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Modern-Day Feminists, Radical Tradwives, and the Women Caught in the Middle
This is a blog written by a Gen-Xer, which means it’s sure to irritate many in the Boomer generation and, subsequently, in the generations below me in equal parts which is always a good time. Though I come from a generation that gets mostly ignored, I do have a unique perspective as I’m caught in…
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Our Culture’s Rejection of Beauty
The other day I was perusing Instagram and a video of a man came up that stopped me in my tracks. So drastic were the alterations he’d done to himself, that I couldn’t see him anymore. My eyes could physically look at him, but I couldn’t see him and, by that I mean, he had…
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Is A Good Prayer Life Just a Pipe Dream?
“How do you have a good prayer life?” I’ve been asked this question numerous times over the years. To be clear, I’m not a perfect prayer life guru. I’ve had moments in my life where I never prayed, moments where I’ve been hitting on all cylinders, and everywhere in between. I know I’m not alone.…
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Why We Aren’t All Like St. Mother Teresa
When Mother Teresa died, I was not Catholic. In fact, I was a Protestant on life-support, meaning that I was barely, and I mean barely, eeking out a faith life. I remember, though, exactly where I was the day she died. I was in my college dorm room just starting out on my freshman year.…
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It’s Okay to Examine Our Country
For anything to be truly healthy, it must be “checked” over from time-to-time. As we learn from science, “things tend towards disorder” and, therefore, need constant maintenance and evaluation. For our souls to be healthy, we need to examine our consciences in order to confess our sins and be forgiven of them. For our bodies…
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Take Things Back Little by Little
Within the past 10 years, I’ve heard a lot of people comment, “How did we get to this point?” We all look around and things look…well…bleak. Nothing seems healthy or thriving–not people, not families, not institutions, not countries. To be fair, we all can have a bit of a romantic view of the past seeing…
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The Push to Embrace Fantasy
If you live in a first-world country, chances are that your life is significantly more comfortable, more pleasurable, and easier than a majority of people in the world. In general, your external woes are nothing compared to someone living in a third-world country. That isn’t to say that people in first-world countries don’t have burdens,…
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Who Needs God? I Mean, Look at What We Can Do.
In the not too distant past, a growing trend started. It was the seed of a belief that we as humans were outgrowing God. In the Age of Enlightenment, there were advances in science, math, the arts, literature, and industry, so much so, that humans began to smugly pat themselves on the back. “Look at…
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Our Letters To President Biden
Here is the promised blog about how to write our letters to President Biden. First, some context: A while back, a fellow Catholic Pilgrim, private messaged me. She asked what we can do, as Catholics, to stop the bled out from many of Biden’s policies. “Should we write the bishop, the pope? Do we need…
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Taking Back Our Culture
As per usual, after an election and an inauguration take place, one side of the political aisle is rapturous and the other side is licking its wounds in the corner. Right now, we are hearing all the talk about how Biden is going to unite us, and right wrongs, and blah, blah, blah. Four years…
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All We Have Is Right Now
Well, 2021 is shaping up nicely, isn’t it? Since March of 2020, we all waited with bated breath for 2021 to get here so the clock could be reset and life could go back to normal. Even though we lived through it and even though we don’t want to relive it, let’s take a stroll…
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I Don’t Want To Go Back To The Way Things Were
Well, here we are at the end of 2020. Many of us have been clamoring for this day to come so that a sort of hypothetical clock can be reset and we can all go back to the way things were before Covid hit the scene hard in March. But, I’m here to be the…
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But What Does Surrendering To God’s Will Look Like?
One morning, when I was back home visiting my family in Kansas, my mom and I were sitting having coffee together. We got on the topic of trying to do God’s Will in our lives. I said to my mom, “I’ve always been afraid that if I completely surrender to God and do His Will…
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The Weight of All My Shame
When I was preparing to start my new podcast, “Journeying With the Saints,” where I spent one year going through St. Faustina’s Diary, I came across this quote from her at the very start of her notebook recordings. “It is no longer in my power to change, correct or add to the past; For neither…
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How Uncomfortable Are You Willing To Get?
