Blog Archive - Life on the Road Less Traveled

March 14, 2021

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What’s a #PrayerStory?

I love hearing people’s prayer stories — how they put their faith on the line with Jesus (or, in some cases, with his mother, who is also a powerful pray-er. Kind of like my mother). And somehow, their prayers were answered, often above and beyond what they originally asked. Now, God is not some great Bubblegum Ball Machine in the Sky. You can’t force his hand with selfish demands, like a petulant teenager. “Okay, God, either you give me ____ or I won’t speak to you again” won’t wash with the Almighty. Or his mother. But God is a patient Father — a patient adoptive […]

February 4, 2024

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Uncategorized

Looking for a miracle? Check out “Stories of the Eucharist”!

Because I spend most of my time behind the editor’s desk, I kind of forget what a rush it can be to sit on the other side. Then … all of a sudden … it hits: I get to be the author this time! It won’t be in the stores for a few months yet … but I wanted to share my excitement so … here goes: The COVER! I love the heavenly perspective of the angels around the monstrance. It reminds me when the kids were little, when I told them that their guardian angel always wants to go and join the other angels […]

February 4, 2024

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How Can I Pray for You?

Believe it or not … Prayercast (at CatholicMom.com) going to be a year old this summer! Maria and I were just conspiring the other day, to figure out what we need to do to take our podcast to the “next level” (she’s great that way). Uh… how about I put it on my website and social media pages? Duh, huh? It’s been a great year so far … From our first show with Fr. Fred Jenga (President of Holy Cross Family Ministries) to our most recent one with “Arthur the Clumsy Altar Server” author Theresa Kiser, it’s been a great adventure — learning from […]

March 7, 2022

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#PrayAcrossAmerica: Washington DC

After having couple of my FB posts disappear from my feed yesterday, all about our visit to the UC National Shrine of the Holy Family (a shrine belonging to an eastern rite east of Poland that has been much in the news of late), let me go with abbreviations: UCNSHF for the Shrine, and U_ne for the country. Unless you are looking for it, many people don’t know about this beautiful house of worship that is two doors north (past the retreat house) from the Saint JPII Shine on Harewood. The cornerstone was blessed in 1979 by St. John Paul II; their pastor, Rev. Theodore […]

February 21, 2022

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Night Watch

UPDATE: This morning when Mom woke up, she was chipper and her chest pain was gone. So … declining, but not dying — that’s what the nurse says. Still, I’ll be glad when Dad and Kathy (and her daughter Kaitlyn) get here, and Father has a chance to bless her. The weight of the decisions of caregiving can be heavy, and God knows how fallible I am. As caregivers, we can only make the best decisions we know in the moment, ready to adjust as new information becomes available. Right? I had just pulled in from the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference and prepared dinner for […]

February 11, 2022

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A mother’s prayer

“So many women in our group are young mothers who want to know God, but are so busy with tending to little ones, they can’t imagine how to find time to pray,” the voice on the other end of the phone said. “What would you say to them?” Actually, these are my people, I thought. I can remember those days like they were yesterday. The time my new foster son punched our priest in the midsection when the kindly man reached out to bless him. The time an elderly man from Kingdom Hall showed up on my doorstep after two nights without sleep and four […]

February 10, 2022

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Joy in the Muck…

This week the 50+ year old septic field at the cabin gave up the ghost, and we discovered the hard way exactly what happens to septic tanks when a forest grows up around it. Tree roots, as it turns out, LOVE septic tanks. Not reciprocated, of course… but at least now we know how to get our plumbing speaking to us again. So I’m a happy camper. As we were going through all this, a friend texted to let me know that her job interview did not pan out. It has been a hard road for her, and my heart went out to her because […]

January 8, 2022

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More Joy in Heaven…

This week my old friend, Fr Dave, flipped his car on an icy Michigan road. He was killed instantly. Today Craig and I drove up for the funeral, and I was reminded that at almost exactly the same time last year, we were saying goodbye to Fr Ubald. Both were holy priests in their fifties. In both cases, you could nearly hear heaven resound with “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.” The cathedral was packed, with many more watching livestream. Dozens of his brother priests lined the front pews, surrounding his dear mother and sister and family as […]

December 24, 2021

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2021: The Year in Review

A year ago today, as you see from this photo, we were cozied up at the cabin in East Jordan, Michigan. The snow outside the window sparkled, and through the fir trees you could just make out Lake Charlevoix. I’ve always dreamed of living by a lake, and though I couldn’t exactly dive in from my back deck (who am I kidding, I’d never just dive into a lake because I’m afraid of fish), it was a lovely sight. The fire roared and crackled. The kids had their mouths full, so they weren’t bickering. The dogs were splayed on the rug, exhausted from an earlier […]

November 18, 2021

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3 Prayers Every Mother Needs

This afternoon I’ve been invited to be on Dorothy Pilarski’s “CatholicMomsGroup” podcast … if you found this from listening to Dorothy’s program, welcome! (If not, you can find it here.) Every mother has a unique #prayerstory, because God meets us where we are. He sees us at our most harried and vulnerable, and understands the challenges we face. He sees you, bleary eyed and in desperate need of a shower and coffee (not necessarily in that order), and still he thinks you are beautiful. Beloved. A saint in the making. Yes, it’s true. One of the ways he makes us saints is by humbling us […]