Month: November 2013

The Churching of Women: Postpartum Support, Catholic Style

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Once upon a time in colonial America there was something called a “lying in” period. This was the time, typically a month or so, following childbirth when a community would rally in support of a new mother. She would rest, regain her strength, and bond with her baby while the community kept up the household. Many of her attendants would be relatives, none of whom were paid, and the favor was returned following their own deliveries.

My how times have changed! Maybe we are just a wee bit sensitive given that Lisa is just four weeks postpartum and what she wouldn’t give for a couple of extra hands just a few hours per week. Even so, we have reflected on how this postpartum experience, Lisa’s third, is significantly different from the first two.

Pray, Work, Rest and Play (Vol. 2)

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Welcome back to our weekly series — Pray, Work, Rest & Play — where we share a bit about how we’re striving to incorporate an order, a rule of sorts, to our daily routine here at Das Schmidt Haus. A routine that organically involves prayer, work, rest, and play.

Up this week: Responding to the homeless, stepping away from mindless mobile web surfing, keeping occupied with Busy Bags, and having fun with books and bread.

Pray, Work, Rest & Play: The Inaugural Edition

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Sister Maria Assumpta walked up to the board and put up a basic compass shape. Rather than north, south, east, and west, she replaced them with Work, Rest, Play, and Pray. Very simply, she told us, “Your lives should always live in a balance with these four things.

Welcome to my new series, “Pray, Work, Rest & Play,” where I share a bit about how we’re striving to incorporate an order, a “rule” of sorts, to our daily routine here at Das Schmidt Haus. A routine that organically involves prayer, work, rest, and play.

Welcome to the World, Lydia Ann!

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I originally set out for this post to be a birth story of sorts. But the would-be narrative about a most blessed and holy event is simply not going to happen here and now. I guess I’m running with C.S. Lewis’s advice here:

“Life is too deep for words, so don’t try to describe it, just live it.”

Right on, chief, right on. This little babe has brought new hope and true healing to our family — hope and healing I didn’t even know we (read, I) needed. So I’m not even attempting here and now to put words to all this spiritual goodness percolating within me. I’m simply trying to live, learn, soak it up, and hopefully continuing to grow into the mom God is calling me to become … the mom I want to become, too.

So for now, enjoy some photos of Lydia’s first hours of life — {pretty, happy, funny, real} style.

Wasting Time and Holy Leisure

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The Church fathers, St. Benedict in particular, wrote about the need for Otium Sanctum or Holy Leisure. It refers to an ability to rest and take time to enjoy beauty, to be at peace through the activities of the day, to pace ourselves. Or, as Pope Francis might say, simply wasting time with one another. Do you waste time with your children? What does that look like in your home? Do we, collectively, even know how to waste time with one another?