Family

Happy All the Things! Here’s to Joy-Filled Ordinary Times

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Given we re-enter Ordinary Time tomorrow, Monday, January 14, I guess I haven’t quite missed the boat on sending you Christmas greetings from Das Schmidt Haus. So let’s get it all out in the open now. Merry Christmas, Happy 2019, a blessed Epiphany, and a spirited Baptism of the Lord to you! I pray your … [Read more…]

Keeping First Things First: Conducting a Time Audit

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In Sonja Corbitt’s fantastic book Fearless: Conquer Your Demons and Love with Abandon (go get it!) she writes, “I’m no prophet but I have learned through discerning patterns that, when I see or hear something two or more times, I can be sure God is at work somehow. I know to pay attention to what happens next … [Read more…]

Come away and rest a while

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It’s been almost two years since Joel or I have shared any new content on this site. Wow, two years? I really didn’t think it had been that long. It’s not like we set about to intentionally take a break. It just organically happened. In hindsight, necessarily happened. As Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark 6:31: Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.

So How is Catholic School Treating Your Family?

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So how is Catholic school treating your family? That’s the question Joel and I have received a lot since enrolling our oldest child in Catholic school and not homeschooling this year. Given it’s National Catholic Schools Week, the time seemed right to offer a response to that FAQ.

The Right Heart: Restoring Our Fertility to God

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Ever say YES! enthusiastically to something and then wonder, “What made me think I ought to agree to that request?!” When the lovely Southern Belle Mrs. Erin Franco came knocking on my door, asking me to chat on The Right Heart podcast, I eagerly accepted her invitation. I didn’t think twice, even though we hadn’t yet decided … [Read more…]

Two New Board Books for the Christmas Book Basket

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These two new children’s books published by Ignatius/Magnificat by well-known author/illustrator Maïte Roche make excellent Christmas gifts. (P.S., they’re good for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atriums, too!)

Some of the best parenting advice we’ve received

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I woke up around 4:00 AM on August 31, 2008, and I just knew I was going to have a baby that day. Contractions indicated labor was imminent, but not quite immediate. So what does a rational person do in that moment? Of course, go to Panera to enjoy a cup of coffee and a … [Read more…]

Sometimes life takes you down new and unexpected roads

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During my undergrad years, I took class titled Death as a Part of Living. During the first lecture, we took an informal quiz of sorts that had us inventorying life events — a job change, marriage, the birth of a child, a death of a loved one, a move, starting college, etc. The more events a person experienced … [Read more…]