And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.    Matthew 5:30

On April 26th, 2003, the outdoorsman, Aaron Ralston, had his right hand crushed and trapped under an 800 pound rock while hiking through the Bluejohn Canyon in Utah. He hadn’t told anyone where he was going; he wasn’t hopeful of being found. Continue reading →

… be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.  2 Timothy 4:2

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

When my MOSAIC Moms Group meets every month, we report back on the progress we made on the “One Small Goal” we set for ourselves the month before. The supportive accountability is supposed to inspire us. Sadly, even that hasn’t helped me achieve any of my goals lately.

Consequently, I was bound and determined to make progress on this month’s goal: Relentless Love. No matter what my kids did, I wanted to be like God and love them through it, no matter what, relentlessly, indefatigably.

I was actually making headway until I lost it with Zack last Thursday. Continue reading →

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Jean!!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest to win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Miracle of Love, with my story “No Compromise Date Nights.” I LOVED reading about your favorite dates! In fact, they were all so amazing, I couldn’t choose the best. So I put names in a bowl, like last time, and had my husband draw the winner (Jean, John wants you to know you should be indebted to him :).

Again, thank you to all who shared about their own “Miracle of Love,” and to all my readers who fill me with such love and joy always!

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay

Published on CatholicMom.com

Recently, over the course of just one month, several friends had major catastrophes in their lives. The devastations knocked each one to her knees. When they got up, despair blinded them to any hope that things could ever get better. Continue reading →

He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-3

Jocelyn received her First Holy Communion a few weeks ago. Although I do my best to make sure my kids behave appropriately in church, she’s been acting out ever since. But it’s not how you’d think. Continue reading →

From early morning until evening, he expounded his position to them, bearing witness to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets.  Acts 28:23

Photo courtesy of GDTC.org

My husband, John, created an amazing Couch to 5K program that he coaches every spring. Twice a week, for ten weeks, he leads over 100 people who want to move from their couch to actually running a 5K race on 4th of July morning. He always starts the sessions with great little speeches that teach the nitty-gritty of running: what clothes and sneakers to wear, how much food and water to have before running, how to stretch out before and after, etc.

He’s just as talented in his professional life. The only skill he lacks is organization. So when I started working for him a few years ago, my primary roll was to organize him in his professional life, and in his running club volunteer work.

For his Couch to 5K program, I wanted to map out all his speeches so he didn’t have to reinvent the wheel every year. He didn’t want me to. Not understanding why, I’ve been passively-aggressively trying to have it may way ever since. Continue reading →