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Advent Prepares Us For The Joy Of Christmas
When I was young, my grandmother would always invite two of my cousins and me to her house right after Thanksgiving to help her decorate for Christmas. We’d go for the whole weekend and we would be busy little elves the entire time making the house beautiful. The first chore was always to dust and…
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The Seven Deadly Sins–Part 5: Lust-A Strong Desire
LUST I currently live in Vegas where lustful thinking isn’t just encouraged, it’s expected. Everywhere you look, there is a picture of some scantily clad woman luring you to some “gentleman’s club.” Years ago when we were stationed in California, my husband had to go TDY to Vegas. TDY just means business trip in military…
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Dear Non-Believer: Prayer Does Not Mean What You Think It Means
I love the movie the Princess Bride and I tend to quote it often. Lately, amidst the tragedies that have befallen on our nation, I’ve seen a slew of atheists take to the internet highway attempting to brow-beat believers into realizing that prayer is nonsense. “It’s useless.” “Wishful thinking that does no good.” “Pointless talk…
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Why I’ve Struggled to Call Myself a Feminist
It wasn’t until I entered college that I really heard the term feminism. My degree is in criminology which is within the sociology department. I had a few classes that were downright hostile to anyone who was more conservative in thought. Since I have always been one to speak my mind, it brought me into…
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The Seven Deadly Sins–Part 4: Greed (Don’t Be a Scrooge)
GREED When I was working at the Salvation Army Domestic Violence Program in Florida, we would often get people stopping by to give donations in the form of money, clothes, toiletries, and other useful items. They were always welcomed, because, often times, we had women leaving their abusive homes and trying to start new lives…
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My List of Things That Teens Need to Read and See
This is gonna be a fun blog, because I get to talk about movies, books, and forms of entertainment. I’m a very emotional person, so movies, books, and music really speak to my soul. I love a good story. My husband and I have three kiddos. Years ago, we turned off the TV and walked…
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The Seven Deadly Sins–Part 3: All the Rage
ANGER I was musing over which of the seven deadly sins I was going to write about this week for my series, when the answer came to me in the form of a car accident. My husband and I were driving our oldest to gymnastics with our two other kids in the car. Ahead, we…
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The Day I Met My Guardian Angel
We all have people that come into our lives who bring meaning and memories. There are some, though, whose presence is so impactful that it cannot be denied that your meeting was no happenstance. I have one such person. Of all the hours in my life, the one hour I spent with her was one…
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The Seven Deadly Sins–Part 2: Gluttony (Don’t Eat Like a Pig!)
Gluttony What is gluttony? In a word…piggishness. “Don’t stuff your face!” “Don’t eat like a pig!” “Man, I ate so much. I feel all fat and sassy.” These are just a few ways we express the sin of gluttony. Now, there are probably some of you out there who are wondering if this is really…
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The Seven Deadly Sins–Part 1: Green With Envy
For the next seven weeks, I’m going to be running a series on the seven capital sins or, more popularly known as the seven deadly sins. I listen to a podcast called “Pints with Aquinas” by Matt Fradd and, last week, he ran a two-part series where he went over the seven capital sins. He used…
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Your Marriage Isn’t a Business Contract, It’s A Sacred Covenant
My husband and I started dating the 2nd semester of our junior year of college. We were first friends and I’d been to his house before, but I’d never seen his bedroom. He lived in a house with one other guy and it was a typical college bachelor pad. The first time I went into…
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It’s Hard When People Fade From Your Life
I was watching Moana for the first time the other night with my kids. Towards the end of the movie, a particularly touching scene occurs where the deceased grandmother returns in spirit form to encourage Moana on her mission. When Moana sees her she runs into her arms and is able to hug her grandmother. Moana…
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The Fear of Being Replaced in Your Spouse’s Heart
When I was a teenager, I watched Braveheart for the first time. In the beginning, William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson) falls in love with a beautiful peasant girl, Murron. Early on, the two lovers are sitting on a hill and the way that William talks to her and looks at her sure makes…
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Behind Every Good Marriage Is A Lot of Effort
My husband and I celebrate our 16th anniversary this week and every year I’m amazed at how I grow in love for him. I would humbly say that Dustin and I have a wonderful marriage. It’s not perfect and we’ve had our share of trials, but we are still best friends, still committed to each…
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Q & A: How Do I Navigate a Relationship With Someone That Is Different Than Me?
