Today is the memorial of Saint John Vianney, and I only had to read one line about the character of this saintly priest to become utterly and completely hooked:  “A man with vision overcomes obstacles and performs deeds that seem…

There is one woman who knows what it’s like to live completely free from worry. The book of Genesis tells us Eve was made by God and in His image and likeness. Genesis 2:25 says, “The man and the woman…

This post originally appeared on our blog on March 1, 2015. As I carried the overflowing laundry basket up the stairs, it occurred to me that its weight felt nothing like the heaviness that was sitting on my heart. I…

I remember the moment like it was yesterday. The year was 1991. I was sporting my fabulous color block blazer from Express, paired with black stirrup leggings, and authentic cowboy boots. Can you say fashionista? I was seated on the…

I recently read a meme on the internet that said, “Gonna ask my mom if that offer to slap me into next year is still on the table,” and all I could think was, Can I get an Amen? 2021,…

My confessor admitted to a common theme he’s hearing among COVID-19-related confessions: no more patience. I think Mother Angelica hit the nail on the head when she said, “We’d all be perfect if it weren’t for people.” Quarantining with the…

I am an Audible junkie. Seriously, my favorite day of the month is the 20th, when my Audible subscription renews and I can dive into the life of a different historical figure whose story is often stranger than fiction. Last…

If quarantine has taught me anything, it’s that there’s no escape. The quick and temporary cure to suffering that the world had so generously offered me in the past (yes, I am talking to you, TJ Maxx) is no longer…

I stood in line and fiddled with the scarf wrapped tightly around my nose and mouth, when the TIME magazine cover, “THE AGE OF ANXIETY,” caught my eye. It was the first morning our governor was requiring Marylanders to wear…

My 77-year-old mother is a model of efficiency. When she has news to share with her three children, rarely will she make three phone calls. If you ask my mom, email is sufficient for most communications. She also seems to…

My fourth pregnancy was a nightmare. For starters, it was not in my plan. Yes, I wanted more children, but not right then. I had just gotten myself back into my regular clothes. Our apartment was tiny. Adding a fourth…

Ever since we were told to shelter in place, I have been generally upbeat about everything going on. I know that it’s bad out there, but I am naturally an optimist, so I focused on the positives. “Oh, the opportunities,”…

We had waited all year for this moment. Giddy with excitement and overwhelmed by the beauty of the hotel we would call “home” for the next five days, we threw our suitcases in our room and then ran down to…

Have you ever carried a large statue of Mary, up hill, in a trash bag, in the snow? I haven’t either, but I did watch a student do this very thing a few years ago when I helped lead a…

Ever since I dropped some packages off at the post office and the postal worker handed me a receipt for $6.66, and I looked at him and him at me, until finally he said, “I didn’t want to say it…

“For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh.” Ephesians 2:14 God has answered a prayer I have been pestering Him about for the past three years. At…

Did I ever tell you about that time I gave up portobello mushrooms and goat cheese for Lent, and while out to lunch with my husband, he had the nerve to order the portobello mushroom and goat cheese sandwich? There…

My mother recognized the power and influence that women were going to have in my life. Instead of leaving that influence to chance, seeing who I might naturally be drawn to who may or may not have pointed me toward…

She was up, dressed and out the door by 6am. “Bye!!” she joyfully shouted from the bottom of the staircase. My husband couldn’t believe that our 18 year old daughter, who is never out of bed before noon, was not…

There’s a space between words being spoken by one mouth, and those same words being received by another heart. En-route, those words often get misunderstood. This is where imaginations run wild and minds try very hard to fill in the…

I’ve just celebrated a milestone birthday—my 50th. As I survey the landscape, it’s looking like pretty fertile ground for gratitude. There are some hard-won interior victories that have allowed me to see progress in areas of my life where old…

Many years ago, I agreed to attend a healing Mass with a friend. To be honest, I was afraid. I wasn’t sure I belonged there, or had the right to ask to be prayed over because I wasn’t physically sick….

