Living
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Florence: What Art, Beauty, and Naked Statues Have to Do with Being Catholic
“This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair”. ~John Paul II, Letter to Artists~ One of the reasons I love being around kids is that they ask the honest questions that adults are too afraid to ask. When traveling to Florence with kids, a question that will almost inevitably come up is, “Why so many naked people?” I’m not talking about the people passing by, but everywhere you look — in churches, piazzas, and museums — there are naked people depicted in very life-like reality. It might surprise you that the Church was one of the greatest patrons of the arts — and without the Church,…
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The First Leg of our Family Pilgrimage and 7 Quick Takes in Assisi
“Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face”. ~Muhammad Ali~ “God doesn’t always give us what we want, but He always gives us what we need.” ~Me and about 10,000 other people throughout history~ If you missed my post last week, you may not know that we recently returned from a family pilgrimage to Italy. We had planned for months, and it only took the first leg of our trip to throw all of our plans out the window. We had to sit on a runway in Detroit because of rain in Chicago– really O’Hare — because of rain?! We were told we would have 15 minutes to run from one end of O’Hare…
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7 Quick Takes: The Do’s and Don’ts of Family Travel
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” ~Charles Dickens~ I just returned from a two week family pilgrimage to Italy, and on the morning of my return, I woke up thinking, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” — though Dickens was actually writing about the French Revolution, his words perfectly encapsulate our family trip– it was truly the best and worst of times. But it was worth it! If you find yourself traveling with one child, or multiple children, I guarantee you will find yourself thinking and saying things that definitely aren’t your best thoughts and words — but you will…
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Mother Teresa on Starting at Home
This is the last post in a series leading up to the canonization of Mother Teresa. I hope you have enjoyed it. As this is posting, my husband, six kids, and I will be roaming the streets of Rome trying to find the office to pick up our tickets for the canonization of Mother Teresa! My husband and I are most likely lost and arguing about the best route to our destination, while avoiding data roaming charges on our cell phones –that’s the reality of family pilgrimages, people! Yes, if all has gone well, we have made it to Rome and are looking forward to this amazing woman officially being known as St. Teresa of…
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Mother Teresa on Smiling
Mother Teresa’s canonization is just over one week away! Here’s a favorite quote of mine because it’s a quick way to make a big difference in the world — and anybody can do it! Short but sweet! Let’s get smiling, people! “We can never know how much good a simple smile can do.” ~Mother Teresa~
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Mother Teresa on Finding Calcutta
Mother Teresa’s Canonization is just over 2 weeks away! Part of a series of her amazing quotes — Enjoy! Mother Teresa on finding Calcutta: “You will find Calcutta all over the world if you have eyes to see. The streets of Calcutta lead to every man’s door. I know that you may want to make a trip to Calcutta, but it is easy to love people far away. It is not always easy to love those people who live beside us. What about the ones I dislike or look down upon?” ~Mother Teresa~
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Facing Our Fears
There have been a lot of really tragic events in the news lately, and it’s enough to make me want to stock up on canned goods and build a bunker — a place where everybody I love would live in relative peace, away from the rest of the world. Does anybody else feel that way? But the thing is, we’re not meant to hide away in our homes because of the fear of what might be. We aren’t supposed to have a spirit of fear or timidity, but one of power and love and self-control (2 Tim 1:7). But when I look at my life, there are times when I definitely have…
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Making Time for Prayer
Why should I make time for prayer? It’s a worthwhile question to ask yourself. I mean, we can try to do this day on our own –we can try to be patient and kind when faced with those moments we want to scream and yell –we can try to hit that never-ending “to do” list–or make that difficult decision we’ve been worrying about –but why try to do it alone when you can walk through all those moments with Someone who loves you and knows you better than you know yourself? Life is very busy– homeschooling, raising 6 kids, working in the family business, writing — they all take more time than I have to give.…
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Mother Teresa: Why Beauty Matters
You may know this already, but Mother Teresa is being canonized in Rome this September. Granted, it’s one of those “um, yeah, we all knew she’s a Saint” kind of canonizations, but it’s still a really important moment in the Church. I mean, if this little old nun who literally picked dying people off the streets of India, removed maggots from wounds, offered the sacraments, fed the hungry, and allowed the poor and forgotten to die with dignity and joy — if this woman isn’t a Saint, well then there’s very little hope for us, amiright? I mean, we should give up right now…because I still grimace and moan about my three years olds dirty…
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Living the Life….Confession
Confession…it’s a thing…a really good thing…a run out to your local priest and get this thing done, thing. If you’re Catholic, you’ve probably gone at least one time this year, because frankly we’re asked to go at least that often. But maybe instead of saying that it’s something I have to do, what if I said that it was something that I get to do? I get to go to confession as often as I want, like everyday if necessary. I’m not saying you should go everyday, I’m just saying you could. But why go at all? Well, right before Jesus was getting ready to die, he spoke to the apostles, the first bishops of our Church and…
