Last week marked the anniversary of losing our second child to miscarriage, twelve years ago. The week felt heavy as it led up to the date. I didn’t feel well, my brain was in a fog, and time felt wonky.
And then the day before the date (which we had to assume, based on an ultrasound) a mom in my oldest son’s class reached out on our group chat to say her daughter had lost a pencil case with a number of valuable things inside. More parents than usual replied saying they’d checked their kids’ bags, but didn’t see it. Knowing my sweet Ethan’s track record (we found John’s wedding ring in the ATLANTIC OCEAN thanks to his intercession), I prayed for help in finding the bag.
The next morning, I went to Mass, then got in my car and found a message saying the pencil case had been found in an empty locker. No one knew how it got there.
I do :)
When I texted this mom—a dear friend—separately, she totally believed as I did and reminded me the communion of saints always surrounds us. Not two hours later I got a text from another friend saying she was thinking of our family that morning and had said a prayer for us on her morning run. She didn’t know the significance of the day, but I recognized Ethan again, letting me know I’m not alone. That this pain can bear fruit. That there will be a day with no more tears.
God is good, all the time.
Some updates
I recently had a request for a bunch of copies of Don’t Forget to Say Thank You: And Other Parenting Lessons That Brought Me Closer to God for a book group. The book is out of print, but I still have copies for sale. It was nice to get out my pink pen, sign these, and send them off to their new home.
Registration is now open for Catholic Literary Art's Meet-the-Editor: Catholic Children's Lit Edition, featuring Haley Stewart, Spark; Kate Camden, OSV Kids; and Sr. Maria Grace Dateno, Pauline Books & Media. I'm thrilled to moderate. This is going to be so. much. fun. Snag your seat now!
What I’m reading
Class starts next week, so I’ll be carrying The Aeneid around with me for a month or so. I have high hopes of getting much more out of it than I did as a totally confused undergrad.
What my kids are reading
My daughter just finished The House at Pooh Corner, which in her eight-year-old wisdom, she declared good for a bedtime read.
Something I love
I admit that I started using the Hallow app a few years ago to listen to Jonathan Roumie read the Gospel. I have been amazed to see how much it’s grown in the two or three years I’ve had it on my phone. I use it often on my own and with my kids. I’ve read books, learned prayers, and reflected more deeply on the Gospel with it. Recently, I’ve come to really appreciate the music on it, in particular. My whole family loves the Advent album by The Vigil Project, which we found via Hallow, and I adore the Christmas carols Ben Rector recorded this year. His “Go Tell It on the Mountain” has totally changed that song for me. (Try Hallow for free here.)
Also, unrelated, flat whites are my new go-to coffee drinks. My husband is always one step ahead on these things (benefits of working in Manhattan, I think), and I’m happy to follow.
What I’m creating (knitting, lettering, embroidery, etc.)
In our family secret Santa exchange, one of my sons gave me some watercolor supplies. I have almost no idea what I’m doing, but with the help of YouTube, I’m having fun anyway. (No, I did not leave out Q on purpose.)
Where my work is
Word on Fire: “Go For Saint: Look to Literary Figures”
Radiant: “Getting to Know Your Saint of the Year”
What I’m working on
I’m bending the rules on this section, and looking to the past, to what I worked on.
The very first piece I had published was a short reflection, a sort of vignette of how, in the first hours of having a child, I came to better appreciate God's love for me as His daughter. It was published in a print journal called Soul Gardening in 2011.
Well, how about this? Pieces from the journal are being published as a book, under the title, Soul Garden: A Catholic Mother’s Collective by Ignatius Press later this year. My piece–the first thing I ever had published–will be among its pages.
Totally wild that 1) my first submission was accepted somewhere (not everything since has been, of course!), 2) I’m just realizing the theme therein turned into Don’t Forget to Say Thank You, and 3) thirteen years later, it’s ending up in a book!
As my littlest guy often says of both his siblings and our pastor, God can be “so funny.”
A (paraphrased) quote to sit and sip with
Each time you participate in the sacrifice of the Mass, you should leave the church as if it’s the first day of the rest of your life.
- a homily by our pastor, Christmas octave 2023