then spilling that over for others.

There is no more significant work I could put my hand to the plow on.
​
I would love to help you feel this mission beneath your feet and beating from the heart in your chest too.
Give me a shout on a free call and I’ll help you see clearly where you’re at, where you must get to and how to achieve it while keeping the perfect balance and perspective as a Catholic mom. 
Uncover that gift and spend it! 


THIS, you’ll never regret,
Rebecca Dussault

​

This morning’s freezing rain is hardening the earth around me like a crust. 
It is converting the softness of yesterday’s snow, fresh and bright.
It wrecks the day! 
This is a logical perspective making moms flip flop in their motivation.
Even in the hearts and minds a predictable crust can set back in when life’s weather changes for the worse.
You had a glimmer of freshness and hope as 2019 opened, the blanketing of newness and the ‘promise’ was felt again so you played, planned and dashed carelessly out the door to enjoy your life. But only for a time?
Before long the dripping sogginess and subsequent freeze results in a hardening all around you. Your routines and good practices fade and so goes your zest for right living. 
By now you realize your best laid plans, since the first of the year, felt unique and bulletproof to YOU, something you wouldn’t let yourself down on, but you’re 11 days into it and feeling the crust encapsulating you…again.
Recognizing what is happening and how to correct it quickly can you from flip flopping and instead allows you to pivot wisely to keep all your joy and MOMentum.
A wise woman knows how to change course with creativity while holding fast to the purpose and goal whether the crust or fluff appears.
The crust does not intimidate her, but motivates her to look beyond what's easy and take up her next challenge. 
There are far too many fair weather people who only go out when the going is good. 
Do they also only pray when they feel like it, attend Mass when they’re already dressed well near the church or cook when they find the oven hot and the meal ingredients neatly aligned on the counter?
NO.
So why do you treat your flesh and physical education with less subjugation?  It’s as if it mattered so little that the regular abuse of it through neglect was permissible…because it's something nearly everyone does?
Gals going through formation in my Intensity Course are experiencing the feelings of thriving and forward focus, their lives and routines are sustainable bringing such incredible peace. But...
They have to practice it.
You have to practice it.
I have to practice it.
You have to show up and steward your body and soul in season and out of season, so stop flip flopping!
The work must go on!
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  Romans 5:1-5

I help women all over the country regain and maintain life in a healthy and holy manner. When you’re thinking it’s time for you to make changes and want them to finally stick and become your lifestyle then…chat with me for free.​

It can happen for you too,
Rebecca Dussault

Testimonial:
As a health care professional I have long been interested in health and wellness from a nutrition and exercise perspective. There was a disconnect in my own life though, and I was unable to bring together my faith, fitness and food into alignment on my own. Enter Rebecca - with her prayer-provoking insights, very thorough and well thought out program and daily individualized, personal contact. With her guidance, I was able to re-align my mindset and priorities. I have lost weight and gained a perspective that is more Christ centered. She pours her heart and soul out for the ladies she takes under her wing and it works! It has been a very worthwhile investment so that I can be healthy, strong and fit to keep up with and serve my family the way God has called me to serve. Take up this challenge. You won't be disappointed!" E.K

It’s that time of year when your Resolution Soup is on the burner again...

Can you smell it? Is it burning? Is the burner even on? How's it doing?

In reality, you and I both know the feeling of the New Year about to turn over. It means, among other things, that we will strive to set ideals out front, begin to raise our bar and bank on cute but unrealistic expectations for a few days, anyway.

Show me someone who sets out to fulfill what they think they ought to do after the feasting of Christmas and the end of another year of rigamarole and is still holding the line of renewed health, happiness and holiness into Spring? Summer? As a lifestyle? Wowza. Show me.

Most people, seriously the overwhelming majority, drop a resolution just as fast as they picked it up!!

However, usually they just lacked essential ingredients to make a soup that satiates from the beginning.

They left out ‘daily accountability’, went shy on what how much ‘realistic’ was called for and completely used the wrong combinations of ‘spices to keep it exciting and alluring.’

The Soup just wasn’t a hit after that first round of leftovers and they pitched it.

How can you change this headed into 2019? 
Can you change this? 
Need you change this?
YES, YES and YES!

None of us are living fully God’s ideals for our lives. We are plagued with our own frail humanity and loving the low road which we gravitate toward. Whether we want to align with only the Church’s times for renewal: Lent and Advent (two more times also if you’re Eastern Catholic) or align with the world’s timing: New Years, we frankly can use all the impetus we can get to make progress on our person.

This season of your life can be different. You know that the stewardship He is asking of you is DIFFERENT than what you’ve had going on...

When you don’t say no to certain foods: they’re a god.
When you don’t stay away from certain entertainment: it’s a god.
When you always excuse yourself from what really needs done with you: you’re a god.
And when you hide behind a false sense of your own progress: you’re limiting the real God.
It’s time to root it out, call it out and dig it up! 

Coming right up, we have as the pivotal first day of this New Year the special intercession of the Mother of God on her Solemnity under that title, she to whom our whole lives should be consecrated. She cracks open the newness, the promise and the hope for all Christians beginning again Jan. 1st.

Are you wanting to join her in saying YES to God?

It’s not optional to make these needed changes.

It’s requisite for your sanctification!

Start the wheels prayerfully discerning right now about what MUST happen in your life to get to that next chapter and reach out to me if I can help you to powerfully make those changes in a lasting and transformative way.

