Last week, one of my kids told me, “Summer is almost over.” Say what? When I shared this with Greg, he didn’t sound surprised. Apparently, one of his coworkers said something similar to him. Something along the lines of it being the end of July. On July 10. I returned to my child, and we counted the remaining days of summer. We discovered that we have a few more than 40 days left of summer break. I thought that would…
It is Saturday. I sit on a bench in the garden, just after dinner. Lush trees surround me. The creek below flows freely. The cool breeze blows as the warm sun begins to set. Everything that surrounds me is full, ripe with goodness, extending up and out. The trees’ branches exhibit a fullness of green. The shining sun just celebrated its brightest day of the year. The gentle breeze rustles the grass and tickles my nose. And the colorful flowers cheerfully…
Opening my inbox, I saw the email waiting for me. I knew what it would entail, before I even read it. Your deadline is approaching. Please submit your article ASAP. Panic set in. I could not even think about adding one more thing to my overflowing plate. In addition to the panic, I noticed that sadness set into my heart, too. I wanted to write that article. I wanted to do it, more than anything on my to-do list. And…
Summer has proven to be a wonderful time to catch up on one of my favorite past-times: reading. Except for one minor hiccup: I am not a fast reader. Therefore, I am never going to read all the books I hope to read in any given amount of time. If I am OK with that, and I think I am, then, yes, summer is a wonderful time to catch up on my reading! In June, I set out to read…
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a nice chat about books. The last time I shared what I’ve been reading was back in October. For some reason, 2018 has not started out as my year for reading an impressive list of books. In fact, according to my Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge, I’ve only read three books in five months. (Yikes!) The thing is, I love books, and I love to read. And now that it is summer, and our family schedule…
Tomorrow marks the beginning of summer vacation for my six children. And they can’t wait. Currently, my oldest three are cramming for final exams, while my younger three are cleaning out desks and making teacher gifts. As for me, I am switching back and forth between excitement and trepidation about what the next three months (87 days to be exact) will bring. I am the type of mom who likes the predictability of the school year—the rhythm of the day,…
For much of my life, I considered myself to be fairly insignificant. As a young girl, I was shy, quiet, and often picked last for kickball games. Growing up, I was a good student, but I was not exceptional. My gifts and talents were not noticeable on the stage or soccer field. Even into my young adult years, I saw friends sparkle through their passions—music, art, fitness, you name it—and I wondered why my life didn’t shine as brightly as…
The Blessed Virgin is like a good mother who, not content with looking after all her children in general, watches over each one separately. —St. John Vianney I have written about Mary, Jesus’ mother, a lot. If you type “Mary” into the search engine on the right sidebar, you will find an array of blog posts about her. If you click on “31 Days” at the top of my website, you will find a 31-day series I wrote on her….
The vocation of motherhood is a beautiful one. In Mulieris Dignitatem, St. John Paul II writes, “Each and every time that motherhood is repeated in human history, it is always related to the Covenant which God established with the human race through the motherhood of the Mother of God.” Wow! To think that every pregnancy points to the Incarnation is nothing less than amazing! As beautiful as motherhood is, it also can be difficult and even painful. [Motherhood] is constituted more…
Remember the sabbath day — keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh…