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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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A Late Night Conversation With My Teen Daughters About Abortion
Tonight, I mindlessly looked out my living room window for about 30-minutes trying to figure out how to start this blog. Honestly, what more can be said on the topic of abortion that hasn’t already been said? Is there anything new I could possibly bring to the conversation? Don’t I wish I had the magic…
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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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Celibacy Does Not Lead Catholic Priests to Commit Sexual Crimes
Sometimes I get so riled up about an issue that it’s a good thing I have three kids to keep me occupied, otherwise I’d be prone to blasting off angry blogs. Yesterday was one of those days where the good Lord had to pull back on the reins because I was ready to bust out…
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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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An Atheist’s Question: How Can You Possibly Believe in Noah and the Great Flood?
Recently, I’ve been having a back and forth with an atheist and he’s thrown out a ton of questions, but I told him we can only take one topic at a time. It’s hard to debate and discuss multiple topics in person, let alone on Facebook Messenger. I’ll present his question in his words and…
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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…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Joseph From Kansas City
I’m so excited to bring you March’s featured guy, Joseph. His wife, Chloe, was January’s female voice on why she loves being Catholic. I was listening to a podcast they did together on Chloe’s podcast “Letters To Women” and I found myself smiling the whole time listening to them share their love story. While listening,…
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How The World Gets God’s Unconditional Love Wrong
On social media there is a figure who calls himself “God.” I’m not sure who is behind this persona, but I’ll just refer to that person as “he” to make things easy. This person that presents himself as “God” is not a believer. Recently, I saw a meme by “God” that attempted to speak about God’s…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Laura of Healing Heart of Jesus
It’s so easy in this world to become jaded and think that everything is going to the dogs. The news makes us think that people are becoming worse and worse. Then you read about someone like March’s featured lady, Laura, and you feel renewed in your faith in humanity. Laura runs the website Healing Heart of Jesus…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling in Phoenix, Arizona
A big ole seguaro cactus. Native to the area. This past week, my daughter’s gymnastics meet saw us rolling down the road through the Sonoran Desert to Phoenix, Arizona. We didn’t have much time in Phoenix, but we did hit up some pretty cool spots and if you are a Catholic Pilgrim traveling there, I…
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The Parkland Tragedy and My Thoughts On Our Nation’s Response
Before I start with my thoughts on the tragedy in Parkland, I need to take care of some basic truths about me. I am a conservative Independent. I did not vote for Trump. I praise him when he does something good, I criticize him when he acts a fool. Nor did I vote for Clinton.…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Br. Anthony Freeman a Seminarian in Rome
Update: Br. Anthony Freeman passed away on April 2, 2018, on Easter Monday. He died peacefully in his sleep. I know that I am not alone in saying that he will be missed. Thankfully, we have all gained a powerful intercessor. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for his family members and friends who…
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Believe It or Not, I Fell In Love With Going to Church
After my middle child “retired” from gymnastics, she wanted to try out different sports. She chose volleyball first and after learning the game, she was invited onto the traveling team. She was pretty excited, as was I, seeing as I played volleyball growing up. The coach set up an orientation meeting with the new parents…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Sara from To Jesus, Sincerely
This February, I want to feature one of my favorite bloggers. Sara from To Jesus, Sincerely, is the real deal. She is open, honest, vulnerable, and amazingly faithful. She encourages me in my walk of faith and I so enjoy what she brings to the table. Sara is a prayer warrior and IÂ have found much…
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A Catholic Pilgrim Traveling In San Diego
San Diego. One of my favorite places in the United States. Old Town in San Diego My family started vacationing in San Diego back when I was a teen and it immediately became one of my favorite cities. So, as a Catholic Pilgrim where should you go, what should you see, and is there any…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Todd From Massachusetts
For my featured series on “Why I Love Being Catholic,” I really wanted to express some guys’ voices on here about why they love being Catholic. So, each month, I hope to have a woman and a man answer that question for us. Men see things in differently and have different ways of conveying their experiences and perspectives.…
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Giving the World Our Best By Kicking Out Low Expectations
When I was young, I tended to be somewhat of a loner at school. I was not a cool kid, I didn’t have name-brand stuff, didn’t flirt with boys, loved playing outdoors with the boys, and just in general walked to my own tune. This caused me to be left out and made fun of…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Chloe from Old Fashioned Girl
This year I’m featuring Catholics and asking them why they love being Catholic. The first gal up this year is Chloe. Chloe and I became connected when she interviewed me about miscarriage on her podcast “Letters to Women.” I found out she lives in Kansas, my home state. Her husband went to Kansas State University, which…
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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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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…
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Our Words Have Power: Are We Using Them to Speak Love and Life?
