January 8, 2010
January 8, 2010
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Laying My Burden Down…

Today in cyberspace I came across this post that talked about how we all walk through life carrying a burden like some oversized suitcase. For some, it’s divorce. For others, it’s infertility or some dark moment(s) from the past. Our children each have a suitcase, too. One of the things that struck me about this post is the idea that each of us have to learn how to take out and lay down the heaviest junk in our suitcase, so we can carry it. This doesn’t come naturally … and in point of fact, it’s something that in an ideal world parents teach their children. When […]
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March 4, 2009
March 4, 2009
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A Prayer for Motherly Courage

Karen at “Be Still My Soul” shares this touching account of a young woman, Myah, whose preborn daughter was diagnosed with anencephaly — a congenital and fatal birth defect. The story itself is bittersweet. Instead of “terminating the pregnancy,” this young woman decided to share whatever time they had together out of simple love for her daughter. (I also appreciated Karen’s advice to all women of childbearing years to make sure they have enough folic acid in their diet, to prevent this kind of tragedy.) Today I’d like to offer this prayer for frightened mothers (including those whose children are not yet born), that God would […]
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October 30, 2008
October 30, 2008
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Bad Endings: When Choices Break Our Hearts

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about choices. The ones we make (and wish we hadn’t); the ones we didn’t (but wish we had). The ones that hurt no one but ourselves … and those with far-reaching consequences that hurt the least deserving. For example, “Orphans Hope” reports that if all the parentless children of the world stood shoulder to shoulder, they would circumnavigate the globe three times. (In most cases parents do not choose to leave behind young children — these choices are more complex and indirect, in the form of cultural and global indifference, complacency, and greed.) Happily, many couples are responding to this overwhelming need by stretching the borders of their families, […]
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October 17, 2008
October 17, 2008
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When Moms Fail

Today Catholic Exchange is running my article about the Utah woman who was sentenced to 15 years for killing her adopted son. Although not all adoptive mothers experience depression, there are many of us who have (or do). If you have a history of depression and are considering foster care or adoption, this article may be for you.
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October 2, 2008
October 2, 2008
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“What Should I Say?” Comforting the Grieving Heart

Yesterday I posted an article from a grieving mother, who lost her baby at six months’ gestation, and whose grief was compounded by the evident joy of her sister-in-law, whose baby was due at the same time hers was to have been born. C.S. Lewis writes about grief: “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is liike being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness …. Other times it feels like being mildly drunk, or concussed. There is a sort of invisible blanket between the world and me. I find it […]
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October 1, 2008
October 1, 2008
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Life After Miscarriage: A Guest Post by Dawn Wilde

One of the last articles that I acquired for Canticle did not make the “final cut”… but I felt the subject matter was too important not to give it a wider audience. And so, I’d like to share this woman’s story with you here. “Dawn Wilde” (a pseudonym) experienced her own painful journey from grief to hope after having lost her fourth child six months into her pregnancy in September 2007. She received an outpouring of support from Catholic, Protestant, and even Jewish friends … but her pain was compounded by her own family. Dawn writes, “My sister-in-law was due just two weeks prior to what would have been my […]
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September 28, 2008
September 28, 2008
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Rejoicing For Joyce: Good-bye, Farewell

Anyone who has ever lost a loved one too suddenly to say goodbye will related to Lionel’s anguish as he shares this moving tribute to this EM at Rejoicing For Joyce. When our time is not God’s time (as so often happens in life), it helps to recall that there is no time in heaven. Though there is nothing more that we can do with or for our loved one here on earth (apart from the funeral), because of the love we share in Christ we are never separated wholly from those we love. We can ask God to bring that precious soul gently to […]
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September 11, 2008
September 11, 2008
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In Memory…

Today at Mommy Monsters is a brief reflection on today’s sad anniversary. Time passes. The smoke clears. Life moves on. Or not. Oh beautiful for patriot’s dreams that sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears! America, America, God mend thine every flaw. Confirm thy soul in self-control; thy liberty in law! Click here for a profoundly moving tribute.
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September 3, 2008
September 3, 2008
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Have I Miscarried? Signs to help you know.

Today I came across this article online that identifies the signs that you have miscarried.  Recently Tina at “Antique Mommy” posted about her experiences with infertility, and put together a helpful list of things not to say to someone who is having difficulty trying to conceive. I hadn’t considered before that suggesting adoption might not be appropriate. My husband and I got married knowing that having a child of our own would be highly unlikely (though we would have been thrilled had it happened). So for us, we enthusiastically embraced adoption as a wonderful way to share our love with kids who might otherwise never have […]
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