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Walking with God in the Unimpressive Seasons of Life
Most of life is made up of unimpressive moments and unimpressive seasons. While we look forward to the next “peak moment” of our lives, we cannot underestimate the importance of these ordinary seasons in our lives—because these are the times when we become the people God needs us to be.
In this latest book by beloved chaplain Fr. Mike Schmitz, you will discover that you have an important and irreplaceable part in God’s story. Learn from Fr. Mike how to small choices can help you realize your potential in this life—and in the next.
In this latest book by beloved chaplain Fr. Mike Schmitz, you will discover that you have an important and irreplaceable part in God’s story. Learn from Fr. Mike how to small choices can help you realize your potential in this life—and in the next.
64 pages, Paperback
Published April 4, 2024
56 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Michael Schmitz
31 books266 followersOrdained for the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota in 2003, Fr. Michael Schmitz is currently the Director of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the diocese. Fr. Michael is known nationally for his inspiring homilies, his presentations and talks to university students, and his tremendous sense of humor. (IgnatiusPress.com)
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 18, 2024
I have been listening to Father Mike and reading books by him for a few years now. I get excited every time I see a new book by him or that he has contributed to. I picked up this volume shortly after it released. And it immediately jumped towards the top of my ‘to be read’ pile. And this little volume is a wonderful book.
The description of this volume is:
“Most of life is made up of unimpressive moments and unimpressive seasons. While we look forward to the next “peak moment” of our lives, we cannot underestimate the importance of these ordinary seasons in our lives—because these are the times when we become the people God needs us to be.
In this latest book by beloved chaplain Fr. Mike Schmitz, you will discover that you have an important and irreplaceable part in God’s story. Learn from Fr. Mike how to small choices can help you realize your potential in this life—and in the next.”
About Father Mike we are informed:
“Father Mike Schmitz is a Catholic priest, author, and speaker in the Diocese of Duluth, MN. Working with Ascension Press, he is the author of the Belonging study program, and is featured in many others, including Altaration, YOU, Chosen, and I Will Follow. Father Schmitz has been the primary personality involved in Ascension Press’ outlet, Ascension Presents, with weekly YouTube videos offering Catholic perspectives of cultural and societal issues. Beginning in 2017, these talks were also offered in audio form as podcasts. He currently runs the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and is also the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the diocese.”
Though after the success of Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year there are likely few who do not know the name Father Mike.
The chapters in this volume are:
One Small Step
Don’t Underestimate Your Role in God’s Plan
Silence Is Not Absence
Don’t Underestimate the Value of Time
Just Show Up
How to Handle the Unimpressive Seasons of Life
Reflection and Discussion
About Fr. Mike Schmitz
I loved this little volume and highlighted numerous passages while reading it. Some of them are:
“What happens when we make New Year’s resolutions is not that we overestimate our goals or dreams—the big moments and the big plan. It’s that we underestimate the impact that our daily choices and small decisions can have.”
“When it comes to any change we desire in our lives, we underestimate what God sees in us. We underestimate the power of the single, unifying principle for our lives. Too often, we underestimate the impact of those small daily decisions. Too often, we underestimate ourselves and what God wants to do with us.”
“Here’s the thing: when you underestimate your role in God’s plan, you underestimate who God needs you to be. God tells the Israelites, and he tells us, that they have underestimated what God can do in them and through them.”
“I believe that many of us have underestimated our role in God’s story, and because of that, we have underestimated who God needs us to be.”
“Saints are just people who didn’t underestimate who God needed them to be.”
“The same goes for us. You might not know everything that God wants you to do, but if you live according to the single unifying principle of knowing Jesus and making him known, there is no way you can fail to become the kind of person God wants you to be. We cannot underestimate the power of this single unifying principle.”
“Saints aren’t made in big moments. Saints are just people who didn’t underestimate who God needed them to be. They didn’t underestimate the power of a single unifying principle. They refused to underestimate the impact of small decisions. Instead they just did what was in front of them.”
“If becoming who God needs us to be is the project of our lives, we have to be prepared to actually let it take our entire lives.”
“In the last chapter, we talked about how we cannot underestimate who God needs us to be. In this chapter, I want to talk about how we cannot underestimate how long it will take to become who God needs us to be. If this is the project of our lives, we have to be prepared to actually let it take our entire lives.”
“God’s silence is not the same thing as his absence.”
“But the truth is, we cannot underestimate what God is doing when it seems that God is doing nothing—because his silence is not the same thing as his absence. Sometimes, in fact, his silence is absolutely necessary.”
“That’s us too. In the darkness, we forget what was true in the light. We think God’s not doing anything. But he’s there. We just have to keep reading, to turn the page and finish the story. Because there’s no way to know how the story is going to end until it’s actually ended. Then we’ll know. Then we’ll understand. But until then, we cannot underestimate what we don’t understand.”
“We cannot underestimate the importance of unimpressive moments or even seasons when it comes to becoming the people God needs us to be.”
