I was chatting with Rebecca Frech the other week, who is both blessedly familiar with intense fitness trainfully, and dreadfully familiar with chronic illness. One of the ironies of my own recent illness, I told her, was that some of the most useful information came from articles geared towards serious athletes. One of those useful clues has been information on heart rate monitoring as a way to avoid overtraining. The situation normal people face: In the quest to get fit,... Read more
At New Evangelizers, I explain why now is the perfect time for an Easter Egg hunt, deadline: Pentecost. Easter Friday — that’s the solemnity that falls a week after Good Friday — we drove to a park across town to meet friends for egg hunt that actually happened during Easter: I try not to be insufferable about it. If this or that friend desperately wants my child to go hunt eggs mid-Lent, I don’t throw a temper-tantrum. I’ll suspend disbelief... Read more
One more bit of excitement for today: Take a look at the first issue of Pauline Media’s new and gorgeous digital magazine. Current issue is entitled: Trusting God When Life Isn’t Easy. Yes, that’s my article on page 3. I tell the bloody finger story, which is funny, not gory, so you know you want to look. And it’s free — other people paid to make this happen so that you don’t have to. Writing thing: Sr. Marie Paul Curley... Read more
Head’s up, if you were planning to see me or any of the bazillion presenters and keynote speakers at the Midlands Homeschool Convention, today’s the last day for discounted registration. If you live in the Southeast and are homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling, seriously consider attending this particular convention. Reasons I’m thrilled to be a part of it: It’s the best value for your convention dollar going. Nearly a hundred workshops, including a massive special-needs track. The focus is on... Read more
I took a random visit to my Goodreads page as part of a some Catholic Writers Guild business, and learned the big news: My book’s coming out in Spanish this fall! Manual del Manejo de Clase Para Catequistas. I know! I’m going to sound so educated! Dear Catequistas, My Spanish is very, very limited. Love the language, can read it a little and that’s about it. But hey, I’m going to read my whole book in Spanish. You betcha. It’ll... Read more
Add “Obedience” to the long list of Christian topics I write about but personally stink at. It’s an aspirational faith, and anyway, if my writing does nothing else, it amuses the people who know me in real life. When I first became a parent, the concept that my children should obey me, and that I should teach them to obey me, was utterly foreign. I knew you wanted the kids to behave well, but I wasn’t so sure that I... Read more
My first luminous mystery this week went to Margaret Rose Realy, the Catholic Gardening Lady. She’s the author of A Garden of Visible Prayer: Creating a Personal Sacred Space One Step at a Time, which is the book that helped me create what you see in this very attractive cell phone photo. I think of her a lot this time of year, because I pray poorly indoors, so I end up going outside, and sometimes even end up in the... Read more
In the busyness of Holy Week I forgot to tell you my Gospel reflection for Matthew 26:14-25 went up last Wednesday. Interesting writing thing to know about: The way these work at CatholicMom.com is that you get your assignment and submit six months of reflections at a time. Which means that you aren’t necessarily in the season when you’re writing. And it means that when they finally go live, you get to see a bit of what you were thinking... Read more
From the inbox: Compass Media, the creators of Visual Latin are running a sale now through April 30th. The sale includes some of their online courses in addition to their DVD courses. I’ve used Visual Latin with the middle schooler, and we liked it. Well-suited for parents who need to learn along with the student, and thus need someone else to be the instructor. (Note that if you are using the course for a co-op, you need to purchase the... Read more
The first Sunday after Easter is “Divine Mercy Sunday”. It’s new observance, since the devotion itself only dates from the 1930’s. (God’s mercy, of course, is much older. Eternal even.) You can learn how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and pile of other stuff, here. The Chaplet is my go-to recommendation for prayer for folks who either: Are too recently arrived from the anti-Mary corner of Protestant-world to be comfortable saying all those Hail Mary’s in a regular... Read more
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