November 18, 2021
November 18, 2021
Categories

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 […]
Do you like it?0
Read more
May 12, 2018
May 12, 2018
Categories

Adoption, 10 Years Later: Letter to My New Mom Self

This year Christopher turns 18, and is reconnecting with some of his birth family, so it seems like the right time to get a little retrospective. (If that’s the right word.) Pour yourself a cup of tea and meander with me to 2015. Next weekend we celebrate a decade of “official” family life. Ten years since the adoptions were finalized and the kids were officially welcomed into the family . . . and baptized into God’s. We plan to go to Cedar Point with their godparents, to celebrate. This weekend, though, as Sarah and I sit in the living room — her painting designs on her […]
Do you like it?0
Read more
September 20, 2012
September 20, 2012
Categories

The Warrior Is . . . a Mom

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tu0vJg3RSA] Lately I’ve been winning battles left and right. But even winners can get wounded in the fight. People say that i’m amazing, never face retreat. But they don’t see the enemies that lay me at your feet. They don’t know that I go running home when I fall down. They don’t know who picks me up when no one is around. I drop my sword and cry for just awhile. ‘Cuz deep inside this armor, the warrior is a child. This ballad by Twyla Paris is part of my childhood soundtrack. Perhaps you have a song like that tinkling in the back of […]
Do you like it?0
Read more
September 9, 2012
September 9, 2012
Categories

Not-Quite-Silent Motherhood: A Miracle in Our Midst

One of my favorite ways to engage the Gospel is to imagine that I am a peripheral character in the story. In this week’s Gospel, for example,  we encounter a man who is both deaf and has a speech impediment, who is brought to Jesus for healing. We read: He [Jesus] took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”– that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he […]
Do you like it?0
Read more
May 7, 2011
May 7, 2011
Categories

Happy Mother’s Day!

“Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You long to comfort all who are desolate.” — Charlotte Gray “Giving kids clothes and food is one of thing, but it’s much more important to teach them that other people besides themselves are important and that the best thing they can do with their lives is to use them in the service of other people.” — Dolores Huerta “Everybody knows that a good mother gives her children a feeling […]
Do you like it?0
Read more
March 4, 2009
March 4, 2009
Categories

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 […]
Do you like it?0
Read more
August 4, 2008
August 4, 2008
Categories

Mother’s Helper: Guest Post by Allie O. Williams

“Look what we found!” exclaimed our son, Rob. As the oldest & tallest he was the default spokesman, thrusting a muddy mitt in my face, his fist clutching a clay encrusted hunk of plastic. “It’s Mary and I found it,” cried our littlest neighbor Maggie firmly asserting her role. “But it was in our yard,” hollered our daughter, Elizabeth.
Do you like it?0
Read more