“How much of life is wasted just because we underestimate the importance of unimpressive seasons while we’re waiting for life to happen? This is life! We can’t always wait for the peak or for our growth to be done.”
“This is the key: not waiting around for the peak moment, but simply showing up. Ask yourself today: Where does God need me to be? In this unimpressive season that you are probably in, where do you need to show up? Where do you need to be? We can’t underestimate the unimpressive seasons. We have to show up to them.”
“But what if we not only showed up but became actively engaged, no matter where we were? What if we didn’t just go through the motions but actually believed and trusted that we were where God wanted us to be? God wants us actively engaged in living, not just going through the motions. He wants us believing and trusting that he is here, and that he wants us here too.”
“This is also true when it comes to prayer. Our relationship with God is prayer. So much of prayer is just showing up and being there. Just show up, knowing that God is here, and God wants me here.”
“I believe that many of us have underestimated our role in God’s story, and because of that, we have underestimated who God needs us to be.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for the wisdom contained within this small volume. When I was in university, I was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, there was a series of booklets by the founder Bill Bright, called Transferable Concepts, and by reading them many times you could almost memorize them and the message so that you could share it. This volume reminds me a lot of those books.
This little booklet is another excellent resource from Father Mike., It is a volume any Catholic would benefit from reading and that any Christian could benefit from as well. It is a book that has an important message for all believers in Jesus Christ, for all who seek to live for God.
This is an excellent read. Once I can easily recommend, and challenge all Catholics to read!
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2024 Catholic Reading Plan!
The description of this volume is:
“Most of life is made up of unimpressive moments and unimpressive seasons. While we look forward to the next “peak moment” of our lives, we cannot underestimate the importance of these ordinary seasons in our lives—because these are the times when we become the people God needs us to be.
In this latest book by beloved chaplain Fr. Mike Schmitz, you will discover that you have an important and irreplaceable part in God’s story. Learn from Fr. Mike how to small choices can help you realize your potential in this life—and in the next.”
About Father Mike we are informed:
“Father Mike Schmitz is a Catholic priest, author, and speaker in the Diocese of Duluth, MN. Working with Ascension Press, he is the author of the Belonging study program, and is featured in many others, including Altaration, YOU, Chosen, and I Will Follow. Father Schmitz has been the primary personality involved in Ascension Press’ outlet, Ascension Presents, with weekly YouTube videos offering Catholic perspectives of cultural and societal issues. Beginning in 2017, these talks were also offered in audio form as podcasts. He currently runs the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and is also the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the diocese.”
Though after the success of Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year there are likely few who do not know the name Father Mike.
The chapters in this volume are:
One Small Step
Don’t Underestimate Your Role in God’s Plan
Silence Is Not Absence
Don’t Underestimate the Value of Time
Just Show Up
How to Handle the Unimpressive Seasons of Life
Reflection and Discussion
About Fr. Mike Schmitz
I loved this little volume and highlighted numerous passages while reading it. Some of them are:
“What happens when we make New Year’s resolutions is not that we overestimate our goals or dreams—the big moments and the big plan. It’s that we underestimate the impact that our daily choices and small decisions can have.”
“When it comes to any change we desire in our lives, we underestimate what God sees in us. We underestimate the power of the single, unifying principle for our lives. Too often, we underestimate the impact of those small daily decisions. Too often, we underestimate ourselves and what God wants to do with us.”
“Here’s the thing: when you underestimate your role in God’s plan, you underestimate who God needs you to be. God tells the Israelites, and he tells us, that they have underestimated what God can do in them and through them.”
“I believe that many of us have underestimated our role in God’s story, and because of that, we have underestimated who God needs us to be.”
“Saints are just people who didn’t underestimate who God needed them to be.”
“The same goes for us. You might not know everything that God wants you to do, but if you live according to the single unifying principle of knowing Jesus and making him known, there is no way you can fail to become the kind of person God wants you to be. We cannot underestimate the power of this single unifying principle.”
“Saints aren’t made in big moments. Saints are just people who didn’t underestimate who God needed them to be. They didn’t underestimate the power of a single unifying principle. They refused to underestimate the impact of small decisions. Instead they just did what was in front of them.”
“If becoming who God needs us to be is the project of our lives, we have to be prepared to actually let it take our entire lives.”
“In the last chapter, we talked about how we cannot underestimate who God needs us to be. In this chapter, I want to talk about how we cannot underestimate how long it will take to become who God needs us to be. If this is the project of our lives, we have to be prepared to actually let it take our entire lives.”
“God’s silence is not the same thing as his absence.”
“But the truth is, we cannot underestimate what God is doing when it seems that God is doing nothing—because his silence is not the same thing as his absence. Sometimes, in fact, his silence is absolutely necessary.”
“That’s us too. In the darkness, we forget what was true in the light. We think God’s not doing anything. But he’s there. We just have to keep reading, to turn the page and finish the story. Because there’s no way to know how the story is going to end until it’s actually ended. Then we’ll know. Then we’ll understand. But until then, we cannot underestimate what we don’t understand.”
