Not Surprised

Baptist pastor stands by anti-Catholic pamphlets passed out at TN high school (via Father Shelton)

I can't tell you how many Chick tracts were slipped in my locker at high school. What's news about this?

Because Lent Is Supposed To Hurt

My goal was to stop baking casseroles and carry more crosses.

The casseroles were easier.

I catch myself signing up for something--anything--to distract myself from the hard work at hand. Need a group to cook brunch for 100? I'll head that up. Need a double baby shower planned? I'll take that, too.

Call me a slow learner.

I chopped salad. I whipped homemade dressing. I filled 4 steam pans with hash brown casserole and flipped 100 hot muffins into napkin-lined baskets. I drove to church balancing a centerpiece on my lap...

...where I bumped into another lady carting food for the brunch she signed up to serve on the very same day.

I had to swallow my pride and walk out of the kitchen. All that food, work, money--gone! I was so crushed that I could not write about it for a month.

I struggled to find the bright side. At least I could reuse some things for my husband's big meeting at work.

"Oh no," he admitted. "Mary Jo's been taking care of that kind of thing for me all year. She used to be a Home Ec teacher, so she's really great at making the table look pretty."

Et tu?

I won't go so far as to call this a sign from God, but I will say that once you abandon your comfort zone, you'd better be prepared not to crawl back in.

Living Without Fanfare

Rod Dreher documents his sister's Stage 4 cancer diagnosis with beautiful parallels to Lent and suffering:

"I'm the one who has read all the books about God, and written at length about how we all ought to live to be faithful to His truth. But she's the one who has been living more fully in Him, without making the least fuss. Now, when she might be taken from us, and taken from us soon, many of us - not least her own brother -- is waking up to what she has always known, and lived without fanfare."

Read more This Bright Sadness.

First Holy Communion Favors

My son will be making his First Holy Communion after Easter.

We're ordering these holy cards to place on the reception table. The rowdy 7-year-old boys won't notice, but I think the guests may appreciate such a lovely momento.

The best part is that they cost only 5-cents each (pack of 100) from Autom.

In Search Of The Perfect Penance

Our Lent began not with a bang, but with a wet, hacking cough and some half-burnt fish sticks.

We decided to keep the contagion to ourselves, sitting out the evening Mass. I'm not sure how we'll make the Stations of the Cross each Friday night. Leaving the house that late guarantees long car naps and, by extension, a sleepless night of kid wrangling for me.

Maybe I have found the perfect Lenten penance, after all.

One Generation Removed

My mother: I defrosted that roast for you to cook today.
Me: I already have fish planned. It's Ash Wednesday.
My mother: Why are you doing that?

(Needless to say, we did not grow up fasting on the proper days.)

.......

Me: So my friend told her kids about the new baby on Valentine's Day! Spelled out in chocolate! Isn't that cute?
My mother: I told you that Catholic birth control doesn't work. That's why we all used the Pill. (beat) Why don't you call for an appointment right now?

.......

My mother is one of ten children, a graduate of Catholic schools, and a product of Vatican II. There are many flaws in her view of our faith. But, however the traditionalists might critique her parenting, at least she made sure we had the sacraments and attended Mass each week, even as a single mother.

If I could give priests one piece of advice, it would be to assume that your parishioners may lack even basic catechesis. Use the homilies to teach us not only the Word, but also the Church.

Pt. 2: Blog Conference

If you have developed an audience, going to a blog conference is a tiny bit like being a celebrity. People ask if you're here yet, rush to greet you, and confess that you're the one blogger they have been waiting to meet.

Let's face it: those kinds of compliments can be downright addicting.

The sessions themselves were light on tech, heavy on collective building up of confidence and purpose. My favorite panel included Amber and Emily. After a group sigh of appreciation for Ann Voskamp, Emily shared these questions to help refine your content.



It was truly a privilege to meet so many like minded women, women whose words I've been reading for years.

Eye opening, too. Almost without exception, peers who have taken blogging to the next level admitted to help: childcare to get through the book proposals, assistants to handle email and ads, stay-at-home dads and grandparents to cover conferences and publicity trips.

I share this without judgement. My competitive heart leapt at the thought of accomplishing so much and still being at home.

If only, if only, if only...

When it came time to tell my story, I choked. Where were the glossy business cards launching some exciting new project? I should have prepared an elevator speech: "How I Radically Re-Prioritized My Life" in 30 seconds or less.

How blogging was good for my ego, but not necessarily my soul.

How it is better this way, except when I still want to have it all.