Hendey To Share Message Of 'Yes'
With a voice that resonates with experience and authenticity, Lisa Hendey says “Yes” to God each day in a multitude of formats. Hendey, the bestselling author of “The Grace of Yes: Eight Virtues for Generous Living,” founder and editor of CatholicMom.com and a frequent host on KNXT Catholic Television, will share her message as a keynote speaker during the Gather in Faith Women’s Conference at St. John the Baptist Parish in Newburgh from 8 a.m.CT to 3:30 p.m. CT on Sept. 17.
Hendey hopes the women of the Diocese of Evansville join her for a day that is fun, relaxing and inspirational.
“I hope we will laugh, that we will share with one another from our hearts,” she said. “That we will pray and worship as the Body of Christ, and that we’ll emerge from the day better able to love and serve those around us with the power of our ‘Yes.’”
Hendey admits she usually jumps out of bed each day with a smile, anxious to get on with whatever God has planned for that day. Her family is used to seeing her scribbling in a journal, but knows well the perils of being raised with a blogging mom.
“For a long time they’d do something cute and say, ‘You should be blogging about this mom!’” Hendey recalls. “Then we reached the high school years of, ‘Don’t you dare blog about this, Mom!’ They recognize that for me, writing is like breathing.”
Her husband is her greatest hero in terms of her writing.
“Greg has been amazingly generous and trusting in allowing me to share our story, and honestly his story, in my writing,” said Hendey. “Much of my apostolate was ‘born’ because Greg was not yet Catholic and I was seeking support on how to raise our boys in the faith - with his full support - but somewhat on my own. When Greg came into the Church through the RCIA 17 years into our marriage, his conversion had a profound impact on our family.”
That story is shared, with his blessing, in “The Grace of Yes: Eight Virtues for Generous Living.” Within this book Hendey shares insight on eight spiritual virtues that allow one to live generously and joyously say yes to God.
One of the eight virtues is “generativity,” a term defined as a concern or need to nurture or guide people besides self and family.
“Yes to ‘generativity’ means saying yes to relationships that look to build up, to support and to truly care for others...at how we might more fully serve Jesus in serving the people around us,” Hendey explains. “Learning more about the idea of generativity in my own relationships has helped me to understand how I can better love God by being a more giving wife, daughter, sister, mother and friend.”
She looks forward to meeting the women of Evansville and hopes to learn from them, as well as sharing her message.
“I try to begin each day in prayer - giving my day to God and asking for God’s grace for whatever may come along,” Hendey shares. “While my faith life and the gift of my family are always my top priorities, these days my work takes me to such amazing places. While my travels have taken me as far away as Rwanda or the Philippines, it’s often in places like the cornfields of Iowa or in the middle of Manhattan that I meet women who are giving their own unique ‘Yes’ to God...simply by serving their families, their communities and our world.”
Tickets for the conference are $25 per person and includes lunch ($30 per ticket after August 31). Childcare is available for $5 per family. To register and for more details, visit www.sjbnewburgh.org or contact Bethany Logan at 937-216-0143.