“We cannot underestimate the importance of unimpressive moments or even seasons when it comes to becoming the people God needs us to be.”
“How much of life is wasted just because we underestimate the importance of unimpressive seasons while we’re waiting for life to happen? This is life! We can’t always wait for the peak or for our growth to be done.”
“This is the key: not waiting around for the peak moment, but simply showing up. Ask yourself today: Where does God need me to be? In this unimpressive season that you are probably in, where do you need to show up? Where do you need to be? We can’t underestimate the unimpressive seasons. We have to show up to them.”
“But what if we not only showed up but became actively engaged, no matter where we were? What if we didn’t just go through the motions but actually believed and trusted that we were where God wanted us to be? God wants us actively engaged in living, not just going through the motions. He wants us believing and trusting that he is here, and that he wants us here too.”
“This is also true when it comes to prayer. Our relationship with God is prayer. So much of prayer is just showing up and being there. Just show up, knowing that God is here, and God wants me here.”
“I believe that many of us have underestimated our role in God’s story, and because of that, we have underestimated who God needs us to be.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for the wisdom contained within this small volume. When I was in university, I was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, there was a series of booklets by the founder Bill Bright, called Transferable Concepts, and by reading them many times you could almost memorize them and the message so that you could share it. This volume reminds me a lot of those books.
This little booklet is another excellent resource from Father Mike., It is a volume any Catholic would benefit from reading and that any Christian could benefit from as well. It is a book that has an important message for all believers in Jesus Christ, for all who seek to live for God.
This is an excellent read. Once I can easily recommend, and challenge all Catholics to read!
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2024 Catholic Reading Plan!
May 7, 2024
Fr Mike packs a lot of wisdom into this short book! It's a quick and enjoyable read that I'll likely come back to :)
November 18, 2024
Enjoyed this quick read on navigating the darker periods of life.
August 15, 2025
Father Mike Schmitz is one of the leading Catholic voices in today's America. He is an excellent voice for the church and I especially love reading his books, no matter how short they are.
In this book, Father Mike addresses what we believe to be the smallness of our lives or the dark forests we may be in. He reminds us that each day is special, we are today where God wants us to be and we must move forward, one step at a time, to progress to become the person we are meant to be.
No matter how small or challenging our lives seem today, no matter how silent God seems to be with regard to our calls for help, we must remember that we are all called for greatness and we all have a purpose. That purpose will not come from one magical moment, but rather, from an accumulation of many small steps taken on a daily basis.
As Kierkegaard stated, life can only be understood looking backward but it must be lived forward.
So, just show up every day. Be the best Christian you can be. Make wise small decisions and realize there are no small roles, only small actors.
In this book, Father Mike addresses what we believe to be the smallness of our lives or the dark forests we may be in. He reminds us that each day is special, we are today where God wants us to be and we must move forward, one step at a time, to progress to become the person we are meant to be.
No matter how small or challenging our lives seem today, no matter how silent God seems to be with regard to our calls for help, we must remember that we are all called for greatness and we all have a purpose. That purpose will not come from one magical moment, but rather, from an accumulation of many small steps taken on a daily basis.
As Kierkegaard stated, life can only be understood looking backward but it must be lived forward.
So, just show up every day. Be the best Christian you can be. Make wise small decisions and realize there are no small roles, only small actors.
October 28, 2024
Fr. Schmitz has simple words of wisdom for the ordinary moments of life. He exhorts us not to underestimate our importance to God and His plan for humanity. He sees that the small, quotidian moments of life, whether we see it or not, will add up to something greater for us in the end. I like his practical advice about what to do in the face of confusion and uncertainty. He tells us "to do what we know. "Just start with the Ten Commandments." Good advice for people unsure about how to start their journey to spiritual maturity.
January 11, 2026
A quick read, but a great reminder that God is working even in the quiet or hard times of life. Father Mike uses Bible reference and other stories to help us look beyond the fun and exciting moments of life and see how we can draw closer to Christ as we wait.
January 19, 2026
Great Book
Fr. Mike gives great encouragement that God has a plan for us and we can get so much meaning in our faithful ordinary lives which prepare us for a glorious life in heaven. Don’t despair but follow Jesus.
Fr. Mike gives great encouragement that God has a plan for us and we can get so much meaning in our faithful ordinary lives which prepare us for a glorious life in heaven. Don’t despair but follow Jesus.
August 7, 2024
It's good. Makes a person think. But I'm not sure it's a $10.00 book
October 3, 2024
Amazing and inspiring book on prayer and life’s perspectives-this book is a keeper🌊🌞☮️💜
December 26, 2024
There is a lot of wisdom in this short book. It is a book to be read slowly and pondered, as far as I am concerned.
January 26, 2025
A very quick short read but so powerful in helping us in our unimpressive seasons of life.
February 12, 2025
I really needed this read!:)
February 16, 2025
Great quick read, that helps put things in perspective.
June 8, 2025
Concise book . Good message
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews