Childhood
See What You Have Done. Know That It Is Good.
He goes in to look at them. Every night before we shut the door to our bedroom and declare the day done, he goes to see the sleeping boys. Too often I play the part of the tired mother. I have been with them all day. I do not feel the need to watch again, especially now that…
READ MORE
a prayer for a new school year
Here is a prayer for all of us in the midst of transition: to a new season, a new schedule, or a new school year. A prayer to God who guides us all. You are Alpha and Omega. Bless the end of our summer and the beginning of our fall. You are Abba…
READ MORE
Why You Have To Go To Church
Why do you have to go to church, my child? I thought I wasn’t going to have to answer that question for a few more years. Maybe even a decade before you started stomping around with teenage eye rolls of disgust when I ask you to get dressed on Sunday morning, and not in those…
READ MORE
A Prayer for the Sleep-Deprived
I am tired. How about you? I am tired all the time. I’m tired of talking about how tired I am. I know I was tired before I had kids – tired from college, tired from grad school, tired from work. But since my first child was born, I have been weary to my bones. This is the happy…
READ MORE
eat, pray, light, bless: celebrate a baptism anniversary
Our sweet babe just celebrated his first baptism anniversary. One trip around the sun, one whole year a Christian. It’s a big milestone in our family. I’ve written about baptism anniversaries here and here, too. But I always find that these days sneak under the radar, despite circling the dates on the calendar and trying…
READ MORE
There Is Another Way
All these things are in the way, I sigh. Shuffle and shove to make space again. I am tired of working like this, I mutter. I want to sweep everything aside—the papers and the clutter and the laundry and the bills and the books and the toys and the shoes—and stare at a vacant desk. A spotless…
READ MORE
i sing it for you
I roared at them tonight. And when I say roared, I mean bellowed from the very core of my being – the tired, angry, frustrated, exasperated, unheard and unnoticed depths of my body and soul, from which I was completely and utterly and maddeningly sick of having asked, cajoled, coaxed, pleaded, begged, demanded, and commanded them…
READ MORE
Morning Prayer Matters: Easy Ways to Start Your Day
Here are 4 simple ways to start the day with God as a parent: A prayer from childhood Growing up a mile from our small-town Catholic school, we always had just enough time on the drive each morning for my mom to make us pray (ok, sometimes to a chorus of groans) her classic, quick…
READ MORE
this is church right now
Five minutes late (aren’t we always these days). Smudged nametags, courtesy of Crayola markers. Pile of coats on the end of the pew (will it ever be spring?). Loud whispers requesting books as soon as the lector starts to read. Why can’t we sing that psalm again – I like that one. Puzzle pieces scattered on…
READ MORE
Morbid? Motherhood & Mortality
“Mommy, I don’t want to die.” His big blue eyes stare up at me, full of—what? Worry? Seriousness? Wonder? We’ve been revisiting this conversation for months, variations on a theme: Mommy, I don’t want to go to be with God. Mommy, I want to live to be 100. Mommy, I don’t want you to die.…
READ MORE
sacrament, interrupted
I jostle one boy on my hip and nudge the other a step closer to the front of the line. Herding cats, I think as he wanders into the neighboring line of communion-goers. Using my one free hand I gently guide him back by the shoulder and whisper in his ear about trying to stay…
READ MORE
Gospel, Interrupted
How I heard Palm Sunday: When the hour came, Jesus took his place at table with the apostles. Mama, I need Polar Bear. Read Polar Bear. Read. Please. I tell you, Peter. Before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear? I hear…
READ MORE- « Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next »