Five Ways to Grow in Faith This Summer
Not much going on this summer? Sarah Damm offers five ways to hit the reset button, gain a fresh perspective, and grow in our faith.
Forming Holiday Traditions Rooted in Faith
Holiday traditions are important to all of us, but many of us desire traditions rooted in faith. Sarah Damm shares some ideas.
Five Things I Learned This Summer
As summer comes to a close, Sarah Damm reflects back on the last three months and shares what she has learned about faith, family, and friendship.
Parenting and Kites: Learning to Let Go and Watch Them Soar
The alarm rings earlier than usual. The clock reads 3:30 a.m. As I slowly open my eyes, darkness surrounds me and beckons me to rest awhile longer. However, my mind starts to nudge me awake. Today begins differently than normal, because today is a special day. As the coffee brews, my oldest daughter slowly descends the stairs. She drops her suitcase, sleeping bag, and backpack on the floor, and I ask her a series of “Do you have …?” questions….
Savoring Summer: 10 Things I Love About the Season
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…
Summer: Making a Plan, Keeping Your Sanity, and Having Fun
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,…
Five Mother’s Day Gifts That Keep on Giving
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…
Keeping the Sabbath Holy: Six Tips for Living Sunday Differently
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…
Lenten Inspiration: Heart, Home and Family
Lent begins tomorrow! Ready or not, the season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is upon us. Are you ready? Or not? I am mostly ready. God has given me a very personal invitation to spend more time in prayer, so that is going to be my focus. And with my ongoing struggle with Hashimoto’s (an autoimmune disease that attacks my Thyroid) and the various symptoms that accompany it, I am also going to pay closer attention to my diet by…
5 Simple Ways to Encourage Vocations Within the Family
O, God, we earnestly ask you to bless this archdiocese with many priests, deacons, brothers and sisters … At every Sunday Mass, my parish prays two special prayers for vocations. We begin with a prayer for marriage and family, asking St. Joseph to intercede for us. After the Prayers of the Faithful, we pray another prayer that begins with the words with which I began this blog post. It has been a long-standing tradition to pray for and foster vocations…