Enjoy this Flashback post from June 2016 while we’re on vacation. 

There is an appointed time for everything,… a time to embrace… Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 5

The school year is jam packed for us with band practice, karate, track, Drama Club, dance, floor hockey, Game Club, CCD, Daisy Girl Scouts, etc. I may be the one driving and picking up for it all, but I don’t participate in any of it. That is hours and hours of the week that I am not in the company of my kids. The only time I get to spend with them is during homework, where I am constantly riding them to stay focused, or at dinner, where I am pushing them to eat faster so we can get to the next activity. How sad is that?

So when summer comes, I get so excited, I plan all these great adventures where we can be together. Then I invite my kids’ friends to come along. It’s completely counterproductive: when their friends are there, my kids choose to talk to them, over me, every time. I can’t blame them: when the moms come along, I talk with the moms more than my own kids every time too.

So I decided I wanted last Wednesday to be different. Continue reading →

Enjoy this Flashback post from the Summer of 2017

And we have this confidence in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14

As I washed Jocelyn’s hair in the bathtub the other morning, we chatted about random things. I’m not quite sure how, but we ended up talking about babies. Jocelyn said she wanted her first baby to be a girl. At just seven years of age, she had it all planned out: “When I’m pregnant,” she said, “I’ll pray to God for a girl. He’ll hear my prayer and give me one.”

I loved how trusting she was. She didn’t doubt for a second that God would hear her prayer, nor did she doubt that He’d answer it. But I knew there was a lesson to be taught. So I grabbed my chance and ran with it. Continue reading →

Published on CatholicMom.com

Back before Christmas, my friend, Pam, texted me to ask if there was a day and time when all five members of my little family would be home. Her family had something to drop off for us.

Between my kids’ extra-curriculars, my new job, and Christmas prep, there sadly wasn’t a day I could find when we’d be all together. Defeated, I texted back saying, “Don’t worry about it. Thank you for whatever it is. Can we catch up after the holidays?”

Fortunately, Pam was flexible, committed and resourceful. A few nights later, after carpooling kids back from some event, I came home to find two phenomenal corn hole boards on my family room rug. Pam and her husband had custom made them for us! They’re spectacular!

The whole exchange made me realize how much we limit ourselves by being unavailable. Continue reading →

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:4

Picture Courtesy of Pixabay.com

As we were about to leave the house to go pick up a friend of my boys, Zack and Mason began arguing about who would sit in the back seat with the friend. I had something to do, so I let them have at it. The result was an angry stalemate: Zack refused to get in the car, and Mason was a thunder cloud. I had to finish what I was doing so I continued to ignore them.

When I finally made my way down to the garage, lo and behold, they were both in the car already and back to their usual happy selves. In my confusion, I asked where the change happened. Continue reading →

…He gave them what they had craved. But while they still wanted more…         Psalm 29b-30a

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Last week, I reached a breaking point with my kids. Their selfishness and ingratitude for my effort in giving them a fun summer was off the charts. We seem to reach this place every summer, but now that I’m working while coordinating it all, I hit that breaking point much faster, and with far more fury. Continue reading →

Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.     Matt. 10:40

Last year, at a parent-teacher conference for one of my boys, the teacher was slamming my son. The more she complained about his messy work and work space, the more I realized she just did not understand or accept how adolescent boys are. Continue reading →

How you give counsel to one without wisdom; how profuse is the advice you offer!   Job 26:3

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Before having kids, I swore I’d never be a mom who repeated herself. I was going to raise my kids to do whatever I asked of them on the first request.

My, oh my, how reality is soooo different from my vision! Ninety-nine percent of my yelling happens when my kids ignore me. After asking and repeating myself several time to no avail, I go with the sure-fire way of getting their attention: by turning into a crazy-lady and yelling until my throat is rubbed raw.

But God is always calling us to be better people and mothers. To help us, He sends the answers we need all the time. Sadly, we often miss His guidance because we don’t recognize the messengers. Continue reading →