So, after my blog last week, I had a few people ask me what they can do to help make a change in our country. I sat for many days thinking and praying on this question. I came up with all things that you would think to say: We need to go to Mass, we…
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Christians, It’s Time To Get With It
Walk with me for a second through history. I know, I know, some of you hate history but quit your eye-rolling and walk with me. 😉 The Roman Empire. At its peak, it was unstoppable. While no civilization is perfect, the Roman Empire had a lot going its way: It was wealthy, it was strong…
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Natural Disasters Have A Way of Bringing Out the Best In Us
This past Friday, my family went through a pretty intense 7.0 earthquake. My kids and I were sitting on the 15th floor of our high-rise apartment here in Izmir, Turkey and we started to feel the building move. At first, my brain couldn’t process what was going on, but within a few seconds, I realized…
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The Smothering Expectations of Modern-Day Feminism
All throughout my 20s and some of my 30s, there was a great war being fought within my mind. It was an unnecessary battle but one that had been waging since my college days. The war was between two Amys: Amy 1 felt it was her moral duty to get out in the workforce and…
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Please, No More of the Virtue Signaling Wars
Enough is enough. When I was a kid and was driving my dad crazy, he would say to me, “Amy, you are driving me to the hilt of Gannilt.” It was his way of saying that I’d pushed him to the limits of his sanity. Lol. And now, I say it to my children. Well,…
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Watch Yourself: Don’t Become What You Say You Hate
Have you ever read the book Animal Farm by George Orwell? Well, if you haven’t, I’ll give you a very quick run-down. At the start of the book, there is a farm–Manor Farm. The animals on the farm are dissatisfied with their lives because living under the farmer–Mr. Jones–is laborious and meager. They are not…
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Don’t Be A Kill-Joy Christian
Awhile back, I was doing some fact-checking and I came across a Catholic group that gets a lot of followers. I’m not going to name them because I don’t want to draw too much attention to them, but a lot of you will probably figure it out. Anyway, I was watching a video by them…
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Thinking About All The Times I Have Kneeled
When I was sixteen, I had a tumultuous relationship with my first boyfriend. I’ve written about our relationship in other blogs, but to sum it up, it was toxic. I was always desperately trying to find ways to make him love me and he was always trying to find ways to destroy my self-esteem. Even…
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The “Woke” Crowd: The Judgiest Judges That Ever Did Judge
Travel with me, if you will, back in the near distant past to that time when no one was allowed to judge. Do you remember those not-so-distant times? Boy, I do. Ah, those were the days, weren’t they? When if you tried to point out a bad action, immediately you were shamed into silence with…
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So, the Catholic Church Keeps All These Relics of Saints. What’s Up With That?
My maternal grandfather was a carpenter. Mostly he built houses, but he could pretty much make anything out of wood. One day, when I was in my early 20s, he took me down to his workshop because he had a piece of furniture he wanted to give me. It was a beautiful antique vanity that…
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To All My Fellow Catholics. Yes, Even You Lukewarm Ones.
This has been a year, hasn’t it? If we’ve learned anything from the past few months, it’s that the ground is crumbling out from under our feet. One tragedy after another seems to be hitting and it’s now become the joke to say that the end of the world is upon us. But, whenever it’s…
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For All Her Faults and Failings, I Do Not Believe That America Is Inherently Racist
Yes, I am aware that I am a white woman giving my opinion on a touchy, heated subject. Yes, I understand that a lot of people don’t want to hear that opinion because of the color of my skin which is highly ironic. Yes, I understand that many will see my opinion as coming from…
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Look, If I Don’t Agree 100% With You On Everything, I Will Delete You From My Life
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that the start of my blog was in response to an old friend of mine becoming an atheist. We had met in college and were instantly friends. She had this smile, this electricity about her that attracted you like bees to honey. We had…
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What Do I Do If My Kids Stray From the Faith?
Last week, I set aside a day of prayer to pray for the intentions of my followers on my social media accounts. I thought that I would be offering a lot of prayers for relief from Covid-19 but, instead, I got numerous–mostly private–messages from mothers asking me to pray for their child that has strayed…
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An Authentic Catholic Life Will Include Risk
For my 40th birthday, my husband surprised me with a night away to Cincinnati an hour from our home. When he told me, I panicked. The reason I did was that I was scared to leave our kids home alone. Mind you, one of my kids was seventeen at the time and is fully capable…
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So What’s It Like Being A Catholic Military Spouse?
