Hey Friends,
As you are reading this my family is getting ready to start our week at Heartridge for our family camp. This year we are a host family, meaning we are the bridge between all the families in attendance and the camp owners/staff. It suits our family perfectly, as we find ourselves often in the role of welcoming others. Even in new places we strive to build community, invite families over for dinner, and build a sense of belonging. I am excited especially for our children who will get the chance to take a greater role in playing host, living out for a week at least the great responsibility of hospitality and what it means in our Christian faith.
We will have lots of quiet time as well, which I am also looking forward to, so please feel free to leave a comment with a prayer request and I will bring them along with me to the chapel in prayer.
3 Quick Takes
I was recently talking to a family member about how sometimes we just have to say the thing out loud for people to acknowledge what they knew all along. Well the thing is we are made as tactile beings, meant to touch, smell, see, and experience all the richness of life crashing into our senses, creation speaking to us of an infinitely creative God who delights in His creation. We too are meant to delight in His creation. We aren’t meant to live life through these little rectangles that rob us of our time and desire to experience life lived in the world, not online. Social Media is in fact encouraging us to live passively. I struggle immensely with finding the balance on this point and the longer I stick around, writing on Instagram the stronger urge I feel to leave it. If you find this to a be a struggle in your life, do yourself a favor and read this amazing interview between
and former Social Media influencer and author of the new book The Opt-Out Family, Erin Loechner. I’m planning to get the book.Another conversation, with a friend this time, has further convinced me that as Christians we have been made to believe that evangelizing is wrong. That silence and going with the flow is what’s best for society today. If we look back to the first century Christians though, we quickly realize that each generation needs evangelizing, and being silent about our faith does no one any good. What might evangelization look like? First it is about relationship. Inviting a friend to church. Inviting an acquaintance to coffee to form a relationship. Ministering to those around us by being present, being real, being vulnerable. The gift of living life for God lies in inviting others into that life through community and relationship. Read this article by Bishop Robert Barron for some solid suggestions as well.
I’m a big advocate of Classical Education. My first exposure to it was when I read The Well Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer while my oldest son was 6. Not long after that, we had the chance to be a part of a summer education camp put on by a local homeschool community. The speaker gave such a compelling presentation about how our faith and education are intertwined. As a newbie Catholic I could see the undeniable undercurrent of Catholicism in most everything presented. From Latin, to history, geography, and science. The Catholic Church has been a staunch participant in furthering each of these fields of education and, in the wake of that participation, left behind hallmarks of its presence, often unnoticed by those not steeped in Catholic culture. I knew that one of the best ways to educate my children in a Catholic worldview was to pursue a classical education. An excellent article about what Classical Education is by none other than Peter Kreeft.
Devotional Corner
Learning to Trust God Takes a Lifetime
For as long as I can remember I have struggled to trust God. I had been burned more than a few times in relationships over the years, so trusting God seemed a step too far for me to take. I needed to be cautious at best. Then one cold Fall evening, praying the same prayer I had prayed countless times over 9 months, teetering on the edge of belief and non-belief, I finally heard a reply.
You’d think that reply would be enough to wash away years of wariness but it was not. It took time to root in my soul, and change my heart.
The response I received was very clear, and I acted upon it like my life depended on it.
It did.
These past 4 years of writing have been a joy. A thrill in seeing people respond to ideas in my head and feelings in my heart.
To words faithfully put to page.
Yet quietly behind the scenes, first unknown to me, then painfully clear, God has been working on this trust issue. Whittling away the scabs and scars to clean healthy flesh in my heart, like a skillful surgeon. Using the words I was writing to help me write my own story of healing, confidence, strength and ultimately trust.
Finally, after years of caution, trusting God has become easier. It was painful at first. It wasn’t overnight, much to my chagrin. It took loss, isolation, doubt, and fear met with radical Love over and over and over again for the roots of this fruit to finally take hold.
Faithfulness colliding with my unfaithfulness - daily.
You wouldn’t think such ugly, challenging things would be needed to work such miracles but such is the mystery of our faith.
The ugliness of death on a cross to bring about Life Eternal. The ugliness of life bringing about spiritual fruits.
My mind will never full grasp it.
And once we begin to trust Him, He will call us ever deeper into that trust. He will remind us again and again who He is, that when our trust in Him wavers, when our hearts are frail, when we veer into unfaithfulness that He is faithful. He will remind us that trusting Him takes a lifetime but He is up for the challenge.
“if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13
Discussion Questions:
This section is a starting off point to help you go deeper with topics discussed above.
If you struggle to trust God, in big or little ways, write them down. Pray over what you write and ask God for the grace to hand each listed item to Him. This won’t be a perfect process. You may find that you are grasping for each thing again and again. Keep repeating these steps and lean into the very true fact that God will be faithful with what you give Him. Always.
If this isn’t a struggle for you, would you please say a prayer for those of us in this reading community who are struggling? The grace of prayer is powerful and as the body of Christ we benefit from receiving prayerful support as well as praying for others.
Consider praying the Litany of Trust this week. It is a powerful prayer. Consider even meditating on one line per day. Sit with it, ask God to meet you in that moment and speak to your heart.
Quote of the Week
“To begin is for everyone. To persevere is for saints.” - St. Jose Maria Escriva
Which is your favorite spot to be for the Summer?
This was so fun and I really enjoyed getting to see the break down of favorite summer spots among everyone! I’m a huge homebody, as my husband Joe can attest, yet in the summer we find ourselves traveling a lot more than any other time of year, and usually to see family.
This week’s Poll
I adore the Litany of Trust. It hits right at the heart of so many of my struggles/tendencies. One of the pains/blessings of being a parent is that it has forced me to radically rethink what it means to truly trust God, particularly in relation to good out of suffering and trusting that my children/family will be ok even if bad things happen to them. Like it’s one thing to intellectually believe/say those truths, but man of man when you’re considering it in the concrete lives of the little humans you love so much-and thinking about the other little humans like them-dang does it become a lot harder to believe in your heart. And you realize how little trust you have with just yourself vis a vis God. So thank you for writing about the process, and the reminder that it does indeed take time. I needed that!
Literally just finished praying the Litany of Trust as a Novena at the recommendation of Sara Dietz. This is timely, timely, timely. Providentially so. Going to be chewing on this article for a while. Enjoying these weekly reflections, thank you!