I was in the parking lot of the BX (Base Exchange) the other day with my kids. Â As I was placing my goods in the car and getting my son buckled in, I heard loud shouting and cussing coming from somewhere in the parking lot. Â I couldn’t really hear what the person was so upset…
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When God Came To Rest in the Arms of a Mother
I think every mother remembers that exact moment when the doctor placed their newborn baby on their chest. My firstborn looked me right in the eyes and there was no doubt that my life would never be the same. There was nothing more perfect than her in the whole world. My second child, I couldn’t…
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The Beautiful Journey of Growing Older With Your Spouse
I’ve been my husband’s personal barber now for 17 years. We started dating in Air Force ROTC in college and to save a little bit of money, we thought it would be a good idea for me to start cutting his hair. I’d never donned clippers before, but it seemed like a great idea. That…
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End of the Year Round-Up of Featured Married Couples
Here we are at the end of 2016. Â What a year it is has been! Â I thought for this last month, I’d do sort of a round-up of all my featured married couples throughout the year. Â I went through each of their answers and picked out my favorite quotes from both the wife and husband.…
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Our Blessings Are Meant To Bless Others
“You are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produced thanksgiving to God” 2 Corinthians 11:22 In this life, there will be those that are blessed with much and those that will have little. Â We must never make the mistake of thinking that because we have been given much in the…
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The Beauty in Sacrificing Our Bodies for Love of Another
I love beautiful things.  Mostly I love finding beauty in human stories; those stories that bring tears to our eyes, because they are so good, so true….so beautiful.  I love listening to my grandmother read a poem or a card received from a loved one.  If it moves her, tears well in her eyes and…
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Exploring The Atheist’s Claim That Christians Are Uneducated
Ah, yes, the uneducated Christian. Â A simple-minded fool lacking a progressive mind with a ridiculous belief in imaginary things. I used to be an uneducated Christian. Â Quite frankly, it’s embarrassing to me to think back even to just a few years ago to how uneducated I was on my faith. Â I, by no means, have…
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November’s Featured Married Couple: Javier and Yvette “Love Unconditionally”
November’s Featured Married Couple is Javier and Yvette.  My family first met them when Javier and my husband, Dustin, worked together at Edwards AFB.  I am so grateful that our paths crossed, because both of them are true and genuine friends.  They are a beautiful couple inside and out and you can’t help but want to…
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When the Military Plants You Somewhere and It’s Hard to Bloom
Through my family’s time in the Air Force, we’ve loved every place we’ve lived…until now. Moving to Vegas and leaving behind our beloved Virginia has been one heck of a difficult thing to overcome and deal with for my whole family. It’s been almost a year now since leaving Virginia and I still feel like…
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I Beg You, Please Stop Defending Your Candidate’s Bad Behavior
I beg all people of this country, to please, please, please, be consistent with your beliefs, your words, and your actions. I beg. Â I know I’m not always perfect at this, but if I’m not, I promise now, I will humbly admit I was wrong and work to correct it. When we are inconsistent with…
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October’s Featured Married Couple: Lindsay and Vinnie “Marry Your Best Friend”
If October’s Featured Married Couple doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, well, you may need to see a doctor.  Lindsay and Vinnie just celebrated their one year anniversary on September 5th, but their marriage has the wisdom and beauty of a veteran couple.  Reading through their answers gave me a renewed hope in the future of marriage–there…
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Our Country Is Growing Sicker With Hefty Doses Of Racial Tension
If you are going to read this, you must promise to read it with an open mind and heart. Â If you are looking for a conservative agenda or a liberal one, shut off the blog and walk away. Â If you desire to fight and lash out, move on. Â If you want to offer solutions or…
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A Protestant’s Plea: Will You Catholics Please Just Stop Praying To Saints Already?!
“Catholics pray to the dead and that’s a grave sin.” “Catholics pray to saints because they are worshipping them. Worship is for God alone.” “Catholics practice the grave sin of necromancy when they pray to dead saints, which is strictly forbidden in the Old Testament.” (Sigh) You know, I used to believe these things, too,…
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What Do You Mean There’s No Marriage In Heaven?!
There are many things in the Bible that cause a lot of emotions in me. Sadness, gratitude, awe, devotion, immense love, confusion, and, sometimes, anger are all emotions I have felt when reading different passages. There is one thing in the Bible, however, that almost always gives me heart palpitations when I read it. I get a…
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Facing A Spiritual Mirror Is Tough, But The Pain Is Worth It
Ahhhh, yeah. Â This is gonna be a tough one to write. Â God has recently held up a mirror in front of me. Â Not a mirror to check and see if my hair looks good, but a mirror to see something way more important. Â But first, let me set the stage. Have you ever seen the…
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September’s Featured Married Couple: Michael and Sterling–Marriage Echoes the Love of God"
September’s Featured Married Couple is Michael and Sterling from Idaho. Â Sterling is a fellow blogger and that is how I became acquainted with this lovely couple. Â Like me, Sterling is a convert to the Catholic Faith, so I feel a connection with her. Â This couple is very much on fire to bring the Gospel to…
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A Story of a Drifting Life, Hard Truths, and a Friend Who Cared Enough to Ask, "What Are You Doing With Your Life?"
Recently, during our family Bible study, we were working through a Matthew Kelly workbook from Dynamic Catholic. Â We were watching a video and Matthew Kelly was talking about the impact it can have when someone says to you, “What are you doing?” Â Those times in our life when we are doing something bad for us…
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When You Don’t Forgive A Friend, Pride Takes Their Place
In middle school and part of high school, I had my best buddy. Â We pretty much did everything together. Â Even cooler was that we had names that rhymed. (Dork alert!) Â We swapped sleeping over at each other’s house, shared clothes, watched movies together while eating ice cream, cruised around in our cars once we got…
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It Is Up To Us Where We Spend Eternity
When I first moved to Dayton, Ohio back in 2002, I was fresh out of college and eager to get into the workforce. Â I ended up working for some defense attorneys doing a job that was humbling, to say the least. Â I thought I was going to train to be a type of paralegal; I…
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August’s Featured Married Couple: Mike and Kim "Learning to Love Well"
The Featured Married Couple for August is my brother, Mike, and his wife, Kim. Â It’s their anniversary month, so it seemed a perfect time to feature them. Â As the big sister, I always wanted, of course, the best woman for my brother. Â I honestly could not have picked someone better than my sister-in-law, Kim. Â To…