Growing up, I always thought I would meet a Kansas man at college, get married, and settle down in my home state. Never once did I contemplate the idea that I would leave its borders and live elsewhere. I was born in Kansas and I thought I’d live out my days in Kansas. Seems God…
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“If You Truly Love Me, You’ll Condone My Sin. Nay, You’ll Even Join Me In It.”
During my junior year of college, a few of my girlfriends and I decided to make the trip to Padre Island for Spring Break. We were so excited to go and it was a topic of conversation weeks before we left. Around Spring Break that year, I also had entered into a pretty serious relationship…
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The Value of a Grandmother
I know I should probably give you all some thoughts about Easter or COVID-19, but my grandmother died this past week and she’s on my heart. I, also, know that writing a personal blog about someone you all don’t know will probably not be very popular. But, I’m a writer and I’m always compelled to…
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How In the World Do We Live Out This Holy Week?
I think it’s safe to say that most of us started Lent 2020 off with good intentions and zeal. I always look forward to Lent as it is a time that really feeds my soul. However, around mid-March the proverbial dog-doo hit the fan. Hard. All of a sudden we were plunged into a seriously…
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Trying To Keep My Cool During A Pandemic
When the news first really started to break about the Coronavirus, I was less than mildly interested. I’ve never been one to freak out (and I’m not saying it’s bad if you do) over germs. Some people just happen to be more concerned about it than others. But, as time went on, things got weird.…
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Pants: The True Obstacle To A Woman Who Wants to Fully Live Out Her Catholic Faith
Last week, I received a comment on my blog that was totally unrelated to the topic. A man commented: “Sorry, jeans are not modest clothing for women. Viewing your photo is a near occasion of sin for men and some women. That picture does not look like a Catholic woman. To truly live out your…
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“Oh, Catholic Church, You Bunch of Fools, Oppressing People With All Your Rules!”
In my house, the only rule is that there are no rules. You see, my husband and I don’t want to stifle the expressive freedom of our children. We don’t want them to feel bound or tied up by anything their dad and I see as important, because what if our kids have a different…
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The Questions Are Simple: What Is A Woman? What Is A Man?
(This blog contains a very sensitive, controversial topic. I will not tolerate any name-calling, blatantly rude, or hateful comments from anybody. I will delete anything I deem out-of-line. You can disagree with me, but be a mature adult about it.) When I was seventeen, I started dating a guy named Gary. Not long into our…
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“The Bible Never Says That You Should Baptize Babies.” “Ahh…But It Doesn’t Say You Shouldn’t Either.”
As most of you know, when my husband and I got married, I was Protestant and he was a cradle Catholic. Initially, I thought I could be okay with agreeing to raise our kids Catholic, but after our marriage, I wasn’t so sure. My husband was eager to baptize our firstborn but I was less…
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(Yawn) Who? Oh, Christ? Yeah…Whatever.
Blaise Pascal said that there are four groups of people: Those who have found God, those that are seeking God, those that are seeking God to eradicate Him, and those that don’t even care. Last week, we covered King Herod. He was a seeker who sought to destroy God by trying to murder Him as…
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Don’t Ever Doubt That We Have Herods Among Us
As a writer, I’m always very keenly aware of people’s stories and I am always on the lookout for blogging material. This past Friday, my best friend invited me to an Advent Tea which was a much-needed time of reflection. A priest, Fr. Bullock, gave a wonderful reflection and as I soaked up his words,…
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“You Catholics Make The Faith Too Complicated. It’s Supposed To Be Simple.”
My husband was talking with a guy the other day who happens to be a Baptist. The guy had just finished praying with my husband over some work-related issues which was a very kind gesture. As they were talking, the other guy said, “I’ve come to respect a number of Catholics but there are quite…
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Oh, Advent, What Do You Want With Me?
Fulton Sheen once wrote, “If you are ever to have a good time, you cannot plan your life to include nothing but good times.” Not in the too distant past, life was physically more demanding. You had to grow your own food, spend every waking minute preparing to survive the winter, and build or make…
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Listen Up, Buttercup, We’ll Do Holy Communion By My Rules
Let’s set the scene. Imagine that you have invited over a new friend for dinner. You prepare your house, working to make it welcoming and warm. You fix one of your most special meals. You hope that they find your home inviting. The doorbell rings and there is your new friend. You open the door,…
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What If My Parents Aren’t Worthy Of Honor?
