Perhaps because I write for Christian publications or perhaps it is because I have a million books of my own, people are often asking me for Christian book recommendations for children.
These are some of my favorites. I have picked up a few for my favorite little people and I hope you will too.
Read MoreLike David called out to the Lord in Psalms, so too, modern psalmists wrestle with doubt and faith in the language of poetry. From Pádraig Ó Tuama’s popular podcast Poetry Unbound to Douglas Murray’s weekend poetry reflection Things Worth Remembering for The Free Press, there has been a resurgence in finding meaning and solace through the doorway of poetry. Spend three luscious hours reading and discussing 20th and 21st century poetry and how these words can hold us as we struggle with faith and doubt.
Read MoreWe have become experts at pointing out what is wrong.
I understand — for good reason. Things have been messed up.
But isn’t it exhausting? Living like this? Pointing out all that is wrong?
Read MoreTouched by the reaction from my jr high classmates on this essay I wrote on our math teacher. A call to prayer for our own children caught in today’s spiritual crossfire.
Read MoreI’ve been spinning. Reacting. Getting caught up in things that are not important.
Maybe you have been too.
Read MoreThere is a tenderness of language in Julian of Norwich’s A Revelation of Love. These sixteen mystical revelations manifested at what Julian had thought was her deathbed one night over several hours.
Read MoreMiddle school is an awkward time as it is, and now these young people have to deal with it during the disconnect of a global pandemic and wearing masks that hide our subtle facial expressions and stifle our mumbled words.
Read MoreLike St. Ignatius, we all have "Cannonball Moments", a moment where your story could have taken a darker path, but instead brought into God’s brilliant light. I wrote about one of mine for Ignatian Spirituality's #31DayswithIgnatius
Learning to take a holistic approach to my health; my physical, mental and spiritual health are all intertwined.
Read MoreA year ago, during the first months of the pandemic, I filmed a video for my parish. A love letter really. To encourage believers and to remind myself of what was true and real.
I shared that even in the midst of isolation I hadn’t lost my joy.
Read MoreEven in pain and sickness and exhaustion, my neighbor radiates God’s love to others. She feels Christ close to her, and in turn, we feel him close too. She is unafraid, for she truly believes what she has always said she believed.
Read MoreI wrote this as a love letter to the Church I am so mystically connected to.
Read MoreI’ve missed kindness this past year. We were stingy with our kindness, saving it mostly for those who clearly shared our values. And when I say “we,” I mean “me.”
Read MoreWhen I was young and somehow given the chance to stay home alone, I loved to sit in the quiet house and hear what I could hear. It was strange to me that even without my sisters playing or my great-grandmother’s television blaring, the house was not quiet. I could hear the hum of the refrigerator and the lull of the cars on the main street beyond ours — even our house crackled as it settled.
I wanted to get beyond those sounds to hear silence. I wondered what silence even sounded like and what I’d find there.
Read MoreI couldn’t sleep. It was a cold and cozy December night. Maybe I ate too many cookies. Or had a list that wouldn’t stop unrolling itself in my head. All I know is I was awake. I left my husband snoring deeply in our bed, curled up on the living room couch with the remote and searched for something to watch on television.
Read MoreWhat if St. Monica had written Confessions instead of her son? In Motherhood: A Confession author Natalie Carnes responds to St. Augustine’s work. Each of the thirteen chapters of the book center on a theme found in Augustine’s Confessions which is written as a prayer to God.
Read MoreThe spiritual practice of memento mori confronts death, until we no longer find it frightening.
Read MoreThere are moments when I am driving in my car or taking a walk and everything my eyes land on is beautiful and precious to me. These moments do not happen often, so when they do, I really notice.
Read MoreMy young sons cannot, will not, be silent.
It’s not that they talk a lot, though they can and do. It is that they sing — all the time.
Read MoreWhen our memories are inseparable from the formation and understanding of our self, what does it mean to pray, "Lord, receive my memory."
Read MoreThrives on moments where storytelling, art and faith collide.
