“But I don’t wanna do Quiet Time,” my 3 year old moaned. 1:30 PM had already passed and I’m quite possessive of our designated silence-all each afternoon. I need the calm. “I know you don’t,” a feeble effort to validate him, “but everyone needs quiet time.” “But I don’t WANT TO!” In our back-and-forth, his […]
Come to Jesus and Live
___________________________________ “Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of mercy are burning Me – clamoring to be spent; I want to pour them out upon these souls…The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy.” Christ’s message for St. Faustina to proclaim through the image of Divine […]
Don’t Be a Fan of the Saints
I own every Garth Brooks album. A fan since the tiny age of 3 when “Friends in Low Places” thrilled country radio, I soaked up and memorized lines from his self-titled release through Man Against the Machine. My parents saw him live when I was 7 and came home with an autographed photo – complete with […]
Lent for the Married
Andrew and I were passing ideas back forth – sweets, alcohol, eating between meals. What to give up for Lent? I could do the typical, but I want this year to be different. I want to thrill in Easter joy on a level deeper than Reese’s and the relief that the strife is o’er. So I […]
All of God’s Grace in One Tiny Face
It was a cold night in the middle of January 2014. In the quiet, I placed our littlest in his crib and felt the familiar, painful yearning – so far unfulfilled, though God’s other blessings were abundant. There in the dark, I knelt at the changing table in the nursery and with clutched, folded hands […]
The *Perfect* Birthday Present
My birthday is coming up. January 8th 🙂 I start looking forward to my birthday every year on the 9th – I love it. I make a point to have a good time and set myself up for delight – choosing my clothes, breakfast, and day’s activities in advance to celebrate the fact that God […]
Resolutions for the Improving Catholic
A NEW YEAR! Nothing gives hope like a blank slate and this, the beginning of 2015, offers every chance for improvement that I could possibly hope for. Like any fresh-start-revering American, I fantasize about pursuing health, purging our house of excess, and finally running a half marathon; but the best I can do this […]
Marital Respect during Pro-Life Month
Happy National Respect Life Month! If there’s any assembly in the world ready to stand for life from conception to natural death, it’s Catholics. We share articles, pray before clinics, and organize events for the noblest of causes. It’s an uphill battle going against societal norms, but one that must be taken on by courageous […]
Humbled at the Pump: An Unexpected Lesson in Charity
The pump was irritatingly slow; and for a mama with a rare hour to herself, I wasn’t excited about the time it was taking to fill my gas tank in the sweltering Southern heat. I took the opportunity to clean out the van and, stepping away to toss my trash, I was approached. “’Scuse me […]
Primary Educators NEED Education in Mercy
The whole point of any vocation is to get you to heaven. From my still-fresh view on marriage and family, closeness with Christ is absolutely required if salvation is the goal. I don’t know about you, but I think that fits the bill pretty well for parenthood, because how in the WORLD am I going […]
