Getting You Off Your Game
I saw the dresser tipping, but I couldn’t do anything but scream. My son was angrily pulling clothes from the dresser drawer, which he pulled at just the right angle to tip the dresser over. He righted it, but not…
A Prayer for Mondays
Oh Jesus, Here we are, You and I, another week. I offer you last week with all of it's joys and sufferings and unfinished to-dos; please give me the grace to let go. [Pause to call these things to mind…
Towards Wholeness
Within each one of us is an innate desire for, and indeed propulsion towards, wholeness. It’s been woven into the fibers of our being. And just as our Creator has planted deep within us the desire for wholeness, so too…
Peace and Anxiety: a Curious Juxtaposition
I was encouraged this summer to consider the fruit of the Spirit. Something most Christians are fairly familiar with. One of the things charming children’s songs help us memorize at an early age. Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the…
Paddle Back to Shore
I was distracted the first few months of summer. Swamped. Work-crazy. Traveled home to help my mom. Baseball tournaments. One vacation, then another. All good stuff. But I may have missed a Mass. OK, maybe several. My list of excuses…
Beautiful Brokenness
“I hope nothing’s wrong with this one,” my friend brazenly blurted after my pregnancy announcement during our monthly women’s Bible study. A few cringed following her comment, and I caught their discomfort in my periphery. Somehow, as calloused and cruel…
A Legacy of Love
Whenever a certain friend of my oldest comes over, at some point she wears my Grandma Gerry’s wedding dress. This homemade, pink dress that oozes the 70s somehow made it into our wardrobe of costumes, and it gets amazing use. Besides…
Tangible Movements of Grace
There are moments when I simply don't know how I'm going to get through it- the stacks of dirty dishes, the floor that seems to be perpetually covered with crumbs, the endless needs of 3 small children. Sometimes, when…
Life in Ordinary Time
While the special holiday of last week was certainly our 4th of July Independence Day, let’s not forget that July 3rd was National Chocolate Wafer Cookie Day. It’s true. Turns out there is a National Chocolate something day at least…
Come, Lord Jesus!
Come, Lord Jesus Growing up, whenever something bad happened, personally or globally, my dad would say, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Not gonna lie- to a teenage mind, that seemed less than desirable. I had things I wanted to do. Dude, maybe…