I prayed to the God of heaven and then answered the king….   Nehemia 2:4

We have a bully who lives in our neighborhood. He used to be a good kid, and a friend of Zack’s. We even had him over for several play dates. I really liked him.

But something changed: He turned mean. Unfortunately, he made Zack one of his primary targets.

I’ve always wondered what happened to this boy to cause such a negative transformation. I believe he’s probably still a good kid at heart, but it’s hard for me to remember that when I want to flatten him for being so unkind to my son.

As fate would have it, our paths crossed this past summer. Continue reading →

The Lord’s Word is flawless; He shields all who take refuge in Him. Psalm 18:30

My son, Mason, was in the Middle School production of Madagascar, Junior this past weekend. During the months of rehearsals leading up to it, he kept complaining that there was too much singing and dancing, and not enough acting. Consequently, he and his friend had decided they wouldn’t be doing drama next year.

Production week and Mason getting “The Book” changed everything. Continue reading →

“Watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if it were told.” Habakkuk 1:5

Jocelyn had to turn a two-liter soda bottle, and herself, into a famous person for a project at school. She chose Queen Elizabeth II. She also had to research the Queen and share what she learned with the class.

After spending so much time focusing on Queen Elizabeth, Jocelyn began to think of her as a friend. In fact, she now wants to write a letter and send it to her, along with a craft she made.

Initially, I was trying to discourage Jocelyn. There’s really no chance the Queen will ever write back. But then I had a different thought altogether. Continue reading →

Published on CatholicMom.com

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

As moms, our lives tend to revolve completely around our children. We know motherhood is an incredibly noble vocation. But when we have a moment to catch our breath, some of us wonder if we may be called to do more.

We look at other women who are doing amazing things, beyond raising their kids. They seem to have such focus and purpose. We’re baffled by how they knew their other calling so clearly, and so early in life. We want to be happy for them, and we are; but we’re also jealous, and sometimes resentful. We wish God would just come down from Heaven and spell out for us what we were created to do. Continue reading →

When the Lord saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil, the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.      Genesis 6:5-6

Mason suffered a deep disappointment last week, so deep he went to a dark and angry place because of it. We all just backed off and gave him his space to work through it.

After he did, he pulled up a chair at the middle island and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I get so upset.”

“I do,” I said, and pulled out a piece of paper and a marker to explain. Continue reading →

Where these waters flow they refresh; everything lives where the river goes. Ezekiel 47:9

When Jocelyn was little, she was incredibly easy-going. Yet, every now and then, there’d be these meltdowns that came out of nowhere. When I say “meltdowns,” I mean she would sob and sob, inconsolably. Nothing I did helped. I finally would have no choice but to put her to bed, even if it were two o’clock in the afternoon.

Lo and behold, she’d wake up happy. That’s how I finally linked her meltdowns to invisible exhaustion (because really, there were no outwards warning signs at all).

She’s been having more meltdowns lately, even at seven years of age. However, I discovered a whole different invisible reason in this phase of her childhood. Continue reading →

Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?   John 7:51

My son, Mason, started middle school in September. As you would expect, he started copping an attitude at the same time. It’s gotten to the point where looking at him sideways puts him in a mood. He also can’t seem to focus on a task and follow it through from beginning to end.

After picking him up from an overnight at a friend’s, I asked him to unpack his bag and put everything away before he moved on to the next thing. Two seconds into the task, he was doing nothing but standing still and sulking. I assumed he was mad because I was forcing him to unpack. I lost my patience. Continue reading →