When I worked as a counselor for victims of domestic and sexual violence, I heard some of the most horrific stories you can imagine. The ones that were the hardest for me to deal with were the ones where people had been physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by their parents. There’s just no excuse for…
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“God, You Can’t Possibly Love Me If You Allow Me To Suffer.”
On the last day of December in 2015, our family crested the hill to overlook the lights of the city we would be living in–Las Vegas. We had spent three amazing, wonderful years nestled close to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and now we were to call Sin City our home. It was the…
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Can It Really Be So Bad To Covet And Lust After Others? It’s Healthy To Be Attracted To People, No?
This will be my most humbling and embarrassing blog to date. I’m a story-teller, it’s what I do, so sometimes my stories definitely don’t shed me in the best light. Much of what I write is for me; reminders on what to do or what not to do. If someone else can benefit from my…
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“All Praise You, Mother Earth, Please Forgive Us For Even Existing.”
I warned you. When all the haters spewed forth several weeks ago, I promised I’d tucked away their comments as blog fodder. They may have, for a moment, overwhelmed my page but like I have told my kids when they are misbehaving, “I will outlast you.” They may have rapid-fire comments that pour forth from…
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Do Your Kids A Favor: Don’t Set Your Marriage On The Back Burner
I have been married to my best friend for 18 years. Eighteen beautiful years. The first time I saw my husband, I knew he was the one. It was like, “Yep, there’s the rest of my heart sitting there across the room.” Dustin and I both had significant others when we met, but…well, you see…
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Let’s Just Hate All The Good Things, Shall We?
When my Facebook page blew up a few weeks ago with all the “child-free” advocates of the world, I was bombarded with some of the most heinous comments imaginable. I read them, not because I enjoyed it, but because I’m prone to studying people and they laid in my lap a morbid, yet fascinating case…
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What Is The Purpose of Marriage? Is It Whatever You Want It To Be?
So, last Thursday, I wrote a post commenting on the recent poll from the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. The poll showed that only 30% of Millennials and Gen Zers believe having children is important. That means 70% don’t which is a startling number. In my post, I gave my opinion on why I…
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Responsibility Is A Dirty Word. Or Is It?
My name is Amy and I have rights. Look, I have so many rights, you betta just settle on back whilst I get started decreeing them to you. (Proceeds to role out a scroll with said rights) I’ve got rights you don’t even know about and everything you think isn’t a right of mine, well,…
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Mirror, Mirror On the Wall, Who’s the Vainest Of Us All?
I ain’t gonna lie, vanity is something I struggle with–mightily. Lest we think that vanity only has to do with looks, let’s look at the definition. Vanity: Excessive pride in one’s appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc. For this blog, though, I’m going to focus on the looks aspect. Lest we think this is only something that women struggle with, let us think again.…
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So You Say You Want To Homeschool?
Very soon, our family will embark on our 11th year of homeschooling. We recently just graduated our oldest and she leaves for college in one week. I started teaching her when she was in 3rd grade and now my time as her school teacher is through. It’s hard to believe that I will no longer…
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But What If I Enjoy My Sin and Just Want You To Shut Up About It?
When I was sixteen, I had a no-good-dirty-rotten boyfriend. True story. My mother could tell that he was a no-good-dirty-rotten boyfriend. After we broke up the first time, she stepped in and told me that I wasn’t to see him anymore. He was bad for me. He didn’t respect me. She didn’t like the way…
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Don’t Mind If I Do, Take What Actually Belongs To You
Everybody knows that stealing stuff is wrong–even thieves. So, in this blog, I’m not going to cover the 7th Commandment–“Thou shall not steal”–talking about the typical “don’t steal” stuff. This year, I was asked to go deeper into the Ten Commandments and deeper I shall go. My degrees lie in the realm of sociology. My…
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Would You Just Calm Down With All Your Piety Already?
