In the newest episode of Catholic podcast Catching Foxes, Luke and I discuss breakups and Sr. Helena Burns’s offer to be my wing-nun.
Click here to listen.
The funeral.
In a chapel at a Catholic parish on a Friday, I knelt at my seat a few feet in front of the altar during adoration. I wanted to pray, but got distracted by a casket.
Through the chapel’s glass wall, I saw a set of pallbearers in dress blues carry it into the commons.
I looked away and tried to pray, again. But I couldn’t, because an inexplicable urge had overcome me—the urge to attend the funeral. Continue reading “The funeral.”
How delighted the devil would be to see us do this.
In a blog post, Tommy McGrady once wrote that “marriage isn’t just hard. It’s sneaky hard.” But a friend of mine read it, and then she responded.
“When you learn to communicate, love your spouse more than yourself, learn to compromise and accept that not everything in life is going to be the way you want, marriage is not hard at all,” she wrote.
So which is it?
Is marriage hard, or not hard? If it is hard, should it be? And what about dating? If that’s hard, should we call it quits? Continue reading “How delighted the devil would be to see us do this.”
When dating is hard.
As a Catholic, I believe that dating is for discerning marriage — for discovering the truth about each other. For deciding whether to choose to love each other until death.
Sometimes, dating is fun. You can go to aquariums together and stuff. There are otters at aquariums. Need I say more? Dating is good. If you pay attention, you learn about God and each other and yourself. Sometimes dating is easy — when you’re laughing, or at Adoration, or noticing a new reason to appreciate him or her.
But sometimes, dating is hard, like when there is conflict. Miscommunication. Insecurity. Distance (all the kinds). Inconsiderate decisions. Resistance to vulnerability. Continue reading “When dating is hard.”
Yes, I am single.
[callout]This is a guest post by Rachel (Clare) Teague, who graciously agreed to let me share this with you.[/callout]
Dear All Concerned with My Future: Yes, I am single.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to be single for the rest of my life. It doesn’t mean I can’t “get a man.” It doesn’t mean I’m depressed and terribly lonely.
What it means is:
God, my almighty Father, wants to take me on a walk, just the two of us, for a while. He wants to shower me with the beauties of life, even those that hurt and scare me like hell itself.
He wants me to be His little girl, until I am ready to grow into someone’s wife, support, soulmate, best friend, lover, debate partner, dance partner, and all around third-biggest fan. (God and Mama Mary are numbers 1 and 2, respectively.) Continue reading “Yes, I am single.”