I wrote last week about how I learned to love and forgive a family member that was completely different than me. Here’s that blog if you’d like to read it. From that blog, a question was posed to me. I’d like to take this blog to answer it. Question: How do you navigate a relationship with someone…
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The Struggle To Love Someone Different Than Me
When I was a little girl, my cousin and I were as thick as thieves. She’s two years older than me, but when we got together to play at my grandparent’s house we had such a wonderful time. As children, we played at the pool, walked down to the old movie theater, played dress-up with…
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A Christian’s Life Should Look Different Than a Non-Believer’s
When I was in college, I became acquainted with this one particular girl. If you directly asked her, she’d tell you she was Christian, but I noticed some questionable things about her. She was nice, energetic, a decent person. She could make anyone laugh and always had a story to tell. Though she would have…
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The Hope I Find in Millennials
I’m one of those people that fit into a nondescript generation. You have the Baby Boomers, the Greatest Generation, the Millennials, but, for me, I’m just one of those non-labelled folks. I’m told that I am a Gen-Xer, but, as of yet, nobody has been able to tell me what that means. In a way,…
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We Must Smother Evil With Beauty
As a criminologist, I’ve dealt with my fair share of horrific things. I’ve been plunged deep into the evils of this world and I’ve seen evil stare me straight in the face. No, literally, I’ve interviewed a serial killer. For my Master’s work I chose to specialize in sexual violence crimes, so you can imagine…
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The Road that Led Me to Become Politically Independent
For most of my life, I identified as a Republican, that is, until several years ago. Did I switch to the other side and become a Democrat? No, not by a long shot, but I have been on an interesting, eye-opening journey. Up until a few years back, if my husband and I were in…
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The Joy in Putting Down the Electronics
I grew up in the 80’s, back in the days when MTV was good and big hair ruled supreme. I’m the first born and quite a bit older than my siblings, so there was a good deal of time in my early days where it was just me. My parents didn’t have much money when…
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How Each Military Location Shaped Me
A few weeks ago, my dad sent a picture to me of his front lawn in all its glorious greenness. My family is stationed in Vegas right now, so we don’t see too much green. I saw the picture and my heart literally ached. We texted back and forth and then we had this exchange.…
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Sharing the Truth of Chastity with Your Teen
When I was maybe 12-years old, my grandmother gave me the birds and bees talk in the car while driving me back to my parent’s house. There I was trapped with no where to run and all I really remember about the “talk” was my desire to melt away into the seat. Hearing my grandmother…
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When I Put God First In My Marriage, Nobody Competes For My Love
Many years ago, my husband was trying to explain to someone how your relationship with your spouse, if you have one, is more important than any other earthly relationship. The other person quickly said, “No, it’s with your kids.” To which my husband said, “It doesn’t mean that you love your kids less, it’s just…
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Are Pets Kids, Too? Our Culture Says Yes.
I’ll always remember when I picked out my first pet. Her name was Puffy and she was a black and white cat; one of the toughest, hardcore cats I’ve ever known. She took absolutely no bull from anyone or anything. She’d get in fights with anything that moved onto her territory and she’d leave us…
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Having A Baby Young and What It Has Meant For My Life
I had a hunch that I was pregnant, but seeing that I was a young, unwed college student, I just wanted to live in a state of denial. Once the morning sickness really hit hard, there was no denying it anymore and I took a pregnancy test. Sure enough, it was positive. I was beyond…
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How Am I #Rocking Motherhood? The Challenge To See How I’m Doing Motherhood Right.
Recently, I was challenged by Sara over at To Jesus, Sincerely, to talk about how I’m “rocking motherhood.” At first, I felt all squeamish inside, because I was being asked to “brag” on myself. I know that quite often I have mom fails and blunders. I do, though, think it is good to humbly…
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Q & A: Help! What Are Some Practical Ways To Live a More Christian Life?
