Tag Archives: Ave Maria Press

#PrayerStory A Matter of Trust

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Trusting God for three generations… My mother and daughter and me, four years ago.

Like many women my age, I am a “sandwich mom,” constantly struggling to juggle the demands of a vocation with more layers than an onion. One day my husband looked at me and said, “I feel bad about this, and I know it’s crazy, but some days I see you cutting up your mother’s dinner and wonder, ‘What about me?'”

I understood exactly what he meant, and it broke my heart. My husband and children have not had my undivided attention, and have dealt with the associated stress of caregiving, for going on four years now. I am so grateful to Craig, in particular, for shouldering his part of her care without complaint. But I understood his feelings of neglect.

He wasn’t the only one feeling that way. My kids were also letting us know, in no uncertain terms, that this was stressful on them as well. But I couldn’t bear the thought of a nursing home for my mother. I had taken her out of a place in Georgia that was run-down and depressing, where residents were simply marking time until death. I wanted better for her.

Now I wanted more for the rest of us.

Shortly after Mom arrived at our house, we enrolled her in a local daycare program for adult Medicaid patients, St. Joseph PACE. They provide medical care, daycare services, social services, transportation, and other services that allow seniors to live at home for as long as possible. This week, Mom’s social worker Ashley recommended to us an alternative to a nursing home: a group home run by a local couple from Rwanda. Nervously we went to look at the place … and it was beautiful. Warm. Friendly. Clean. And Mom was laughing and chatting with the other residents in no time.

We move her in next weekend. Mom will have the quiet and independence she craves. And I can start caring for the other parts of my life I’ve been neglecting. Including the prayerbook for mothers I’m compiling for Ave Maria Press for Fall 2021 — nearly 100 women sharing their favorite (or original) prayers and prayer stories. At times like these, it’s important to share all the ways God is at work in our homes and in our world.

If you don’t already, please sign up to get my updates delivered to you by email. Lots of us are avoiding social media these days … but it’s also a great way to share messages of faith!

#GodIsInControl. #PrayerStories. #SoThankful

“Mom, You’re Famous!” Honoring Milestones

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The other day fifteen-year-old Chris came home from school and said to me, “MOM! You’re FAMOUS!”

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANot having the slightest idea what he was talking about, but not wanting to show my hand, I hedged: “Really? Where?”

“On the Internet! I typed in your name and got ALL THESE PICTURES! Some of them are me, too!” (To my relief, he wasn’t unhappy about this.) “I showed the kids at school and they all thought it was cool!”

And, just like any mother, I smiled. Not at the thought of being famous, but at the thought that my son thought (at least for the moment) that I was . . . cool.

His comments prompted me to go back and look at some of those images, and to be honest, my favorites were not of me. I’ve never been particularly photogenic . . . but looking back and seeing all these photographs of the kids at the various stages of their lives made me realize just how blessed I have been.

If that wasn’t enough, one of my old professors at Bethany (where I got my degree in missions as well as my start in book publishing) reached out to me to tell me he’d seen my blog and was so pleased to see all the things I’d done with my life.

Your career and your interests and your schooling and your authoring of books–how many people have done what you’ve done? Impressive. But I’m sure you’ve discovered, as I have discovered, that all the accomplishments and really wonderful things God has done as you’ve been out and about really pale compared to your family and especially the kids. All of that is great, but without the love and joys and challenges of the family, the other stuff doesn’t mean much.

He was right, of course. That’s not to say that it’s been easy, or that there haven’t been other things I’ve enjoyed doing as well (including my day job). But even during the rough patches, my family has been the centerpiece of my crazy, frenetic life. And today, as Ave Maria Press (the company I work for) celebrates 150 years I decided to take a moment to honor the “big picture” of my life.

It all goes in the blink of a moment. But there’s so much treasure there. Including my two beautiful teenagers, who think I’m “famous.”

The Road Trip Begins

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fireplaceYesterday I arrived at Ave Maria to find my coworkers had transformed the office into a real “winter wonderland.” Up to and including the fireplace, fashioned from glittery paper and Christmas lights hidden behind a Yule log. Clever, huh? Made the sixteen-hour journey in the snow the previous day via train, two airplanes, and car . . . worth it.

“Journeying” is a popular metaphor in the publishing world. A good book is supposed to be transformative, leaving you better off simply for having invested yourself in it.

Parenting is also a journey. You start out with a little bundle (or, in my case, three larger ones), and discover a whole new side of yourself emerging. More love than you ever thought you had. Also more less flattering emotions (sleep deprivation does that to you.) But over time, you realize that even these begin to mellow into something more . . . human. Authentic. More fully “you.”

In the coming year, I’d like to invite you to journey with me on that parenting road trip. Sometimes that road trip will be literal (on Fridays I’ll be blogging about memorable places I’ve been to over the years, and invite you to join in the fun). Other times it will be more literary. (Wednesdays here will be my “Book Whisperer” column, where I point you to books and other resources that I’ve found helpful both in writing and in raising two special-needs kids, and invite you to share yours as well.) On Mondays, though, I hope to post about the journey of parenting. Feel free to play along!

Finally, I recently redid my “About” page (thanks to Michael Hyatt’s timely advice in Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World). If you’d like to guest post, to share your favorite book or not-to-be-missed road trip experience, please let me know!