Lent is always an appropriate time to reflect on suffering, and over the past 12 months, This Catholic Family has had some rough times. I've shared a few times about the loss of my aunt to suicide in February 2018. The grief from that, and the slow path toward healing, has been a part of … Continue reading Emerging From the Fog
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 Donate to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: https://afsp.org/ Grieving Suicide Grieving my 47-year-old aunt Jeannine's suicide has been different than any other grief I have experienced in my time on this earth. It is heavy, it is dark, it is slow, it is hard. She left so many things behind. … Continue reading How To Save A Life: Suicide Prevention Day, 2018
Breathing Hope So much of my life is framed by hope. I hope the kids will sleep well, I hope the weather will be nice, I hope I'll have time to drink my coffee. Hope, hope, hope. Little things like that. And big things, too. I hope I'll be a published author some day. I … Continue reading The Inescapable Beauty of Hope
Well, we've made it to Illinois! Though the move wasn't too far, mileage speaking, it was far enough that we are having to reset many aspects of our life. In the next few weeks, we will be finding new doctors, dentists, playgrounds... pretty much everything. We keep checking things off the list, but new things … Continue reading Donuts After Mass and Other Hopeful Things
I hope this post finds our This Catholic Family readers well. As tends to happen in life, we have entered into a season of transition after 4 years in our current home. We moved into this home when August was just a newborn. At the time, we barely qualified for a mortgage under JP's post-doc … Continue reading A Season of Transition (aka: We Are Moving!)
I think we've all seen or heard someone make a joke about "Catholic Guilt" at one point or another. This article explores what Catholic Guilt is, really. And if it's actually funny. Or, on the other hand, if it a misrepresentation of something meant for our good. What is Sin? It's important to get on … Continue reading What’s The Deal with Catholic Guilt?
I had the amazing opportunity to give my talk, "A Protestant Interrupted," at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Angleton, Texas last weekend. Father Victor Perez had seen my Journey Home episode, and reached out via Twitter to invite me to his parish. I have to admit, at first I wasn't sure if it was a … Continue reading Southern Hospitality and Sharing My Story in Texas
The Swells and Crests of Life We had a period of time this fall into early winter where things were relatively calm. I remember thinking to myself during that time, Remember to appreciate this. Be thankful for this. Because I've been around at least long enough to know that life comes in seasons, in swells and … Continue reading Strong But Not Superhuman
Two years ago this Easter Vigil, I entered the Catholic Church. Here are 10 things I found helpful when approaching my own Confirmation. I hope they are helpful to any of you out there who will be Confirmed this year! Several of the items on this list are helpful for us all to remember, no … Continue reading 10 Tips for Those Entering The Catholic Church This Easter
It's been a bit quiet over here on the blog for the past few weeks. A great sadness entered into my family's life on February 4th, and it's taken me a while to figure out exactly what I wanted to say. It didn't seem right to write about anything else besides this, and I felt … Continue reading Walking Through Lent During A Time of Loss
