Mama-luia

I will do a Christmas post soon... very soon, dear friends... but first I wanted to share a long overdue reflection on a lovely evening spent with lovely people. I promised this to one of the evening's participants; it's time I made good on that . On the first Saturday of December, our little family has the privilege of enjoying a delicious meal with old friends. It was a beautiful night of affirmation in God's mysterious plans for each of His children. There I was able to see Sister I., one of my closest friends since high school, for the first time in a long time. I smile when I think back to our times shared before we entered what are now our vocations. After high school and for the first years in university, I seriously discerned religious life. She was with me during this time of immense growth, and accompanying growing pains, and was a real rock for me. Seeing her now, I still must smile, even more broadly, as she radiates such joy . She is a member of a growing relig...

I want you to meet my Mother. This beautiful woman has been taking me by the hand since I met her, when I was more of a girl than a woman, and has been showing me since who I really am. And who I am supposed to be. When motherhood has felt like such a tall order, when I doubted my ability to actually instruct a child in how to be a follower of Christ, she has taken me by the hand. She is gentle, she is silent. Her silence gives me a space to cry when I need to, and a listening ear to take these cries to her Son. When I have felt overwhelmed y my lack of natural homemaking skills, she takes me by the hand. She is orderly, she is diligent. She "does not eat the bread of idleness" and has guided my hands and heart to knead bread with love, to wipe a counter in prayer. After all, she did these things for her Holy Family, too. When I have felt too little, like a child who can't find her mother in a crowded store, she comes running to me. She is strong. Sh...