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Turn Off the News and You’ll Discover The World Is Full of Lovely People
Hello everybody! Just a quick post to suggest you turn off the news this summer and spend more time with people in real life. Seriously, that one simple thing could change your perspective more than any other thing (outside of praying!) that you could do. What is news really, but focusing on all the “bad” that is going on out there. They should really just call it “Bad News” and be honest about it. Whereas, if you spend time in the Good News of the Gospel and then go out into the world, you will discover that most people are really very good — at least, they are trying to…
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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…
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An Unexpected First Communion and “Becoming” Greek Orthodox — Part 2
If you haven’t read Last weeks post to understand the background and the differences between the Greek Orthodox Mass and a Roman Catholic Mass, you might want to go back and check that out. In a nutshell, we found ourselves with no Roman Catholic masses available on the Island of Santorini, but a very active Greek Orthodox church. In this scenario, a Roman Catholic is allowed and encouraged to attend the Greek Orthodox services and even to receive communion — if the Greek Orthodox priest will allow it — as we share this Sacrament in common with the Greek Orthodox. The only catch is many Greek Orthodox will not allow…
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An Unexpected First Communion and “Becoming” Greek Orthodox – Part One
Okay, I guess I should say up front, that — spoiler alert — our family is still Roman Catholic, but after having spent a week and a half in Greece and experiencing their different rite of worship, we feel a kinship with them that we hadn’t before felt. Maybe I should begin by saying that the Greek Orthodox are Catholic, but they are Eastern Catholics who split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054 (not to be confused with Byzantine Rites that are Eastern Catholics who recognize the Pope), and there is a history of tension that still exists between them. This tension is over a few differences, including but…
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Trying to Make the Most of It
Hey guys, I’m about to run out the door so I can line up at a grocery store before the crowds hit. Such crazy times! On a more positive note, I decided to go early so I can get back in time to join the rest of the family for a 3pm reconsecration of our Diocese to Mary, the Mother of God. Hooray! It’s happening all around the country, and this is a positive move forward, in my opinion. So hope you will join in and be part of it, wherever you find yourself. Besides that, I’ve been trying my best to take advantage of all this family time and…
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Travel Posts To Get You Going
Hey guys, thank goodness summer is not over yet! Here is to hoping you are making the most of your last days of summer — I know I am trying to. I am getting ready for our own family adventure, so I figured I’d share some of my favorite family travel posts from the past 3 years. Hopefully, they will inspire you to start planning your own crazy family adventures. Without further ado, let’s get to it! This one is an honest and light-hearted look at the 7 Do’s and Don’ts of Family Travel. I’ve made lots of mistakes along the way, so hoping this will help the next guy…
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The Freedom of Not Giving a Flying Flip
Last week, I posted a simple picture on Instagram with some words of encouragement to all the parents out there trying to parent and potty-train and tackle the plethora of other responsibilities that are a part of being mom and dad to people we adore. Seemed simple enough. Within minutes, one woman started sharing what I assumed was “just being helpful” potty training tips. I was sincerely grateful. Quickly, though, it moved to fear mongering about the harm I was doing to my child by delaying potty-training and finally to accusations that I was, in essence, being a bad parent by waiting until I thought my little guy was “ready”.…
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Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! I hope your celebrations have been beautiful! Even if it hasn’t been everything you hoped for, Christmas keeps going for 12 days, and then some — so there is plenty of time to experience all that this Season of Grace has to offer. I’ve been making a conscious effort to try to live these days in a celebratory manner — despite the challenges of being part of a family business and having to take care of many practical things at year end. Many years ago, a rousing game of “paper, scissors, rock” granted me the position of CFO for our family business. Clearly I lost. It’s almost a…
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Staying Peaceful in the Midst of Chaos
Let’s be honest. Having kids can push us to the very edge of our physical, spiritual and emotional limits. I guess what I’m trying to say is that parenting ain’t for sissies — let’s take a moment to let that sink in. If we don’t take the time to face that reality, we just might not make it out alive. This is serious stuff, people, and we need to have each other’s backs when the days get long. We need to share the things we’ve learned along the way. So this is my attempt at sharing a few good coping mechanisms for keeping our stuff together when we’d rather just…
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Laundry/Mudroom Reveal and Finding the Balance
Well, I am officially finished with the Laundry Room/Mudroom and I have to say it is a vast improvement over what we started with! Perhaps even more importantly, we have all managed to keep everything in relatively good order for the last month as well — so wins all around! Here’s a little recap of the whole process. I’ll spare you the “before’s” — you can go back a few posts if you want to see the disaster. Step One: began with a clean slate by clearing everything out and cleaning the floor and walls. To be clear, the last time I mopped this floor was about 12 years ago.…
