A Mother's Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul

by Holly Pierlot

On January 1, 2000, Holly Pierlot pounded her fist on the kitchen table and yelled at her husband, "I can't take it anymore "

Motherhood and homeschooling had overwhelmed her. The house was dirty, the laundry undone. Holly felt frustrated, discouraged, and alone. She couldn't find time to snuggle and have fun with her five children or to go out with her husband. Yes, she loved Philip and she did love God, but she had come to resent...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1928832415
• ISBN13: 9781928832416
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Made me excited to read and work again

It makes everything so realistic. Holly really does well at explaining her method and how to help your family get healthier through bettering life styles. After having my last child, I felt sluggish and tired all the time. This book brought life back into me in ways I hadn't known were missing.

Bringing God's Order Home

Our God is a god of order. He brought order out of the soupy chaos, as chronicled in Genesis, and in order to fully embrace Him, we must do the same. This review is later than it should be because of the [fallen] response to a book outlining schedules, priorities, and order in the home. In the year 2000, Holly "pounded her fist on the kitchen table" and demanded a change in her life - resulting in this well-thought out and comprehensive book. Your reviewer was slower on the uptake, thinking a little chaos was healthy thing, until she finally hit the wall as well. The beautiful surprise is that surrendering to order is a victory for freedom. Once the book is actually cracked and begun, the reader discovers a soul-mate in Holly - a good-hearted woman with oats to sow, with sins to confess, and an aversion to constraints. Like most mothers of orderly households, there is the breadth of humanness, from self-absorption to heroic generosity and everything in between. Most importantly, like any radical alteration, she had to really want to change. For my children, I've defined maturity as "doing the right thing for the right reason." As I age, I've seen more and more that people often do the right thing for the wrong reasons. For example, it is entirely possible to see to your children's hygiene, your house's spotlessness, and your family's punctuality for the sake of human respect. We all succumb to considering "what others think of us" to some degree, and yet there is an inverse response - to flout convention for the sake of "not going with the crowd," or (especially with women) to be mired in a perpetual "passive-aggressive mode" with our own dear mothers. The beauty of maturity is to face God as a grateful child and to ask Him, "What would You have me do - out of love for You and those who depend on me." As Holly's life disintegrated, she finally took it to prayer and came up with a set of priorities: God, herself, her husband, her children, and then other important things, such as work. I must confess, putting herself second on that list won me over. (It has been a sneaking suspicion of mine for decades that I am supposed to come last, and that has led me to constantly carve out for myself snippets of time and comfort, which made me feel both safe and enormously guilty.) What did she mean? Putting herself second was practical step in acknowledging that she could not give of herself to her family and her work - both inside the home and outside - unless she were taken care of. Taking care of herself was not indulgent (shopping, pedicures, vacations, and idle gab-fests with the girls) but necessary (prayer, rest, down-time, and generally recharging the batteries). In that context, knowing that she is not to be the local doormat, a woman can face the calendar and ask what she genuinely needs. With herself taken care of, the rest comes tumbling after - without panic, oppression, or fear. The days are just as full, the chores are just as pressin

This book changed my life!

This book is filled with words of wisdom. You will want to read it more than once to absorb it all. This book has changed my life. In the first week of implementing my rule, I had more time than I ever imagined to spend with my children and in prayer. Without a doubt one of the best, life-changing books I've ever read. Worth EVERY penny.

An answer to my prayers!

I loved this book. Holly Pierlot shares her own struggles as a home schooling mother of five and how God has blessed her efforts. This book has helped me put my life in order. Following your own Mother's Rule of Life through this book is a way to put God first everyday.

A Real Guide for Catholic Moms

A Mother's Rule of Life is such a wonderful resource for all Catholic moms. Holly Pierlot really brings to light the many challenges that mothers face, offering both personal examples from her life as well as practical advice. She points out that while following a schedule can make life more ordered, following a schedule in and of itself is not as sanctifying as following a schedule in order to become closer to God. Ms. Pierlot tells not only what works for her but also how to make your own rule of life that will bring you the peace and serenity of getting everything done and growing on your faith journey at the same time. A wonderful book for all Catholic moms, and especially for those who homeschool or have young children at home.