Slowly Learning to Accept Little Blessings

For the past several weeks, despite soaring, unseasonable temperatures, it seems that everybody is sick. Stomach bugs, flu, bacterial infections, etc. Each time I hear or read someone bemoan the sickness in their home or complain of this winter as the worst ever for illness, I internally cringe. Because our family has enjoyed what is probably our healthiest winter ever. (Don’t get me wrong, there’s been migraines and sinus headaches, sniffles and coughs, an injured knee, recovery from oral surgery, and an epic and ongoing battle with warts. But all in all, super healthy.)

Now, I don’t consider myself a superstitious person, but I’m summoning all sorts of courage to type this. It feels like an invitation for a variety of degenerating, lingering, maleficent ailments to descend upon our home and ravage our bodies.

Why can’t I simply enjoy this unexpected winter free from the minor suffering sickness brings? Why do I sit and wait with worry for the proverbial shoe to drop?

Trusting God Continue reading

Relevant Fiction Reviews: Conquering Fear and Worry

Relevant Fiction Reviews

In my totally unqualified opinion,  worry and anxiety are epidemics in modern culture. Fear, worry, anxiety –  they all separate us from God’s love. “Be not afraid,” the first words of Pope St. John Paul II’s pontificate, appear frequently in the Gospels. (I’ve found references to those words or a variation appearing from 120 times in the Gospels to 365 times throughout the Bible.) And yet, our lack of faith and our pride prevent us from  taking those words to heart. From letting go and letting God.

Within the space of a few days last month, I read two stellar books that address exactly these issues: one a contemporary romance and the other biblical fiction. Continue reading

Why I Remain Catholic. . .

Over at Patheos, Elizabeth Scalia has put out a call to answer the question “Why Do YOU Remain a Catholic?” I’ve mulled over whether I have anything new to say or whether I should say anything at all.

I spent ten years being a public voice for the Church. In some ways, I’m happy to be done with that. For an introvert that dislikes controversy, it can be exhausting. I’m happy to care for my little family, write my little stories, and discover my little niche of readers. But the niggling desire to skip this exercise felt too much like a cowardly cop-out.Chalices

Continue reading