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We have to let go. We knew that, right? People told us from the beginning. The years fly by so fast and before you know it, they’ll be grown and enjoy this time before it’s gone. We smiled and looked down at the baby in our arms. We knew they were right but we couldn’t imagine not holding this…

I was 12 years old and away at summer camp for the first time. She was the counselor assigned to my cabin. I remember her long dirty blond hair, wavy and wild. Her weathered hiking boots and the lilac shirt she tied around her waist each morning. Her birch-bark name tag read Marion, but we all chose French…

Tomorrow I’m giving my first presentation on my book, Everyday Sacrament. We’ll be talking about spirituality of parenting and simple practices to connect with God in the chaos of life with children. The sacrament of parenting. This morning I’m brimming with energy: a little nervous and a lot excited. Tomorrow will be a whole new way…

Originally ran last year at FaithND on today’s Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God: The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All…

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 We’re on the cusp of Advent. One of my favorite times of year to reflect on the gifts that pregnancy has brought into my life. Now that I have been pregnant for three of the past five…

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 Faithfulness. Keep showing up. Keep trying to believe. Keep your flickering flame lit as the biting winds blow harsh and hard, as the light dims and dances down to near nothing in the darkness. Remember this when…

Three times I have held this moment. A baby in my arms, round-cheeked and solemn-eyed, stretching out his chubby hand towards an ice-cold window, swirls of first snow gusting just beyond the glass. Three times I have watched. Pudgy fingers smudging up against the pane, leaving a breath of fogged fingerprints behind. Brow furrowing, steady eyes silently…

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 Full self-disclosure? (It’s a blog, ain’t it?) I struggle with generosity. If this virtue is a fruit of the Spirit, then it’s the luscious fruit I’ve always envied. I admire people who are naturally generous, whose souls…

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 Recently a girlfriend and I were laughing, with our six kids underfoot, about the irony of things we yell as moms: BE GENTLE! STOP YELLING!! BE KIND TO EACH OTHER!!! (Oh, the humility of life with small people…)…

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 Patience.  Perhaps it’s the cardinal virtue of parenting. The holy grail we long to hold, grasping just out of reach, a shimmering mirage on the road before us. Ironically it’s the way we have to start the…