NFP'ing
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Beach Struggles, Hugh Hefner, and Teaching Our Kids to Navigate a Sex-Saturated World
This past week, Hugh Hefner, founder of the Playboy enterprise, died. May God have mercy on his soul and on all the souls who have been hurt by his legacy. Though I don’t dare suggest I know Hugh Hefner’s motives, I found it surprising that some people have tried to raise this man up as a sort of hero. Are you kidding me? Please somebody tell me any good that has come from Hugh Hefner and the pornography industry? Porn isn’t about helping people — it’s about enslaving people for selfish gain. Men, women, and children are being bought and sold as commodities to feed the insatiable thirst it creates…
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Dream Big. A.K.A… Life Doesn’t End With Kids
Before I was married, I travelled the country talking to kids about chastity. The year before I took on this crazy “job”, it wasn’t even on my radar as a possibility. I had thoughts of traveling as a missionary one day, but never in a million years did “Chastity Promoter” come to my mind. A funny thing happens when you start to seek out what God is asking of you, these things you never even dreamed of start to rise up in your thoughts — and desires you never imagined begin to surface in your heart. Honestly, my greatest advice before you pray the prayer, “Lord, what do you want of me?” is to buckle up —…
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Why We March…
My mother is one of the founders of the March for Life — in fact, she was pregnant with me during that first March — and the story of how it all came about is an interesting one. A few years prior to the March, my mother found herself in a convent in the South. Though the “nun” thing didn’t work out, this time did help her to gain insight into the plight of the African-American living in the South at the time. Having a heart for what they were suffering, she decided that she was going to help black men and women register and exercise their right to vote. She marched with Martin Luther King,…
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The Cry Room: A Parents’ Guide to Survival
Okay, we’ve all been there — we’ve all been in the cry room. That awful, horrid place were children and parents are left to live sad, lonely lives — spurned by the families with well-behaved children. That room where all your hopes and dreams have been dashed to pieces amidst the cheerios, that awful diaper smell, and the other equally pathetic parents who find themselves there. That room where you are will ultimately find yourself asking questions like, “What is wrong with me?” “Why can’t I get it together?” or “Where did I go wrong? ” Well I’m here to tell you that you are just fine — in fact, you are more than…
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Let’s Talk About … Breastfeeding
Let’s talk about breastfeeding — that’s not controversial, is it? 🙁 I know that this can be a sensitive topic, and maybe this is a bad idea, but please take whatever I say in this post as just one opinion among many — I don’t want to make anybody feel bad about their own choices, especially those made in the past. Do you ever feel afraid to share your mothering tips with people because you don’t want to hurt feelings or offend? I do — but I’m more convinced than ever that we need to be willing to step out of our comfort zones and share what we’ve learned. Take my own…
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Why Having Six Kids is Easier Than Having Three
During our recent trip to Italy, there were many times we’d be walking down a cobblestone street and be greeted by an Italian exclaiming, “Complimenti!” when they saw our six kids. And back home I have had moments when a stranger looks at me with my kids –like I’m some sort of hero — and says “I don’t know how you do it with six kids”. Believe me, there are a lot of other remarks that I have received that weren’t so complimentary, but the point remains that many people look at a mother with six kids and think that they are some sort of phenomenon, a walking Saint, perhaps part angel-part human? Either that —…
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Educating Our Kids for Life
I am often asked how I manage to homeschool my children, maintain the family business, keep on top of 6 kids and their activities, and do everything else that I have to do on the daily to keep our family life from imploding. On most days, my answer to that question, “How do you manage?” is an honest, “Not very well”. 🙁 But despite my failings — somehow — at the end of most days, we have accomplished what needs to get done for that day. I honestly believe that if we try our lousy best to educate our children and keep our eyes on heaven, that God will take care…
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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,…
