Living
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Athens, Wildfires & Praying from the Heart
We live in a culture in which a lot of really good and decent people remain silent about their deepest held beliefs — while overly outspoken (often narcissistic) men and women make a living off of filling the world with inflammatory and offensive content, instilling fear and division wherever they go. Perhaps those people who make a living off of riling people up have turned us off to the really important truth that we have a duty to share the Gospel with the world around us. Perhaps we’ve accepted the fact that we can’t do much to stem the tide and to share the good news with a world that…
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Shaking Off the Shroud of Fear
This last year and a half has been very interesting, to say the least. Though, to be honest, if you look at history, what we’ve experienced the past 18 months is not really all that unique and not anywhere close to the worst pandemics we’ve had to deal with. Perhaps the difference is that we have white-washed death and dying to such an extent in our culture that many people have actually forgotten that one day they will be dead and buried — 6 feet under — and there is absolutely nothing we can do to change that reality! Perhaps we’ve all become great, big control freaks and finding ourselves…
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Lots of Changes Happening
This week, we drop two of our kids off at school and will return to the final days of summer — with two less children in our home! So many emotions happening right now! I am so happy that my kids are going to great places, but I also really just wish we could always live together at home as a family. Forever and ever. Amen! But, I know that is not how it was meant to be. Our kids were meant to go off and do things with their lives — things that could bring them to far off places, without us! I’m just so grateful for John and…
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The Importance of Community
Today I head off to spend time with friends from College. It’s been about 3 years since our last reunion, and a lot has happened since that time. I mean, basically the world came to a screeching halt — and these women were some of the voices that kept me hopeful, kept me laughing and reminded me just how important friendship is in our lives. Maybe this last year has taught you that, too. I hope that it has, because we were not meant to do this life on our own. We were meant to be part of a family, and beyond that, we were meant to be part of…
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Why You Need to Get to Know Joan of Arc
I have a long history with Joan of Arc — one that goes all the way back to my 8th grade confirmation and choosing her for my patron Saint. Funny story: I almost didn’t choose her, based solely on her name. I had secretly preferred the name “Lauren” to my own for most of my early life, and so I actually contemplated choosing St. Lawrence and requesting to shorten the name to “Lauren” so that my lifelong dream of being named Lauren could finally come true! Seriously, kids are so funny! Turns out, I really do like St. Lawrence and his final words “this side is done, you can turn…
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The Grace of the Sacrament of Marriage, Why It Matters & How it Can Get You Through Anything.
Did you know it is National Marriage Week? Well, neither did I 😂 — until a good friend of mine reminded me — so in honor of that, I thought I’d share two reflections I shared over on Instagram on the Sacrament of Marriage…I hope they bless you and remind you how beautiful this call to marriage truly is! The picture below was taken on our honeymoon, and John and I still love to tell our kids about the fact that we were so broke in those early days that John sold his champagne-colored Cadillac so we could go on a honeymoon. Our budget was so tight that we ate…
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The March for Life and a Call To Speak the Truth in Love
I’ve shared before that my mother is one of the founders of the March for Life. She was a “stay-at-home” mom, pregnant with her 4th child (me), when she traveled to DC to meet with 6 people to decide what to do about the one year anniversary of Roe V. Wade. Little did she, or anybody at that meeting, know that they would become the founding members of the largest human rights march in the history of the world. Let it be known, this March was founded on Love — love for all people of every race, creed and ability — and that Love is what makes it different from…
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Don’t Cancel People…Love Them!
Let me say this right up front, I have “cancelled” people in my life before — so I completely get it! I get the frustration, the anger the absolutely mystifying behavior that makes you want to “cancel” somebody — to write them off, to give up hope and try to forget they exist — I get it! But here is the thing: WE DON’T CANCEL PEOPLE. WE LOVE THEM! At least, we try to love them, the best we can. If you claim to be a Christian or anybody of good will in this world, you have to see that cancelling somebody is wrong. We cancel THINGS: like subscriptions or…
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Making Your House a Home This Christmas
“Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home… to long to be with their families.” -Mother Teresa- Mother Teresa knew a lot about family and she knew a lot about poverty, and despite all the suffering she witnessed in Calcutta, she believed that the spiritual poverty of the Western World was far worse than the material poverty of Calcutta. She saw a sadness, a lack of belonging and a despair in the midst of the abundant monetary riches of the West. She saw it, and she called it out for what it was: a result of not feeling a sense of Home or belonging to…
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Being Great in the Little Things
This week we celebrated the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, a Saint our family has always felt close to over the years. Once upon a time, we even took a pilgrimage to Melaka, Malaysia, so we could visit his original burial site and walk the streets he walked on his way to the East. Not easy to get to, but let me tell you that in a predominantly Muslim country, the influence of St. Francis Xavier filled Melaka with a Catholic Spirit that is still alive and well today. Honestly, when you walk those streets, you know one thing: men and women who say “yes” to God leave a lasting…
