Resources
Korean Washcloths: Messengers of God’s Nearness and Love
For years when I was young, my mom took nightly baths, and I would join her. We would pile our thick, black hair on top of our heads, so strong and stiff it would shoot up like onion sprouts. We scrubbed each other’s backs with neon-colored, nylon washcloths, as if we were scrubbing potato skins…
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No Breaks in a Broken System: Common Horizon Excerpt
We sit in a small office off the main hallway. The insurance representative is pulling all the forms for me, the new hire at a medical records office. He spots the ring on my finger, my grandmother’s diamond newly set in the band. “Married?” he casually asks. “No. We are thinking of moving the date…
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Every Season Sacred: The Gift of Noticing
I’m pushing the stroller around the corner when the podcast I’m streaming cuts out. I frown and glance at my phone. Out of battery. I’ve just promised my older kids thirty more minutes of park time with friends while I walk the nearby sidewalks. What am I supposed to do with no podcasts, music, or…
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Our Lady of Hot Messes Excerpt
Life is so crazy. I used to think that I was doing it all wrong, that because I hadn’t figured out the secret code that every one else seemed to know, God was not interested in helping me with my life. I grew up going to a First Baptist Church in a small, rural south Texas town. I…
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The Beauty of Motherhood Excerpt: Nourished
Even before being discharged from the hospital following the birth of my second child, Isaac, I discovered my blood pressure increased. In the weeks leading to delivery at check-ups, the nurses had to double-check my pressure multiple times as the numbers kept getting higher and higher. I never needed additional medicine or a hospital stay,…
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Forgiving God Excerpt
This is how I ask the question of suffering now. I used to ask about theories, about how God’s goodness could square with God’s love, how different properties of God made sense in light of suffering. I used to read books about suffering and cry and wonder, in a safely academic way, how these stories…
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Everyday Sacrament Excerpt
This Is My Body, Given for You When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him…Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this…
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Blessing Our Children
Many of us pray with our kids before bed. But what does it mean to bless our children? Enjoy this excerpt from The Beauty of Motherhood along with a practice, prayer, and ritual you can use to pray for your children (and others) at night. While my kids sleep, I say a prayer for their…
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4 Scripture Stories for Mothers
Scripture offers tender images of God caring for us like a loving mother. But we don’t often get the chance to sit with these beautiful passages. Let yourself pray with a new image of God this week. God as comforting mother “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.” (Isaiah 66:13) Jesus…
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Lentiest of Lents
Loving God, this trudge toward Easter has been long and the sustenance meager. I find myself coming to you with empty hands and aching arms, from the effort of carrying a cross I did not choose. You know all too well that choosing a sacrifice this year was a luxury. In the midst of it…
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What to Do After a School Shooting
Today’s parents in the United States are regularly confronted with the horror of yet another school shooting. Each time this happens, we feel angry and anguished, grieving the tragedy and overwhelmed by what this means for our own children. Our faith compels us to cry out against violence and evil. God promises to hear our…
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How To Behold Your Child
Behold. It’s a powerful word in Scripture. An invitation to stop and pay attention. To open our eyes because God is about to do something new. What if we tried to behold our life? To behold our children. To try to see them with God’s eyes. With love. And compassion. And hope. Let yourself try…
READ MORE
For years when I was young, my mom took nightly baths, and I would join her. We would pile our thick, black hair on top of our heads, so strong and stiff it would shoot up like onion sprouts. We scrubbed each other’s backs with neon-colored, nylon washcloths, as if we were scrubbing potato skins…
READ MORE
We sit in a small office off the main hallway. The insurance representative is pulling all the forms for me, the new hire at a medical records office. He spots the ring on my finger, my grandmother’s diamond newly set in the band. “Married?” he casually asks. “No. We are thinking of moving the date…
READ MORE
I’m pushing the stroller around the corner when the podcast I’m streaming cuts out. I frown and glance at my phone. Out of battery. I’ve just promised my older kids thirty more minutes of park time with friends while I walk the nearby sidewalks. What am I supposed to do with no podcasts, music, or…
READ MORE
Life is so crazy. I used to think that I was doing it all wrong, that because I hadn’t figured out the secret code that every one else seemed to know, God was not interested in helping me with my life. I grew up going to a First Baptist Church in a small, rural south Texas town. I…
READ MORE
Even before being discharged from the hospital following the birth of my second child, Isaac, I discovered my blood pressure increased. In the weeks leading to delivery at check-ups, the nurses had to double-check my pressure multiple times as the numbers kept getting higher and higher. I never needed additional medicine or a hospital stay,…
READ MORE
This is how I ask the question of suffering now. I used to ask about theories, about how God’s goodness could square with God’s love, how different properties of God made sense in light of suffering. I used to read books about suffering and cry and wonder, in a safely academic way, how these stories…
READ MORE
This Is My Body, Given for You When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him…Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this…
READ MORE
Many of us pray with our kids before bed. But what does it mean to bless our children? Enjoy this excerpt from The Beauty of Motherhood along with a practice, prayer, and ritual you can use to pray for your children (and others) at night. While my kids sleep, I say a prayer for their…
READ MORE
Scripture offers tender images of God caring for us like a loving mother. But we don’t often get the chance to sit with these beautiful passages. Let yourself pray with a new image of God this week. God as comforting mother “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.” (Isaiah 66:13) Jesus…
READ MORE
Loving God, this trudge toward Easter has been long and the sustenance meager. I find myself coming to you with empty hands and aching arms, from the effort of carrying a cross I did not choose. You know all too well that choosing a sacrifice this year was a luxury. In the midst of it…
READ MORE
Today’s parents in the United States are regularly confronted with the horror of yet another school shooting. Each time this happens, we feel angry and anguished, grieving the tragedy and overwhelmed by what this means for our own children. Our faith compels us to cry out against violence and evil. God promises to hear our…
READ MORE
Behold. It’s a powerful word in Scripture. An invitation to stop and pay attention. To open our eyes because God is about to do something new. What if we tried to behold our life? To behold our children. To try to see them with God’s eyes. With love. And compassion. And hope. Let yourself try…
READ MORE