Published on Keys for Kids 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

Logo Courtesy of Keys for Kids Ministries

“You got us a rabbit?” Mason shrieked with joy.

“Yup!” Dad said. “And he’s going to live in the house, not out back in a cage.”

“Really?” Zack jumped up and down. “That’s so cool!”

“Check out the bathroom,” Mom said. “I put his cage in there, and a litter tray. I read online how we can train him to only go in the litter box, like a cat. That’s why I agreed to this.”

The three kids ran into the bathroom to check out the rabbit’s new digs. “He’s so cute and fluffy,” Jocelyn said as she came out holding the rabbit. “Can we call him Oreo? He looks like a cookie with his black fur and white flecks.”

“Fine with me,” Zack said, and everyone else agreed.

It didn’t take long for Oreo to get accustomed to using the litter box. Once Mom was sure he was fully trained, Oreo was allowed to explore more and more of the house. Soon enough, he had complete freedom to roam the whole first floor. Until a few weeks later… Continue reading →

Photo Courtesy of Creative Communications for the Parish

I’m thrilled to announce that my Lenten devotional, “With Our Savior,” is now for sale! Published by Creative Communications for the Parish, “With Our Savior” is a 48-page Lenten devotional for families. For each day of Lent there is a little, family-friendly story to help parents and kids connect to that day’s scripture passage. The story is followed by a short prayer, and then an activity to help prepare everyone for Easter.

Booklets begin at $1.99 each, but reduce in price the more you order. To order in bulk, visit Creative Communications for the Parish.  For smaller orders, email withoursavior@gmail.com.

Enjoy this excerpt from the devotional! Continue reading →

For the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.     Deuteronomy 20:4

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

With the turn of a new year, it’s as if we all get a clean slate, an enormous “do over.” It’s a collective opportunity to regroup, re-prioritize, and re-imagine how we want to live our lives.

The more I reflected on how I want this new year to play out, the more I realized there’s a battle raging for my perspective. Continue reading →

Published on CatholicMom.com

 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.    John 14:27

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

I started back to work last month, after fourteen years of raising kids and doing small, paying jobs from home. I’m still learning the juggling act of working outside the house, while still keeping up with all the responsibilities of motherhood. Most days I’m completely wiped out by bedtime, and I can’t get rid of my kids fast enough.

After one especially hard day, my eight-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, asked if we could kneel down and pray together before I tucked her in. Because I’m such a bad mom at that hour, we do our family praying in the car as I travel all over town dropping off and picking up kids. So it took everything I had not to yell “NO! We already prayed today!!”

Seriously, how can a mother of faith turn down that request? Regardless, I knelt down with resentment and impatience, wanting it to be over before we even began. Continue reading →

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.      Philippians 2:3-4

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Jocelyn and I recently watched a girly movie together while the boys were off doing their thing. Jocelyn Chose “Princess Diaries.”

In it, the main character, Mia, discovers she’s a princess of a small country called Genovia. The glitch is, as a clumsy, insecure, and awkward teen, she doesn’t feel she’s princess material. Despite a beauty makeover and etiquette lessons from the queen herself, Mia doesn’t experience the inward transformation she needs. Consequently, she continues to mess up.

Of course, everything changes over time. The turning point happens right as Mia is giving her speech to abdicate and stay her clumsy, insecure self. The transformation is exactly what each of us moms goes through, whether we know it or not. Continue reading →

I was thrilled and honored to be chosen as a member of Melinda Johnson’s Launch Team for her new children’s board book, Piggy in Heaven. Continue reading →

My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away. Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.     Psalm 102:4

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

A control freak at heart, I’ve always been the one to move about the house putting everything back in its place. It calms me to look around and see things neat and orderly in an otherwise chaotic world. But in a household of five, that task is almost a full-time job.

So, when I went back to work a few weeks ago, the house fell into complete disarray. Seeing the clutter everywhere when I got home from work pushed me over the edge. Continue reading →

Published on CatholicMom.com

“Peace I leave with you; my piece I give you.”  John 14:27

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

While on retreat in Massachusetts a few weeks ago, I went to the local church, one I’ve never been to before. It was breathtaking with its cathedral-like spires and ornate altar. There were probably three hundred people at Mass. Not bad for an early Sunday morning.

Although there was so much to admire in the stunning stained-glass windows, it was the seven-year-old boy with bedhead that really got my attention. Continue reading →

In his heart man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.  Proverbs 16:9

I started back to work last week, right at the beginning of the holiday season, with a million things to do. It was a crazy busy week, without a sliver of time to fit in one more thing. I was drained and exhausted and in no mood to deal with my kids’ misbehavior.

But that didn’t stop Mason from going over the line. My first reaction was: Why do I have to deal with this, on top of everything else? Little did I know what was in store for me. Continue reading →