A little update from the Midlands Homeschool Convention, where I’m making my home-away-from-home this week: 1. Saturday Specials: Free Exhibit Hall Admission for everyone, and $20 family day passes for the workshops. Worth a look. Lots of vendors of interest to any parent — educational toys, books, colleges . . . good stuff. 2. The Catholic Exhibit just plain rocks. Why yes, we are the coolest thing there, though admittedly the Kapla blocks people are a pretty close second. And... Read more
See you there! Read more
It’s NFP Awareness Week. Perhaps you aren’t aware of NFP at all. You should be. It’s the first line of recourse for infertility, and among the most effective. For avoiding pregnancy, it’s pretty simple: 100% of contraceptive failures occur on days when you’re fertile. If you are serious about not getting pregnant, you’re pretty much asking for a wiggly, cuddly little surprise if you insist on ignoring your fertility and just hoping the factory did a bang-up job with your... Read more
My book is up on the block today at Simcha Fisher’s NFP Week Giveaway extravaganza. Go enter now, and you can also try for the sauerkraut-making kit and 13 other great prizes. Tomorrow, the good sports will be asking, “Since I didn’t win that one copy, should I just spend the $7 on my very own?” Yes, I think you probably should. Classroom Management for Catechists is for you if: You teach religious education. You do some other activity that... Read more
It’s NFP Awareness Week. You might be thinking, “I am aware of how wonderful, marriage-building, and personally-affirming NFP is. I love, love, love NFP. Doesn’t everybody?” Well, no, not everybody loves, loves, loves it. But if you have a serious reason to avoid pregnancy, it’s still pretty much your best bet. (There are a few cases where the 100% method is better. Very few, but they happen.) Likewise, if you are trying to conceive, NFP should be your... Read more
Serendipity is following a link to the Lectio Divina site by transitional deacon Ian Van Heusen. The blog is here. Hard not to like a place with posts — good ones, true ones — about things like “learning to die.” Yes. This. Beautiful. Go look. Read more
It’s NFP Awareness Week. We are aware. Fifteen years aware, which I think in NFP years is about 387 years. We’ve used NFP both to conceive and to avoid pregnancy. It works, and it’s good for your body and good for your marriage. NFP can also be frustrating, and there are some things you can do to make it less frustrating and more successful. Hence my list of NFP tips. I’ll start with #1 today and work my way through... Read more
Julie Davis comments on the Parable of the Sower: Listening to the Gospel reading last Sunday with the parable of the sowers, this was the very thought that ran through my head. Yes the soil may be packed down hard from people walking on it, but if someone hoes it up, adds some compost, and the soft rain falls? Then it too may be fertile. To which I’d like to add a thought. Years ago, when our then-pastor preached on... Read more
Over at Amazing Catechists today, I argue that what we teachers wear to class matters. As always, it’s not a fashion talk: No one looks to me for wardrobe advice, except maybe if they’re required to do a character sketch of frumpy middle-aged absent-minded housewives. But even I know that what we wear when we teach matters. If someone like me gives serious thought to clothing before I teach, that means it must be important. First thing is making sure... Read more
Catholic Writers Conference registration is still open, and the schedule of events for the conference is here. As you can see, it’s pretty much a wonderland of Catholic writing fun. I love this conference, and recommend it to anyone interested in writing who is able to attend. Yet more details, including information on pitch sessions, can be found at the conference main page. I will not be in Chicago, see “recent illness”, but my publisher will be. So you can... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In