You’re worth it! Chat with me for free here.
​
In health and happiness,
Rebecca Dussault 


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The O Can’t-phons! Are you praying them?


🤷🏼‍♀️


You’ve heard of the O Antiphons and are hopefully entering more deeply into the last breaths of Advent by reverently praying and living them. They are, in fact, my favorite part of Advent. Each one draws me deeper in what it means to anticipate a holy Savior and therefore, salvation in my life.


Maybe you’re not as clear on what you and I are needing saved from?


Ourselves, of course!


Yeah, that’s the scary part because everywhere we go, there we are. We act out our worst versions of ourselfs with regularity we’d never want to admit. We get totally cozy by the fire of our lush, low road living. We decline into our default mode which should just crawl back to the Confessional.


In this case, we are oft to be found praying the O Can’t-iphons! We fall ‘pray’ to these year round...


O it’s not important to be healthy externally.
O I know that fitness is for vanity, not virtue.
O I can’t afford the help I desperately need.
O someone would loose out if I got to sweat.
O I’m not naturally or historically athletic.
O my kids and spouse are totally in the way.
O I rather like my detrimental comfort zone.


Well, let’s see if these or even more personal excuses get you where you want to go. Actually, nevermind where you want to go....Where does God want you to go in 2019? What greatness has he envisioned for YOU?


Could He possibly want you to be healthier, happier and holier?


Does he want you to have the strength to decide to homeschool, change careers, accept a new pregnancy or adapt joyfully to an empty nest?


Be real! He knows that you see people you’re not serving. He knows you’re not speaking the full truth with your flesh. He knows you have more potential that you’re hiding from!


He needs you to start showing up! It’s not optional. It’s not to be put off. Your lack of essential stamina, strength and form is not justified!


St. Amma Sycletice nails it for all of us:
“Your body is the armor, your soul is the warrior, train both and you’ll be ready for anything.”


What would a ‘desert mother’ like her know about the flesh? Answer: everything!


So, at long last with the shadows lengthening on 2018 in your life:


Quit thinking that you can fully live truth with your soul and keeping ditching your body at the deli counter!


Quit thinking you can proceed with passivity from the great commission at the end of Mass and ditch your discipline for “donut Sunday!”


Quit thinking you can put up a proper spiritual fight when you loose still every punching match with pastries!


We are either tethered to discipline or vice. These are each pretty exclusive and don’t like to share the place you make for them in life.


And, If you’re aware that heading into 2019 means you won’t make changes for yourself yet again this year, call me.


​With 10 years of helping women meet and exceed their own standards in body and soul daily, I can assure you’ll never be the same.


This could be the best present to yourself wrapped up in a 45 min. conversation that you WILL benefit from, guaranteed!


www.fitcatholicmom.com/talk

We all need filled, so we don’t feel want. 
We all want fullness, so we aren’t lacking.
We all lack for what truly fills us.

Are you on this circle… going round and round? Ah, hem…

St. Porphyrios says, “When people are empty of Christ, a thousand and one other things come  and fill them up: jealousies, hatreds, boredom, melancholy, resentment, a world outlook, worldly pleasures. Try to fill your soul with Christ so that it’s not empty.”

Well, since [we] have none of the aforementioned issues cropping up in our lives (fah, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la), let’s keep rolling along sustained by social media, doing our retail therapy, turning to television and avoiding action.

Why go on the high road when the low road is so accommodating? Literally, it’s always there for us and it feels pretty good every single time we go down it.

Why even strive physically, spiritually, emotionally and nutritionally when the option to check out and disconnect relentlessly knocks at the door only to eagerly be let in again?

Distract, detract, deter…who might lend this spirit to you? Can you call him by name?


WAKE UP WOMAN for the Lord is nigh!

The precious babe long sought for didn’t go from the wood of the manger to the wood of the cross so you could have hot coffee, a warm house, parties with candy and a shinny new gifts.

He came so you’d know grace enough to not grumble about the long list of daily chores, not loathe another connection with an inquiring kid, not turn coldly from your husband who needs intimate bodily contact to be able to communicate in fullness with you.

His plan for YOU included a much bigger test than if you can find a  website, pay a bill or hit the school drop off with just the right timing. 

He looked at your flesh and said, “will she make a suitable shelter for me in this cold world?” 
He looked at your mind and said, “will she grapple against this culture to understand truth?
He looked at your soul and said, “will my intimacy be shut out because of her busyness?” 
He looked at your emotions and said, “if I am simple, can she also be simple and trust me?”

Ladies, we unwrap the newborn babe in the cold out of His swaddling with our avoidance of doing the hard things, the small things, the hidden and insignificant things meant entirely for our sanctification. 

We live like the world, we speak like the world and desire much the same gratified life as everyone else…no wonder the world doesn’t recognize Christ much anymore!!

Does your discipline, devotion and dedication speak of a relationship the world knows not?
Does your life light up the world though it clings to darkness?

O Lord, turn us. Form us. Use us.

Catholic moms everywhere, you beating hearts of your homes, LISTEN and DO whatever He tells you!! DO NOT submit to the yoke of the world or runaway flesh for another day!

Come on bended knee and crawl towards the manger with me…for soon we will truly adore!


In Advent silence,

Rebecca Dussault


Willing to talk about your life in detail and get a whole new perspective? Chat with me for free here.