Last month I managed to do something right. On most days in December, I was able to balance the business of Christmas shopping, decorating, cooking and celebrating with a peaceful mindset focused on His coming. I’ll admit I sometimes didn’t…

Writing the last post of 2019 feels like an enormous responsibility. There are so many directions to take this. Do I talk about our resolutions? Share my word of the year? Maybe focus on the Solemnity of Mary that’s just…

Are you worried about how everyone is going to get along this Christmas? Is there a pit in your stomach because you are dreading the interpersonal dynamics that are about to engulf your family? Does it seem like your family…

And just like that, the Advent season is among us. Before you know it, Christmas will be here. Of course, by the looks of the house across the street (the house that never took their Christmas decorations down from last…

The kids piled into the minivan, and as we pulled out onto the street, my fourth grade son suddenly remembered his one homework assignment: bring poster board to class. So I did what all good mothers do. After dropping three…

I once worked for a magazine written for career-minded women. In every glossy issue, we offered tips and articles to help our readers find balance in their busy lives: Four Ways to get Hubby to Help… Finding a Caregiver who…

A friend texted me last night with good news. It was a long time coming. She deserved it. Her child deserved it. And yet, something prevented me from celebrating with her. A not-so-great feeling crept into my heart, blocking my…

I might have signed myself up for something really stupid or totally life changing. I won’t know for sure until it is over. I, Laura Phelps, a gifted rambler, lover of my own personal space, and unwavering in my belief…

In her book, The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers, pediatrician Meg Meeker stresses the importance of finding your tribe. “Force yourself to pick a few good women who will go the distance with you,” she writes. “Talk with them, write…

“Terrible” was her response to the question, “How was your afternoon?”  “Oh, no, what happened?” I asked my friend, expecting to learn of an argument with her teenager or a run in with a crazy neighbor. But it wasn’t either…

As I navigate a long suffering as a result of loving a wayward child, it is not uncommon for well-meaning friends to assure me that, “This too shall pass.” But I have to wonder… will it? I think we say…

What does it mean to live the good life? How can I be happy? What choices will get me there? How we answer these questions has everything to do with the voices we choose to listen to. A life is…

Why is it we can have total confidence and trust in God’s plans with everyone else’s life, but not our own? It is easy for me to recognize God’s hand in your life… in your misery… in your tragic circumstance,…

Now that July is here I’ve decided to remove the Christmas cards we received last December from the wall in the den where they are currently adhered with yellowing, curling tape. Do not be alarmed: I’m not a scattered, hot…

“Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” James 1:17 The landscape of our mind will determine the quality of our day. If our mindset is one of gratitude, contentment will…

At the close of a Religious Education meeting, we were handed a prayer card, and in unison, recited it together. It was the Prayer of Abandonment. A beautiful prayer. And by beautiful, I mean terrifying and dangerous. “Father, I abandon…

The kids are off from school and summer is here-although it has been raining forever, but nonetheless, so I am told… summer is here. And quite honestly, it can rain for as long as it wants and I will be…

This post is for all the people out there who are not eating popsicles or frolicking on the beach this summer. To narrow it further… It’s for you, my friend, you who are in the middle of a storm of…

“How can you all have so much joy when you are going through something so painful?” That’s the question the new face at my support group asked last night. Followed by, “I want what you all have!” As I have…

I doubt that many of us would be willing to wear the clothes seen on the fashion runway in exactly the way they are displayed, with all the accessories and interesting makeup. I look at the pictures and think it…

Six years ago, I heard Lisa Brenninkmeyer preach on Loving People To Christ.  Since that day, I have gone back to view the video of this talk at least ten times. And there is one line that always gets me….

For years my daughter begged for braces. No denying, her teeth are all sorts of crazy, but the cost of braces is even crazier.  Finally giving in, we met with the orthodontist where it was explained that in order for…

Some nights, it is the pale blue glow visible in the gap under the bedroom door that gives him away. On those nights, I stand in the dark hallway, press my forehead against the closed door, and speak into it….

For someone who likes words and lots of them, editing a book can be hard work. After pouring over each sentence and getting to the point where you love them all, no author wants to hear that she has to…

So, the question came up last night, “Can you grieve and still have hope?” Let me backtrack here a bit, to give you the full picture. Currently, I run in two different circles: my Bible Study, which aims to lead…

The song “Shallow” from the A Star Is Born movie has been in my head for three weeks. If you don’t believe me, ask my family. I am driving them crazy. When I told my friend I hadn’t seen the…

“Beauty will save the world.” Fyodor Dostoevsky What do you think of when you hear the word beauty? My mind first goes to breathtaking sunsets, softly falling snow, a blue sky reflected on a still lake. When I move beyond…

