One morning I walked into Mass very distracted and anxious. I had many things on my mind: projects due at work, challenges with the kids, financial pressures, dealing with the ex, etc. On top of that, I wasn’t feeling well. It was hard to focus on the Mass. Frankly, I was just going through the […]
Not long ago one of my teenagers was grumbling about not being able to go out with friends because she had mismanaged her money and did not have enough money to buy gas for her car. She was not happy. We had a brief parent/daughter exchange about what lesson she learned from not managing her money properly. I, […]
It was the day my divorce was filed and I remember dropping to my knees and yelling out to God, “Make this madness stop!” I could not believe this was actually happening. No sooner had the words left my mouth when a feeling of extreme doubt filled me. Questions flooded my mind. What if there […]
“Just a little more to the right. No, too far! Back to the left… Just a hair more… Almost… Wait… That’s it!” were the instructions I was barking at my brother one Spring morning when I was a kid. We had won a crystal radio kit the evening before at a Boy Scout meeting and […]
When my son was in preschool, I often brought him into the Church after class to pay Jesus and Mary a visit. With a hushed voice and galloping feet, he made his way down the aisle to the tabernacle to blow a few kisses to Jesus in hope to make His sacred boo-boos feel better. […]
My five-year-old son squealed in delight as the bumper cars lurched forward. The ride had just begun and all the cars were whirling around in all different directions. It was only seconds before the first car came rudely smashing into us from behind, giving us both a solid jolt. My son had the wheel and […]
The first year after my divorce was overwhelming. Along with being a single parent to three young kids, I was working full-time and trying to put my life back together. I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. My response was to put my head down and push through the […]
Dealing with teenagers can be a real challenge. A typical teenager is concerned with one thing in their lives: themselves. As a result, they tend to make their relationship with their parents very transactional. They expect to request and to receive, and nothing more. Give them the car keys, and they are happy. Give them money […]
“I have had situations where clients have said to me: ‘I have prayed my rosary everyday for three years and that has not changed my ex one bit.’ Well, the wrong person got changed.”, shares Sandy McKay, a wonderful, Catholic therapist on the Voices of Hope DVD. This is so true. I know I fell into this trap of […]
I dropped the letter in disbelief onto the kitchen counter. It was a copy of an affidavit that had just been filed with the court by my former spouse’s attorney. It was full of out-and-out lies about me. I had come to expect the torrent of falsehoods coming from my former spouse, so that was […]