Originally written last Lent, I thought I would share it here for #WorthRevisitWednesday! It is always a good time to ponder the Lord’s mercy, patience, and love! +++ In this Year of Mercy, I wonder how I experience God’s mercy. It is difficult to wrap my head around something so profoundly miraculous, because often, I feel so unworthy of it. But as I ponder the Scriptures, I cannot deny the reality of God’s mercy. Pope Francis explains it well when…
Last Sunday’s Gospel about the Woman at the Well (John 4:5-42) is very common during the season of Lent, and over the years, it has become one of my favorites. Several years ago, I attended a women’s retreat, and an image of the Woman at the Well was the focal point. A small holy card was taped onto our retreat journals. Large posters with the image on it surrounded our meeting room. And every time I gazed upon it, I saw myself….
This was originally posted during Holy Week 2011. I thought it might be helpful to repost it earlier in the Lenten season in case we are already waiting for Lent to be over. Perhaps we are even tempted to give up. The Lord is inviting us into the desert to be with Him, to remain close to Him, and to one day share in His glory for all eternity. We can do this! We can do this with joy! +++ This is…
It was January 1, and I was gung-ho to begin my New Year’s resolution. My plan was to start a rigorous elimination diet in the hope of feeling better. I purchased ingredients to make healthy meals, and I set aside time to cook for the week. I knew it was going to be hard, but I reached a tipping point in my chronic illness and knew I had to try more drastic measures. After a week, I started to regain…
This was first posted on March 2, 2015. It some ways it surprises me that this is still so applicable to my life, and in other ways, it does not surprise me at all. Life is funny that way. Our struggle—our cross—may take a lifetime of carrying, and yet how often do I just wait for it to disappear? Sure, our cross might look differently from year to year, decade to decade, but often it is the one way God has invited us…
The swirl of thoughts left me weary. What should my focus be? What should my days look like? What is my purpose? The lack of answers, or my fear of failure, left me paralyzed. My present brokenness was all I seemed to know, and despite the pain, it was surprisingly comfortable. And yet, the small flicker of hope deep within my heart convinced me there is a better way. “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall…
Well, today is my 40th birthday! I don’t have a profoundly deep post all planned out. Life lately has been a bit too zooming fast for me to think ahead, let alone ponder. I know that sounds like an excuse, but it also is reality. Lent has not been slow and reflective, not with a trip to Florida right in the middle of it! Which is why I am embracing these last three weeks as best as I can. What I…
Often, my writing feels like an ebb and flow. I have times when I feel like I am present here on a regular basis, and there are other times, when the weeks fly by before I realize that I haven’t written a peep … here, anyways. The past few weeks, I have been quiet here, I know. But I have been blessed to be in a few other places on the world wide web: CatholicMom.com Saints in 16 Book Club: Chapters 5 and 6…
Living Water by Simon Dewey Since the Gospel reading about the Woman at the Well (John 4:5-42) is very common during the season of Lent, I thought I’d add this re-post to the #WorthRevisit blog link-up today. I love this Gospel story; it is one of my favorites. The story of the Woman at the Well reminds me of the sacrament of Confession. Jesus meets the woman where she’s at, and He loves her, even with all her failings and shortcomings. Like the…
When my children were quite young, in fact when I only had half of the children I have today, I felt compelled to find ways to make the Catholic faith come alive for my children. More than simply attending Mass with them each Sunday, I wanted to teach them to pray, introduce them to the saints, and celebrate the liturgical seasons within our domestic church. I wanted to bridge what they saw and experienced at church and how we lived…