That time I wore a bikini at a Catholic Vacation

This is a topic I am certain will be at least a little controversial, and many may not share my views - and that's okay.  But it is something that has been with me since my vacation last year, and I want to share it because I believe the Lord is bringing about conversion in my heart - about femininity, about masculinity, and about how the two genders coexist. Prior to last summer for me that relationship was marred with shame and fear - shame that, like many women of religious conviction, showing any part of my body that might be attractive to anyone but my husband is a bad, bad thing, and that holiness means covering all of those parts and never allowing anyone but your spouse to even see a hint of your feminine body, lest they be lead into temptation.  And fear that in general men were wired to look at me with lust, to possess me and my body, to take advantage and misuse and bring harm.  I am certain that a lot of this was just my own misinterpretation of what I thought chastity and purity mean, but my concept of this was blown wide open last year, and the fruit of that has been a true freedom and confidence in being created in beauty as a woman.

Good Teachers

I have been blessed to have the best of both worlds when it comes to schooling my kids.  I homeschool them, of course, but I also have been able to take advantage of programs at several schools, public and private, that have really taken their education and enrichment to the next level. I often think that for a homeschooling family, we spend a ridiculous amount of time in schools! You might think that because I homeschool I eschew the public school system all together, but nothing could be further from the truth.

I don't know much about Kanye West

I don't know much about Kanye West, other than what I occasionally read on the celebrity babies section of People Magazine (because I'm a sucker for celebrity baby news!)  But this morning when I saw a headline about Kanye's nearly eight minute rant on Ellen, I was curious and I watched it.  And here are my thoughts.

Fasting. It's Not So Bad.

Last Sunday my son casually mentions to me, "it's Pentecost Sunday, today's the last day of Easter."  "No," I thought, "is it over already?" I generally fast throughout the year from many of my most favorite foods, but a few years ago I started living Sundays and feast days as true feasts.  I don't fast from anything but instead I feast, and connect my love of good food to the Lord, and the specialness that certain days and seasons have.  

You Must Have Been Praying For Me

One of my boys has a problem with being easily distracted.  He could sit at the kitchen table with his books for an entire day and hardly get anything done, because every little fancy that pops into his mind causes him to run off in search of the wonder it has sparked in his imagination. He is content almost to a fault in that regard, and I have spent many years wondering just how to get him to be able to focus when it is necessary.  It's not that I am always looking to stifle his imagination - on the contrary.  I admire it, and the outlook he has on life.  I often say I want to be like him when I grow up!  But as a parent I want to help teach him that there are times when it is okay to indulge your imagination, and other times when it is important to maintain your focus, even if that takes work.

When I Was a Child

"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:11-12)

Jesus has been really great in making Himself available to me in the last few months, and it has really been beautiful.  Where once I lamented the fact that it was not easy for me to get to Mass or adoration with the kids, God has gradually been showing me there are many opportunities to spend time with Him as a family.  I have been discovering Mass times I didn't know existed in the regions where my kids have their activities, more and more churches that are open in the daytimes, and even have had a key to a parish provided to me simply because I asked when it would be open for prayer.  I am completely amazed at God's generosity in meeting me where I am in my life, and each new discovery has made me feel like a child opening a gift.  It really does feel like the Lord is opening up the Heavens and coming directly to me.

Good Priests and Being Filled

I'm not sure what it's like in your diocese, but in ours it's not uncommon to hear tales of gloom and doom over the uninspired state (for lack of better words) of its clergy.  To be fair when I say this, I don't mean that everyone is that way - we have a number of priests who are indeed living very faith-filled lives, and whose liturgies and homilies reveal this.  But the general impression has been that these priests are few and far between.