When I was a little girl, around four and five, I had a best friend named Jessica. The day I had to move away, we vowed that we would always be best friends. My family moved about two hours from her and, as is normal, our friendship faded away like the Beatles on “Hey, Jude.”…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling In Montreal, Canada
My family and I recently grabbed our passports and headed off to check things out in the land of our northern neighbor–Canada. My oldest recently graduated and we wanted a fun way to celebrate as a family. We love to travel and explore, so we thought Montreal would be an interesting place to check out.…
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If I Can Just Have What You Have, I’ll Be Happy, Right? Right?
This post may be TMI. I have toyed with this blog in my head for years. YEARS! Each time, I talk myself out of writing about it because I worry it’s going to be more than people want to hear. I’m gonna try not to be too in the weeds with the details. What I…
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What Happened When This Former Protestant Experienced Her First Confession
Back in December of last year, I asked my followers what they would like to see me write about. Someone asked me to touch on Confession. It’s taken me a long time to collect my thoughts on what I wanted to say. So much has been written about the Sacrament of Confession that I didn’t…
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So, You’re Telling Me I’ll Find Joy If I Serve Others? Yes.
Many years ago, my father told me a story about an experience he had one day while grocery shopping. It had a profound effect on me and I think it’s a story we can all relate to in one way or another. It’s also a great segway into my monthly blog on finding joy. “I was…
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Yes, It Does Hurt My Heart When You Take God’s Name in Vain
Several years ago, I was out to lunch with a friend who also happens to be an atheist. As we were talking, she’d pretty consistently take the Lord’s name in vain. Each time she did it, I felt a twinge in my stomach. I can’t stand it when people disrespect God’s name, but I lacked…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling to Chincoteague Island, Virginia
Cool name, huh? There’s a good chance that you’ve never heard of Chincoteague Island. I’d never heard of it before living in Virginia, but, man, what a place to visit. If you are an outdoorsy person, you are going to want to go here. Chincoteague is a very small island off the mainland of Virginia. On…
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All This Contempt Is Sucking My Will To Live
Do you like my Wayne’s World reference in the title? I’m one of those people that takes any opportunity to quote movies and I do not apologize for it. What comes to mind when you hear the word “contempt?” Do you picture a seething, hateful person? Maybe you picture someone who sneers the smile of…
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Who Needs Church Anyway?
I’ve decided on a new way I’m going to live out my marriage. Here are my thoughts. My husband knows that I love him. I mean, I tell him pretty frequently, so he should have no doubt. However, I’m gonna propose that I move to a different house. I’m an independent woman and I need…
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You Don’t Deserve My Forgiveness
When I first started dating, I had romantic notions in my 16-year old head. My first boyfriend had pursued me for years and when I finally relented to him and opened up my heart, I was sure that he would guard it. That didn’t happen. Our relationship was a tortured, twisted one. I was constantly…
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I’ll Ignore Your Sexual Sin, If You’ll Ignore Mine
Years ago, back when I was a young college student, I was sitting one day in a lounge chair reading the student newspaper in the library on campus. During breaks between classes, I always went to the library and read the newspaper front to back and then I would tackle the crossword puzzle found on…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling To Santa Barbara, California
My sister and I being silly in Santa Barbara. I will never forget the feeling I had when I first visited Santa Barbara. My husband surprised me for my 31st birthday with a trip there and I thought to myself, “This is paradise!” Granted, we were stationed in the barren Mojave desert at Edwards AFB…
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Lord, Please Let This Cup of Anxiety Pass
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that my first two boyfriends treated me horribly. Both of them were cruel in their own way and I suffered much at their hands. I need to talk about them in order to get to the point of this blog, so bear with me.…
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I’ve Had an Idol or Two
Years ago, my husband and I were members of a forum for fans of our favorite sports team–Kansas State University. It’s a forum where fans can go to ask questions, speculate about recruits, reminisce about memorable games, and…rant. Ranting is a favorite pastime on there. If we won a game, numerous fans would be griping…
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What I’ve Learned in 40 Years
Well, here I am standing at the threshold of 40-years old. Da, da, daaaaaa! When I was a kid, forty seemed super old. But, now that I am here, I feel this is when you just start warming up. I don’t feel “old.” I feel, actually, younger than I did when I was in my…
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From the Bottom of My Thankless Heart
Years ago, when I was a counselor for victims of domestic and sexual violence, I encountered many different kinds of people. My eyes were open to the difficulties that some people go through in this life that make my worst days seem like a picnic in the park. There is one girl who remains ever…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling To Kansas City, MO
Welcome to my town. I was born and raised in Kansas. For most of my life, up until the age of 22, I lived right outside of the Kansas City area. Kansas City is interesting, because, well, there are two: Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. What divides them is a river. Kansas City,…