Week after week, Mass after Mass, for way too many years, I thought I was doing God a favor. In that quiet space that follows the pastor’s weekly directive, We now pray for our own intentions, time and again, I…

A risk we all run when we love others lavishly is neglecting to take care of ourselves. What begins as a passion of the heart-a pure desire to help-can actually place us in a dangerous position where we find it…

“What is my calling?” Ever ask yourself that? If I were to make a list of all of the callings I tried on and wore for a season; gymnast, actress, singer, personal shopper, and cake designer, would be just some…

I always knew I would have a traditional Catholic wedding. It was what we did. My parents got married in the Catholic Church. My sisters got married in the Catholic Church. I, a cradle Catholic, would obviously get married in,…

We sat in the last pew at the back of the Church. Knees to the ground, beads in our hands. This was her idea. “I know this sounds crazy, but would you meet me before Mass tomorrow and pray the…

In November, I enjoyed a girls’ weekend away with friends from grammar school and high school. Yes, we sat around drinking wine in our PJs, swapping stories about our families. But something else was discussed in far greater detail than…

At my core, I am a New Yorker. While some find Manhattan an assault to their senses, it is there, in the midst of the chaos and noise, and the Naked Cowboy in Times Square (yes, he is a thing)…

I received the call halfway through my drive from Florida to Maine. With the dog in the backseat and the car full of Christmas presents, my world stopped for a moment with the news that Amy, our oldest, was in…

More than ever, I am grateful for Scripture. For truth. For hope with handles, a faith I can grasp with both hands. God’s promises? No small thing. They are what get me up and out of bed, sustain me throughout…

It was 11 PM and pitch dark as I crept up Signal Mountain for the first time. My best friend had warned me that the path to her new Tennessee home was lined with hairpin turns. Although I heeded this…

The holidays are coming and the influx of catalogs in my mailbox confirms it. I can’t seem to throw them away because their contents might offer me the perfect Christmas gift for my husband, the ideal accessory for my house,…

As a mother of strong-willed toddlers, I was instructed to “pick your battles.” Now, as a mother of strong-willed teenagers, I still follow this instruction. Having held a full-time job as “Ultimate Enabler” while working a part-time position in the…

Dear reader: We have updated one of our favorite blog posts, originally published this time last year. We hope it provides you with a sense of peace and contentment with your place in His plan. “May you trust God that…

More often than I like, or even care to admit, I feel 100% at the end of my rope. It is embarrassing to write, you know…to even say the words, “I am losing all hope.”  It goes against everything I…

As our hearts reel from an acute awareness of the sin in our beloved Church, the call for each one of us to become a saint rings loud and true. I don’t know about you, but when I think of…

The Walking with Purpose Blogging Team is excited to mix things up this week! We introduce to you the fabulous Maria Koshute, a blogger we discovered over at The Young Catholic Woman (TYCW). We immediately fell in love with her…

My youngest child was just four years old when we moved from California to Connecticut. The main reason for this major uprooting? To be closer to family. My sister, just a few towns away now, suggested she take my four…

I arrived at the home of an 8th grade boy, whom I had never met. I had no idea what his mother looked like or what her name was.  My daughter, also an 8th grader, had texted me the address….

At the end of my first year of BLAZE, I turned to my darling group of middle school girls and asked them what they had learned. One girl responded and said, “In BLAZE I learned that God loves us no…

In her book Yes Please, author Amy Poehler wrote something that really stuck with me. She said that early on, she determined that her currency was not going to be her looks- it would be her sense of humor. What…

“Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. The day-to-day battles that intersect the life of a daughter of God make binge-watching Netflix very appealing.” (1) I love that quote. I love it so much. This is the first…

When my nine-year-old son rode his scooter down a steep hill in flip flops, and took a nasty tumble that resulted in a broken collarbone, the pain and suffering that followed made perfect sense. In fact, too much sense, and…

I am feeling wholly unqualified to talk about The Warrior, the final lesson in Fearless and Free — a lesson that is all about our supernatural weapons, learning what they are and how to wield them. I do not feel…

It happened without my even noticing it; this inner voice that would remind me over and over again about all the things that weren’t right in my life. All the things that were wrong with me. And all the things…

Five years ago I had breakfast with a fallen away Catholic, a lukewarm Catholic, and an evangelical Protestant.  (Sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it?) I was the cradle Catholic who had just met Jesus Christ personally, and…

