• Momming,  Talking

    Why I’m Always Late and Other Thoughts on Lent

    Well, we’re two days into Lent and so far, so good. How about you? One of my resolutions for Lent came on a Friday, a few months back, when my 6 year old turned to me as we shuffled into the “cryroom/confessional/people trying to avoid the shame of everybody knowing they’ve arrived late” section and asked me, “Why are we always late?” Doh! It was a perfectly valid question — one to which I had no valid response — and so I just stared into those little brown eyes and replied, “We’re not always late”. Which is technically true. We are not always late. On most Sundays, we manage to…

  • Favorites,  Living

    Love Your Enemies: The Forgiveness Dare

    This Lent, I decided to do something different. I decided it was time to start working on loving my enemies: both past and present. I was inspired by the words of Cardinal Robert Sarah in his book The Power of Silence: “The devil invites mankind to rebellion and disorder…he sows discord and incites us to pour out our hatred upon each other…(but God) teaches us to pray for our enemies. He constantly murmurs, ‘The disciples of my beloved Son have no enemies.  Your heart must not have enemies either.'” Cardinal Sarah The words, “Your heart must not have enemies either” were especially challenging to me. The dialogue began, “Really, Lord, no enemies?” What about (fill-in-the blank?) surely you weren’t talking about that guy? Surely he deserves my hatred. And don’t get me…

  • Living

    February is the Worst and Getting Ready for Lent

    February is the worst — the absolute worst.  It really is, and I know we’re supposed to get out our gratitude journals and look for the positives contained within the worst month of the year — but today, I’d rather complain about it. I don’t want to be grateful for February.  I’d rather despise February and pray it passes by quickly.  At least it’s only 28 days — so I guess that is a positive — but beyond that, I have little else good to say about it. I’d probably like February if I could lay in bed all day, watching English dramas while ignoring the many things that need…