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But, I Haven’t Killed Anyone…
When I was in middle school, there was a classmate of mine that lived at the end of my street. I’ll call her Stacy. Stacy was awkward, shy, and one of those girls that blended into the background. The houses at the end of my street were the “not-so-nice” ones. She lived in a worn-down,…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Anni from ​A Beautiful Camouflaged Mess
Can you believe we’ve gone through a whole year of the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series? The time has flown. My last interview is with one of my favorite bloggers out there. Anni from A Beautiful Camouflaged Mess rounds out the year for us. I’m so excited to feature her! Anni is a military…
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The Year I Saw Santa Claus and the Thrill of the Season
When I was a kid, Christmas Eve was a magical night. Some of my dearest memories are from those special evenings with my family. Everyone would show up at my grandparent’s house before dinner was ready. The house always smelled like heaven–baking food, pine, and candles. My grandmother always had the house beautifully decorated and…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Beth Anne from Beth Anne’s Best
Here we are at the end of November, but before we fully usher in the Advent season and December I want to bring you November’s interview for the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series. This month, I bring you Beth Anne from BethAnnesBeth.com. Beth is a blogger, but she also has another talent that she…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling in Philadelphia
In 2015, my family and I attended the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. It’s a week-long meeting full of great speakers, break-out sessions, and fellowship with Catholics from all over the world. At the end of the week, you celebrate Mass with the pope out in the open with thousands of Catholics. It was…
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Help! My Marriage Has “Lost That Loving Feeling!”
Recently, I’ve had a lot of people private message me about their marriages. They are writing about marriages that have lost affection, ones that are void of love, and marriages that are teetering over the edge of a cliff poised to fall into destruction. It’s heartbreaking. There is a real and true pain that comes…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Leslie From Life in Every Limb
Fall is here and that means it’s time for October’s interview for the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series. This month, I’m happy to bring you Leslie from Knoxville, Tennessee who runs the website “Life in Every Limb.” I got acquainted with Leslie on social media probably about three years ago and I’ve always enjoyed…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling to Charlottesville, Virginia
Sitting on our porch swing in Virginia. In 2012, our military family moved across the country from the desert of California to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the University of Virginia. It didn’t take long for my heart to fall in love with this town. Our family lived just a little…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Dan Mattson from the Documentary “Desire of the Everlasting Hills”
The male interview for September is Daniel Mattson. The first time I ever heard of him was when my husband and I watched the free documentary “Desire of the Everlasting Hills.” It’s a very well done documentary that talks with three different individuals who struggle with same-sex attraction but are now committed to living a…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Jennifer of Fiore Design Studio
September is here! Fall is in the air and we have a new voice for the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series. Jennifer of Fiore Design Studio joins us this month and I’m excited to feature an artist. I can’t draw a straight line, so I’m always so expressed with those that create with their…
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Raising Capable Kids Means Sometimes I Need To Back Off
A few weeks ago, while my husband was on TDY (military business trip), someone broke into my car. As I was going out the next morning to drive my daughters to practice, I opened up the car and noticed that everything in the middle console was strewn out everywhere. The intruders didn’t take a single…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling In the Heart of Washington DC–Part One
For three years, our family was stationed in Charlottesville, Virginia. Charlottesville is a short drive from DC, so during our stay, we spent a lot of time exploring our nation’s capital. There is so much to do in DC that it would take me forever to list out all the things I’d recommend to do.…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Laura From A Single Drop In the Ocean
Can you believe that August is already here? The summer definitely flew by, but before the summer completely winds down, I’d like to introduce August’s interview for the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series. Please meet Laura who is the face behind the website “A Single Drop in the Ocean.” One thing I really admire…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling Down Highway 1 in California
Back in 2012, my family was living in California. Now, before you go and get all jealous thinking we were living the lap of luxury on a beach somewhere–think again. We were stationed at Edwards AFB which is smack dab in the middle of the Mojave Desert and there is no civilization around it. None.…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Desiree From Green Catholic Burrow
We are nearing the end of July, but before we do, Desiree from the Green Catholic Burrow is here to tell us why she loves being Catholic. Desiree is a recent convert to the Catholic Faith. As I read her answers, I had to go ask her one more question: What was it that converted…
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Q & A: Does the Church Only Allow Catholics to Marry Other Catholics?
