We loved Barbara Bartocci's little book Grace on the Go: 100 Quick Ways to Pray and called it "a gem . . . with its wide-ranging examples of how we can make every moment a devotional one." Now the national award-winning author of nine books has written another one in the same style. This paperback offers felicitous ways to prayerfully overcome money worries.
In these difficult times of financial crisis, people are very worried about paying their bills and making ends meet. Bartocci suggests a prayer adapted from an affirmation in the Bible: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." She also shares the idea of putting all your worries in a bag and then once a day pouring them all out in a 15-minute period of time. Thank God for becoming free of worry and then put the bag away.
The author believes that we can do a lot to ease our money worries by discerning the difference between wants and needs and includes a prayer to address that issue. Bartocci states that the belt-tightening many of us are going through is a good thing and certainly better than the reckless consumerism of the past several years. Less is more, and it is high time that we realize we already possess many spiritual riches. The author delivers the practice of keeping a money autobiography so we can see the ideas and ideals we have picked up from our parents and our culture. She then presents 12 Prayerful Actions for Simpler Living. Bartocci covers the turf with other chapters on debt, from scarcity to simple abundance, the gift of giving, happiness, and trouble spots in the ways we handle our money. We especially appreciated a section in the book where the author shares "Twelve Ways to Increase Life's Joys."