Question: I feel like things are unraveling in our culture and I just don’t know how to live a Christian life well. I feel like there are outside influences everywhere and I’m not sure how to combat this. I can’t seclude my family and live like monks, so what are some practical things I can do?…
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Don’t Hold Your Husband Back From Challenging Himself or Your Children
A few weeks back, the window on my husband’s car wouldn’t roll back up. It made this awful grinding noise and I feared the repair bill that would follow. My husband has had the car for a long time and it’s starting to wear down. But, instead of taking the car to the shop, my…
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Q&A: Aren’t Christians Hypocrites Because They Eat Shrimp and Pork?
Question: How can Christians pretend to tell people that they have to follow the teachings of the Bible when I see Christians eating pork and shrimp? The Bible says those things are wrong, so why not follow ALL the rules of the Bible? Seems to me you are picking and choosing. I hear this…
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My Spouse Doesn’t Care If I Look At Other People! I Promise You They Do.
Recently, I heard a story about a guy who went on an anniversary vacation with his wife. They went to a beach location and the guy said, “I’m not gonna lie, I was looking. I was at a beach and my wife knows that guys look. She’s cool with it.” To which my husband responded,…
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Is Married Life More Valuable Than the Single Life?
Recently, I had a single woman comment on one of my blogs about marriage. I honestly don’t know her story, but it was very clear that 1. She was single involuntarily. Â 2. She did not enjoy being single. 3. She felt as if married life is held up and celebrated, leaving her feeling “subhuman”…
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March’s Atheist Conversion Story: When Imagination Connects With Reason
God works in mysterious ways and He always finds ways to reach us in areas that speak to our hearts. Dr. Holly Ordway found God through her love of literature: C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, and others. I heard her speak on the radio awhile back and was instantly intrigued by our related love of Tolkien and…
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Q & A: How Can One Believe in Satan and Not God?
I was asked an interesting question the other day. It was interesting enough that I thought it would be good to cover on my Friday short-question blog. Saint Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and…
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Conversations With Your Teens About Dating
My oldest will turn 16 in a few short months. She’ll be of dating age soon and while it does give me heart palpitations, I must trust in the fact that through the years I have prepared her to discern decent men. More often than not, when we send our teens–mostly our girls–out into the…
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Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Men Based Off Of The Five Love Languages
What do you get a man for Valentine’s Day? There aren’t too many men I know of that like stuffed animals, bouquets of flowers or fancy jewelry. Quite honestly, Valentine’s Day seems more for the ladies. I pity the man who has a birthday on Valentine’s Day. Actually, I have an uncle whose birthday is…
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February’s Atheist Conversion Story: “Praying to a God I Didn’t Even Believe In”
This month, I’m featuring Devin Rose’s story of conversion from atheism to Catholicism. I learned about Devin Rose by reading his apologetics books. He is the author to several books and I’ve listened to him speak on the radio several times. My husband loves his style of writing because, like my husband, Devin is also an engineer;…
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January’s Atheist Conversion to Catholicism: Given a Second Chance at Life
This year, I’m focusing on stories of former atheists that converted to Catholicism. How each person comes to Christ is unique and special, but especially interesting are those that go from no belief in God, to becoming members of the Catholic Church. For January, I interviewed Barry whom I recently met on social media. Originally…
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Q & A: Say What? Why Isn’t the Catholic Bible the Same as a Protestant Bible?
I got another question in regards to the differences between a Catholic Bible and a Protestant Bible. Â I know that when I was a Protestant I had no clue that there was even a difference, but there is–seven books to be exact. Question: Â Is there a difference between a Catholic Bible and a Protestant Bible?…
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Q & A on Baptism: A Protestant’s Question on the Validity of Baptism
Question and Answer I recently received a question from a fellow Protestant with regards to Catholic Baptism. Â I thought it was a good question and thought I’d answer here in case anyone else was wondering. Question: Â Is there a reason why Catholic Baptism is not submersion? Â If you had a submersion Baptism, is that not…
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Finding Your Path Out Of Victimhood
We are all a victim of something. Every single one of us has had something bad happen to us. There is not one single person on earth that can claim to have walked through life unscathed. It’s the nature of a fallen world. Whether we’ve been the victim of abuse, divorce, injury, illness, oppression, poverty,…
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How To Help Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick
New Year’s Resolutions. For the most part, they seem like an obligatory tradition attempted because…well, everyone else is doing it. It also seems that by the start of spring, nobody is dedicated to their resolutions anymore. I mean, does anyone talk about resolutions past February? We really don’t, do we? But, why not? I think…