A few weeks ago, I was asked about my thoughts on whether Catholics should marry people who aren’t Catholic. Since I’ve been moving, I haven’t had the chance to really sit down and write my thoughts out. I’ve finally found a few moments between the boxes, painting, and organizing our new home. First, I wasn’t…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: My Husband, Dustin
{UPDATED} So, I roped my husband into being July’s male voice for the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series. Part of the package deal of being the spouse of a blogger is being interviewed from time-to-time. Lol! Truly, though, I wanted to share Dustin’s thoughts on Catholicism because he is one of the smartest people…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Amy from Prayer Wine Chocolate
June’s female voice for the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series is totally awesome because, like me, she is named Amy. All people named Amy are automatically awesome people, right? Amy is the founder of the website prayerwinechocolate.com. She is just an awesome woman who writes a lot about her journey of adopting three beautiful children.…
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It’s Time To Reclaim our Families
One afternoon when I was young, my brother, sister, and I lugged this gigantic box out onto our back patio. My parents had just bought a new dryer and here was this huge box full of possibilities. Something had to be done with this great box; to leave it by the trash pick-up seemed like…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling To Las Vegas
I will never forget how I felt when we crested the hill that overlooks the entire city of Las Vegas back in December of 2015. I’d been to Vegas a few times before but now I was coming to live here. After coming from my beloved Virginia, it felt surreal to see all the lights stretched…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Fouad Abou-Rizk of Humanitarian Prayers
Don’t you just love when you find great people doing great things? Of course you do. That’s why you are going to love reading May’s male voice for the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series. His name is Fouad and he is a Lebanese-American living in Winston-Salem, NC. I came across Fouad when he joined a blogging…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Lexie from 4 The Love of Lexie
I’m one of those people that can appreciate beautiful things, but I struggle to create beautiful things myself. May’s female voice for the “Why I Love Being Catholic” series is Lexie. She’s a young, energetic, creative woman who has a keen eye for all things beautiful and she’s pretty crafty. I really enjoyed her honest answers and when I…
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My Journey: Living Together Before Marriage
When my husband and I were first dating, we literally spent all our time together. You know how it is in those first new days. It’s intoxicating. When we started dating it was the second semester of our junior year and classes just got in the way. Homework? What homework? All we wanted to do…
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So, You’ve Struggled To Read Through the Bible? You’re Not Alone.
When I was a teen, I’d get a sudden burst of inspiration to read through the whole Bible. I’d grab my Bible, open it to Genesis and dive in with enthusiasm. Genesis and Exodus I found particularly interesting, probably because a lot of its contents are covered in the movie The Ten Commandments, so I…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Kedon from Kid Catholic
I’m so excited to bring you April’s male voice. Kedon is the youngest person I’ve interviewed. I was first introduced to Kedon when I opened my Seton Homeschooling Magazine a few months back. His family was the featured family for the month and I discovered that Kedon runs a Youtube channel where he speaks about the…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Michelle of the Give Him 5 Ministry
(Update: Michelle passed away on July 10th, 2018. If you are reading this, please offer up a prayer for her and her family.) I’m so happy to bring you April’s featured woman, Michelle, of Give Him 5 Ministry. Michelle was prompted to start her ministry to encourage people to give Christ at least five minutes…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling At the Grand Canyon
If the rocks cry out in silence so will I If the sum of all our praises still falls shyThen we’ll sing again a hundred billion times. God of Your promiseYou don’t speak in vain, no syllable empty or void. For once You have spoken all nature and science follow the sound of Your voice. –Hillsong  …
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If I Could Have Met Christ In Gethsemane
One of the moments in Christ’s earthly life that I reflect on the most is when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Aside from the Crucifixion, it’s one of the most emotionally stirring accounts of Christ for me. I think it’s because in a small way, I can relate to Christ in that…