Reckoning with Grief and Unanswered Prayers

There’s a word in Welsh, “hiraeth,” that embodies what this new normal meant for me. The word hiraeth means a homesickness or nostalgia for a home that you can’t return to, or maybe never was. It is a deep longing for something that no longer exists. And that feeling – of a longing that can’t be fulfilled, a thirst that can’t be slaked – is exactly what it felt like, trying to “move on” from the grief, to find a new home.

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Embracing the Call to Leadership and Navigating Discrimination in the Workforce as a Catholic Mother

And while I landed my first management role, my husband and I found out that we were expecting our first child. When I told my employer that I was expecting, he dropped his drink and said, “What did I do wrong?”

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Holiness Over Superficial Perfection: Lessons Learned from Catholic Social Media

I am not the Catholic woman who has had it all together. I am the type of individual that holds too many opinions, who is too loud, feels too deeply, and is constantly trying to get this “faith thing” right. I think that before social media, I knew I was somewhat an outsider in general, but it was once I joined that I felt that thought was perpetuated even more -- and not just by me, but by others, as well.

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How God Leads Me to Himself Through My Vocation to Marriage

If someone told me 10 years earlier that I would eventually be married and a stay-at-home mom, I would have been angry. It was not the type of life I imagined myself having when I left the Church, and God, in pursuit of worldly things. I left the Church in pursuit of the lies our world tells us about sexuality, gender, and lack of commitment to others.

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Inviting Christ Into My Loneliness as a Single Woman

In high school, I handled being alone very well. I was a floater, the girl who was known for being nice to everyone. On most days, I told myself I loved this role. I stayed out of drama and was able to spend time with all different types of people. I would hang out with my friends at school, and our relationships would pretty much end there. I never really had a best friend growing up anyway, so I was used to doing my own thing. It was my version of normal. I prided myself on being independent. I handled being alone very well. Until I didn't.

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Breaking the Tie Between a Person’s Worth and their Productivity

Even though I was raised in a Christian home, I believed the lie that a person’s worth was tied to their productivity. Our culture is competitive and the world conditions us to believe that our value lies in our accomplishments. In 2011, two significant events would reveal the truth about human dignity. First, my two-year-old son Seth was diagnosed with Autism. Second, I made the decision to become Catholic.


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Placing Identity in the Love of God

I often joke that my life is composed of a series of coffee dates. From one day to the next, I am typically found either chatting in the local coffee shop or on a facetime call. The gift of love found within these times of intentionality has made such a significant impact on my life that now I never fail to appreciate the beauty of conversation.

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