Only One Thing

I remember how anxious and worried I would be over each new crisis that erupted during my divorce. After the storm passed, I would feel relieved.  I would believe I had dealt with the last major problem and calm seas would now prevail. Wrong.  No matter how many times I went through the same cycle, […]

Choose

“I’m scared, Daddy!” shouted my son above the din of man-made water rapids and squeals of about five hundred other kids. We were at a water park on a hot summer day, and we were making our way through the “Lazy River.” The problem for my son was that this part of the Lazy River […]

Seize the Day

Everyday is an opportunity: an opportunity to try again, an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, an opportunity to make an improvement in your life.  Seize those opportunities every chance you can. It is so easy to live in the pain of yesterday, or be overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the future, that you can […]

Scars

I often use the metaphor of a car crash to describe a divorce. Like a car crash, the people going through a divorce emerge very battered and bruised with the scars to show for it. Most people view scars as something bad, something to hide. But that is not how Jesus viewed His scars. His […]

Angels

“If God really loves me, where is he now when I need him the most?” That was the thought that ran through my mind often during those first weeks and months when my divorce hit. Sure, I read over and over in the Gospels how God will never abandon me. How even the hairs on […]

Door Prize

“Do you have a personal relationship with your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?” shouted the blind, Bible-slapping (literally) preacher who claimed his street corner each day beckoning passersby to salvation. That was the question that challenged me each day as I walked the three blocks in downtown Atlanta between college and work. At the time, […]

Celebration

When I looked down the hall, all I could see was a long line of people. Most of them looked rather apprehensive; some shuffled nervously from one foot to the other. These people were waiting in line to go to reconciliation during one of our Divorced Catholic Conferences. We always offer reconciliation during the conference, […]

Father Knows Best

At our house we have a standing requirement that all the kids’ cell phones stay in the kitchen when they go to bed. Boy, how the kids hate this rule! They make every excuse in the book as to why they need their cell phones in their bedroom at night. My favorite one is: “I […]

You Are So Worth It!

Like clockwork, my mom would change the sheets every Thursday. I remember how good it felt crawling into bed on Thursday evenings. Looking back, I am sure I did not appreciate that as much as I should have, or realize the level of effort it took to make that happen every week.  I do now.  It is one […]