Freezing outdoor temperatures make for some interesting interactions between siblings who are stuck indoors together for long periods of time.
Category: Everyday Faith
Preparing our hearts for Jesus
For children as well as adults, it’s these little acts of self-sacrifice, of striving toward virtue, that help prepare our hearts during Advent.
Turn your worries into prayers
When asked what I do best, my immediate answer is an unfortunate habit: Worry. One should pray instead of worry, but since worrying is my very special talent, I must admit that I’ve honed and perfected it for many years.
Regaining the clarity of childlike gratitude
When I was a young girl, my family frequented a farm produce stand down the road from my house. The produce there was beautiful, bright, and bursting forth throughout the summer and fall: Shiny red strawberries, sweet yellow corn, juicy orange muskmelons.
Learning to make do with what we have
On a camping trip up north earlier this summer, I was cooking pancakes over the fire my husband built for our family of six.
Recognizing the joy of discovery in our spiritual journeys
What I saw there took my breath away. An abundance of wild blueberries covered the top of the cliff. The sun kissed my face and warm sunlight danced across the plump juicy berries and glossy green leaves that fluttered in a gentle breeze.
Accepting disappointment
Long ago, deep in the heart of my grade school, people thronged through the colorful rooms filled with parish festival games and wonderment to my six-year-old eyes.
Approach the Triduum with childlike wonder
On my nephew’s birthday long ago, when I was sleeping over at my sister’s house, I was awakened by my wide-eyed nephew tearing through the house.
Only Jesus can show us how to carry our crosses
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“Look!” my husband said proudly one evening. “I fixed it for you!”
He held up my favorite handheld kitchen tool, the stainless-steel pastry cutter, and pulled on it to illustrate that he had fixed its broken handle.
To his dismay, the handle pulled apart in his hand.
First spiritual steps: Humility, prayer, surrender
It’s a scene I’ll never forget: my one-year-old son taking his first steps, placing one foot uncertainly in front of the other, arms outstretched toward my hands, eyes wide open in wonder, and a big awe-struck smile on his upturned face.
As he closed the gap between us and finally grasped my hand, I swooped him up in a bear hug, and we all cheered for him. Amazingly, after months of crawling and pulling up and falling and getting up again, my baby had learned to walk.