From Counting Shortcomings to Counting Blessings
I’ve been running around the house the last few days like a drill sergeant with a severe case of OCD. “What?!” I shriek at my lovable toddler as he tracks...
Helping Our Daughters Be Free and Confident
Throughout the Gospels, there seems to be a growing awareness, astonishment, and even discouragement in the disciples about how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God: When the...
Not-So-Typical Unique Catholic Baby Names
When my husband and I were expecting our first baby, we knew we wanted to give our baby a name from the tradition of our Faith. Of course, choosing a...
Finding Joy in the Teen Years (Plus Advice from the Trenches)
I recently Googled “parenting teens” just to see what would come up. To my complete lack of surprise, here are some of the articles that popped up on the first...
Carrying the Cross of Infertility Through Advent
My husband, Stephen, and I wanted a honeymoon baby. We joked about it at first, then talked about it excitedly, planning how we might share the news with friends and...
6 Ways to Endure and Offer the Sufferings of Motherhood
My calf began to cramp as I bounced my leg up and down, attempting to nurse my 9 month old to sleep on my lap in a too-small plane seat....
How "This is Us" is Making Me More Attentive to the Domestic Church
As a Catholic woman in modern society, I'm always on the lookout for art forms that demonstrate the realities of our fallen world and the redemption that can be experienced...
Before I Formed You: An Honest Look at a Surprise Pregnancy, Depression and Finding Help
Hot tears covered my hands. I brushed my wet hair from my face and looked up from the table and into my husband's eyes. Some noise blaring from the television...
Miscarriage and My Holy Week Journey
It was Holy Week 2012. I was grieving a child I would never get to hold, and whose face I would never get to see. Holy Week 2011 I had...
The Quality of Life
The March for Life will take place in Washington DC today. Tens of thousands of people, young and old, will descend on our Nation’s Capital and march in peaceful protest...
A Perfect Paradox
Family can be a perfect paradox. We toil endlessly for the benefit of our family. Yet, we so often convince ourselves that the individuals with whom we share our lives...
The Universal Plea of a Parent
After years of downtown driving I have come to the conclusion that no one is comfortable with street corner encounters, usually involving a hand-scribbled note on a cardboard square. I...
