About The Author/Contributors
Barbara Arbuckle is a retired Catholic School Kindergarten Teacher. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from West Chester University. Barbara self-published a book entitled Life Lessons from the Little Ones. It is the words, wit and wisdom of the children. The children remind us of God’s great love for us.
She continues to write about her love for the Lord. In addition to participation in her parish’s charismatic prayer group, she considers reading scripture, prayer and the rosary very important in her life.
After retiring she cared for her mother for seven years. She now enjoys time with her husband, son, daughter, son-in-law and three grandsons. Barbara lives with her husband of over forty years in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
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When I was led by the Spirit to write about God’s grace, little did I know that his plan was to unite five complete strangers to share his extraordinary grace in five ordinary lives. This book began as an outpouring of love from God to me. I wanted others to know that grace is real and needs to be shared. I was willing to put my total trust in God as this book became a reality. Trusting is not always easy and can be a long process. God has his time schedule and we have ours. He knows what is best. What started as my individual path spread to the lives of four other authors—Sister Janice McGrane, SSJ, Elisa Taylor Berry, Arlene Finocchiaro and Annette Hug.
Our journey in writing this book has been comparable to weaving a tapestry. Our threads have been interwoven and interconnected. I started alone and each author as a thread was added one by one. Coming together has never been a mere coincidence. Always trusting in God’s plan, he sent me support from strangers that I could not have even imagined.
Sister Janice, a published author, guided us through the publication experience as well as providing spiritual guidance. Sitting around Elisa’s kitchen table, Janice shared her life-changing experience at Lourdes, one she hadn’t even shared with many in her religious community. As an advocate for individuals with disabilities, her small stature hid the fierce spirituality and zeal for justice to which she dedicated her life. After a long struggle with illness, she went to meet her bridegroom on June 27, 2016.
Sister Janice was the connecting thread with Elisa. Elisa’s positive spiritual energy and deeply moving personal stories led us all to appreciate the value of our own experiences. She is grace in action spreading God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness through her lay prayer ministry at www.heavenhelpus.net, as a lay missionary of the Sacred Heart and a volunteer with the Kairos prison ministry. If you ever need a spiritual cheerleader to pull you through the soul-searching task of writing a spiritual book, Elisa is the one to call.
Arlene is another thread pulled in by Sister Janice after meeting her at a meeting of the associates of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Elisa and I were captivated listening to Arlene paint pictures with words and leave us with lasting images. We shared experiences working with children and the struggles of prolonged caregiving. As an occupational therapist working with children with deaf-blindness, she taught us to find grace in the smallest intimate moments. From her experiences as a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Catholic Writers Guild, she was our chief editor during the writing process.
Wanting to add to our writings, I contacted Annette Hug who volunteered at the St. Agnes Day Room. She joyfully accepted the challenge of writing about God’s grace. When she joined us, she shared childhood memories which reflected her very beginnings of faith. This soul-searching and finding grace in later tragedy was healing for her. She thanked me and was so grateful that I asked her to look deeper into her past. I was the thankful one. I met and got to know a beautiful, giving and kind soul.
Each of us shared our graced journeys as well as supported one another through personal trials. Sometimes we did not see each other for months but our thoughts and prayers never stopped. Over time we started calling ourselves the “grace sisters.” We chose to weave the joys and sorrows of our lives into a book because we knew that God was building something much bigger and more beautiful with our lives than we could ever have imagined.
See also:
Arbuckle, B. (2009). Life Lessons from the Little Ones. West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing
McGrane, J. (2006). Saints to Lean On: Spiritual Companions for Illness. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press. McGrane, J. (2011). Saints for Healing: Stories of Courage and Hope. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press.
