How Can We Serve You in 2024

Happy feast of the Holy Family! And happy New Year’s Eve!

It’s a beautiful coincidence they fall on the same day as many Catholic families ponder how the upcoming year can be a time of growing in holiness together.

Matt and I started Jump In Catholic Family Ministry last year as a way to walk alongside families and help them either begin (or sustain) a family identity that’s guided by the Holy Spirit!

The Spirit wants to help families grow in happiness and holiness together and to empower them to actively discern God’s will. 

I’d like to share with you some ideas we’ve been working on. Would you mind giving us some feedback on which ideas would serve you best?

Matt and I working on stuff for you 2024!

Family Movie Night:

We are a screen family. I know many families limit screen time and some don’t like screens at all. We limit screen time too, but I am a big fan of utilizing the screen to help families grow closer to one another. I grew up watching probably too many movies with my siblings. We to this day have a “movie language” using quotes from our favorite shows. It helped to bond us, gave us an unlimited supply of inside jokes, and eventually became a way for us to search for a deeper meaning. For example, did you know that The Lion King contains references to each of the Seven Sacraments?

Matt and I want to plan a catechetical movie night for you and your family. We choose a movie that is (pretty) family-friendly and include suggested viewer age, places in the movie to pause and link to our Catholic faith, optional movie-themed snacks to enjoy, etc. We will even include optional discussion questions and Saints who have exemplified the highlighted virtue. We plan to do a Family Movie Night guide once a month.

Imperfect Family Blog:

We plan to continue to write about the highs and lows, the triumphs and trials of an imperfect family striving (and often failing) for a happy and holy life centered on listening and responding to the Holy Spirit. Count on a new blog at least once a week.

Mother-Daughter Workshops at Your Local Parish:

Designed for moms and their daughters (ages 8-13), this workshop helps to grow and nourish the mom-daughter bond and facilitates important conversations about topics like Catholic perspectives on femininity, discernment, service, etc. This workshop empowers moms and daughters to pray for and with one another and seek the Lord together. This is the perfect event to kick-off a parish study of the Mother-Daughter book, Bloom. If you are interested in having me come and do this workshop at your parish, email Stacy at Jumpincatholic@gmail.com.

Practical Ideas for Loving Your Fam:

We are big on utilizing the 5 Love Languages to ensure that each member of our household feels seen and loved. We do a lot of dates: parent-kid dates, husband-wife dates, and even family dates! It’s a line item in our budget so we set aside both money and time to ensure that at least one of each date happens every month. We will share about these dates on our social media page, write about how to start dates as a family on our blog, and even send out challenges to our email subscribers!

Monthly Q&A Sessions:

Each month, Matt and I would talk about common problems families face in their mission to be happy and holy. We are debating whether to do Zoom sessions then YouTube videos or a Podcast. What do you prefer?

More Books in the Works:

I’m currently working on a Mother-Son counterpart to Bloom. It will be a book that encourages our sons to choose a virtuous life and involves a lot of video game lingo. We are a gaming family and love the similarities that questing video games have to living a life of virtue and leveling up. Plan to Launch in July!

Matt is currently working on a book designed for dads, telling stories of the great and not-so-great moments in fatherhood, and what he’s learned, and includes challenges for fathers to do with their sons who are coming of age. Hope to be released in 2024!

Another book Matt is working on is about what the Catholic Church can teach us about life today. Sacred Tradition, scripture, church history, and lives of the saints are all woven through this manuscript applying the wisdom (and failings) of Catholicism to living our life today. Timeline TBD.

What are you looking forward to? Does any one idea jump out to you? Is there another need you have we haven’t touched on? Tell us! We are here to serve you!

We are looking forward to serving and supporting you however we can! Praying for you all today and through 2024!

~Matt and Stacy