Association Of Catholic Bloggers

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely,” (Proverbs 3:5). God sees everything. He sees the clerk short-changing the old man, the boy stealing the heroin, the man cheating on his wife, the girl lying to her teacher. He also sees the teenager turning in the $100 bill he finds in the parking lot, the wife praying for her non-Christian husband, the daughter loving unconditionally her siblings who taunt her. He sees everything. He is a just and loving God and that’s why we can trust in him. His 360-degree vision takes in the full panorama of time and space. He sees behind closed doors and around corners. He sees things that happen at work, things that happen in our government, things that happen in our schools. He not only sees all in the present, he sees all that is beyond us and he sees all that is behind us. He sees it in the full context we will never see. And because he sees everything, everywhere with loving eyes, we can trust

  “I joined with (cancer survivor) and mother of nine, Theresa Thomas to write  Big Hearted: Inspiring Stories From Everyday Families ,” Patti told me. “This collection of 22 stories is a recipe for happiness and love for families of any size.  We've included some of our own stories including how my family came to include 2 AIDS orphans from Kenya.  Big Hearted is a glimpse inside the struggles and joys of ordinary families with generous hearts.” Big hearts that welcome life are not just in large families. Sometimes big-heartedness comes as the family deals with a tragedy such as miscarriage, infertility, alcoholism or financial devastation regardless of family size. “When a family opens its collective heart to love one another fully, there is no end to the gifts that God will bestow,” Patti said. Big-heartedness develops in us when pressed into service by a calling. The prayer of an orphan from Kenya to go to school in America. The decision to reverse a vasectomy.   The

Nancy H. C. Ward's " Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story " has been in print and available on Amazon.com since April, 2019. Back cover blurbs include Lisa Hendey's "an enjoyable template for the challenge of evangelization" and Gary Zimak's "a book that needed to be written." "Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story" is a big deal for me, too. It's the first time I've had a byline in print since I wrote articles for the Red River Valley Historical Society's Heritage Press. That was in the 1970s. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Our neighbor, Maria Magdalena, whom we know and love as Magda, died alone in the middle of the night. Her lungs collapsed from a respiratory infection after a bout with the flu. We prepared food for many of her family when they came in from Mexico.   After her husband, Adrian, drowned in the lake behind our homes almost 5 years ago she was too sad to worship at the Romanian Baptist Church where they had married 19 years ago. She was active in a nearby Bible church with others in the neighborhood. At the visitation we were a little surprised that a Hispanic deacon we know was there to say the Rosary. But of course, those from Mexico needed to say those prayers. It is part of their culture, part of who they are, and who Magda was as a child. The deacon alternated between Spanish and English decades. We were the only ones in our area of the chapel saying the decades. The row of teachers from the school where Magda taught first grade, all remained seated in front

Before the plane took off Monday morning from DFW Airport, my nose was buried in an advanced copy of The Grace of Yes: Eight Virtues for Generous Living . As we landed in Tampa, my new knowledge of Lisa Hendey , myself and true generosity was incredible. And one-third of the book to go! By Tuesday afternoon my mind was full of spiritual truths. My heart and soul were so reinforced with encouragement that my copious notes now fill this review and overflow into several blog ideas. Having known and grown to love Lisa long-distance for four years through CatholicMom.com and Catholic Writers Guild (CWG), I finally met her at the CWGLive conference in Chicago and took a photo with her. Her keynote speech on “Perseverance,” with many concepts from The Grace of Yes , and a one-on-one meeting when she advised me on a publishing question, created an instant connection in our spirits.   The eight virtues of the Grace of Yes continues on JOYAlive.net