The best gift I have ever received is a pair of noise cancelling headphones. At the same time, I love my family with every fiber in my being, and am anxious to know all the details of their lives-what they…

I always found it to be a little ridiculous that my mother gave all three of her daughters the same middle name, or a variation of it: Mary.  We are Kathleen Mary, Lisa Marie, and Laura Mary. With so many…

We were living on Carmine Street in New York City’s West Village, just between Bleeker and Sixth Avenue, when our first baby was born. It was an incredible spot, a real diamond in the rough, that spilled out into a…

Hello, my friend! Today I’m welcoming back one of my favorite people to the WWP blog: Laura Phelps. One of my favorite things about Laura is the way she makes me laugh. She also shares my love for Jesus and…

  “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:4 It’s surprising to find myself struggling to find the right words when it comes to writing about Mary. Not because I have no…

Hello, my friend! Today I’m welcoming back one of my favorite people to the WWP blog: Laura Phelps. One of my favorite things about Laura is the way she makes me laugh. She also shares my love for Jesus and…

There is such grace in getting older. Such wisdom in perspective.  When I was younger, I viewed problems as obstacles; unfair circumstances that got in the way of my living the life I believed I desired and deserved. And maybe…

“May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.” St. Thérèse of Lisieux I’ve noticed something interesting about what gets me on and what gets me off of social media. Boredom gets me on, and…

Hello, my friend! Today I’m welcoming one of my favorite people to the WWP blog: Laura Phelps. One of my favorite things about Laura is the way she makes me laugh. She also shares my love for Jesus and women,…

Dear friend, The Elf on the Shelf is stressing me out. For those of you who haven’t noticed this little fellow in the stores, here is his happy little story: “The Elf on the Shelf® is a special scout elf…

It had all started out like a Norman Rockwell painting. We had just moved into a new neighborhood, and after living on a busy street for years, we were so grateful to be able to head out the door and…

There’s a lot to be said for playing it safe. It’s predictable, comfortable, and doesn’t cause ripple effects. It gives us the impression that we aren’t hurting anyone. We’re neither hot, nor cold-we’re coasting in neutral. But playing it safe…

This October feels good. I feel awake and full of hope even while I’m a little bit afraid to breathe in my own house. Let me elaborate. As many of you know, I have seven kids. Since most of them…

Some days, everything just seems a little bit out of kilter. My three-year-old, Charlotte, had one of those days this week. We just COULD NOT GET IT RIGHT. The pink cereal bowl seemed like a good choice until the milk…

Is there someone in your life who you long to see experiencing the more that a relationship with Christ brings? Do you find you lack the right words to articulate just how much your faith means to you, and wish…

You know how it goes. Sometimes you reach that point where you think you cannot possibly handle one more little thing going wrong or you will lose your mind, and then that one more thing happens. So it’s been a…

As I carried the overflowing laundry basket up the stairs, it occurred to me that its weight felt nothing like the heaviness that was sitting on my heart. I had been reading about world news this morning, and article after…

2015 is here! I love turning to a new calendar page, using fresh notebooks with no markings, and looking ahead to limitless possibilities in the coming months. But the minute that someone suggests I make a New Year’s resolution, I…

It has come to this. My two-year-old, Charlotte, ate cookies for lunch. We have officially limped over the finish line of one of the longest summers in history, and that was the best I could do today. Summer break began…

Disclaimer #1: I realize that I was a teensy bit stressed with my rodent issue during my last post. You truly deserve an upbeat, life is PERFECT message for this happy month of July, but I’m writing this when I’m…

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you…

Dear friends, In my writing and speaking, I often quote other authors in order to more succinctly illustrate a point I am making. After receiving feedback from the July Positively Purposeful message, I feel it’s important to say that the…

When, when, when am I going to learn? I am certain that God is wondering just how many times it’s going to take for me to get it through my head that there is a limit to what I can…

As I stood in the checkout line at the grocery store today, I noticed the woman behind me showing her daughter the delicious deli-prepared meals in their cart. I looked back at my two bulging shopping carts and thought ahead…

A risk we all run when we love others lavishly is neglecting to take care of ourselves. What begins as a passion of the heart-a pure desire to help-can actually place us in a dangerous position where we find it…

“All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.” James 1:17 As Christmas approaches, I’m freshly inspired to create the perfect Advent setting in my home. I picture beautiful arrangements of greenery and berries…