Catholic Remembered “At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.” Robert Binyon November is a traditional month of remembrance. It’s customary for us to wear poppies during this month to remember all those lost to us during wars and conflict. It is also, in the Catholic tradition, the month of […] Written by Caroline October 30, 2020October 30, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic Starlight He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Psalm 147:4 “Will you PLEASE come inside now, stargazer!”- was a refrain I would hear often when I was little. I used to spend hours sat in the field behind my house, looking at the stars. A born planner and a born […] Written by Caroline September 21, 2020September 21, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic Fog “So, tell me what you understand of what I just said?” my driving instructor (who actually has the patience of a saint) asked me for the third time. “Ummmm….” I thought about it. I had heard his instruction, I knew what he had said, but my brain had ceased working; I had heard sound, but […] Written by Caroline September 13, 2020September 13, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic The Journey Are we there yet? The above sounds like an innocuous enough question, that is, until it is uttered by a child or even worse, multiple children! Add the following factors: being trapped in a car with said children; heat, and a 2+ hour travel time, and the question becomes a feared one! Driving to our […] Written by Caroline August 26, 2020August 26, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic Since You’ve Been Gone! “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 This picture of my mum and my, then four-month-old son, was taken – on impulse – one Saturday afternoon in mid -November. And I almost didn’t take it! Waiting for my mum’s sisters (on a visit from Ireland) to arrive so we could go […] Written by Caroline August 6, 2020August 6, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic Love One Another! “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 A couple of summers ago, I met up at a local park with one of my closest friends and our mutual children. We are very blessed, in that our children get on as well as we do, and […] Written by Caroline July 24, 2020July 24, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic Home Returning and remembering I can still remember the first time I returned to Church after a long absence. I had recently moved to a new area and I found myself, one Saturday afternoon, on what seemed like a random impulse googling my local church’s Mass times. I discovered that there was a Vigil Mass in […] Written by Caroline July 12, 2020July 12, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic No going back?! Responding to crisis I’m privileged to be involved in leading the Alpha Course on behalf of my parish. Back in March, with one session left of our course, we were forced to cancel our current sessions, as the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic became apparent. One week later all church services were ordered to […] Written by Caroline June 26, 2020July 9, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic Beginnings, Blessings and Blogging! ” For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:6 Blogging beginnings On Friday, I received […] Written by Caroline June 16, 2020July 9, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Catholic Perfect Peace! “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3 NOUN Unease anxiety or discontent. “public unease about defence policy” synonyms: terror · fright · fearfulness · horror · alarm · panic · agitation · trepidation · dread · consternation · dismay · distress · […] Written by Caroline June 12, 2020July 9, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Diving into Jonah—Overcoming Reluctant Ears, Hearts & Eyes Reluctant. That’s how I see the prophet Jonah in his eponymous book. God calls him, and he just doesn’t want the ministry he’s called to. I get that reluctance. I wonder if that’s why I resonate with Jonah. What comes to mind for you when you think about reluctance? A Reluctant Prophet Jonah had an […] Written by intervarsity January 21, 2021January 21, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Three Reasons God Commands Us to Pray for Government Leaders It’s Inauguration Day in the United States, so I thought I’d remind us all of the biblical duty we have to always be in prayer for government leaders. Let us remember that our sovereign God raises and lowers kings (Dan. 2:21). He alone is worthy of our worship, full allegiance, and trust. When we as […] Written by Paul Tautges January 20, 2021January 20, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Diving into Jonah—Overcoming Reluctant Ears, Hearts & Eyes Reluctant. That’s how I see the prophet Jonah in his eponymous book. God calls him, and he just doesn’t want the ministry he’s called to. I get that reluctance. I wonder if that’s why I resonate with Jonah. What comes to mind for you when you think about reluctance? A Reluctant Prophet Jonah had an […] Written by intervarsity January 21, 2021January 21, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Three Reasons God Commands Us to Pray for Government Leaders It’s Inauguration Day in the United States, so I thought I’d remind us all of the biblical duty we have to always be in prayer for government leaders. Let us remember that our sovereign God raises and lowers kings (Dan. 2:21). He alone is worthy of our worship, full allegiance, and trust. When we as […] Written by Paul Tautges January 20, 2021January 20, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Where Do We Go from Here? “Where do we go from here, chaos or community?” Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. asked this in his last book before he was killed for his work to end segregation and call for peace during the Vietnam war. The breach of the US Capitol and attempt to overturn our election requires us to ask the same […] Written by Red Letter Christians January 18, 2021January 18, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
RESOURCES: Parenting Prodigal Children BOOKS/MINI-BOOKS Come Back, Barbara: A Father’s Pursuit of a Prodigal Daughter (John Miller, Barbara Juliani) From Heartbroken to Hopeful: Gospel Hope for Parents with Prodigals (Shirley Elliot) Letting Go: Rugged Love for Wayward Souls (Dave Harvey, Paul Gilbert) Prodigal Children: Hope and Help for Parents (Robert Jones) The Painful Path of the Prodigal (Craig Svensson) […] Written by Paul Tautges January 23, 2021January 23, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
You are Not Less Worthy Luke 4:14-30 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 1/17/21 Which part of the body are you? Are you the eyes, seeing everything that goes on, observing, and through that seeing, helping us to be guided forward as a church, as a people, into the future? Are you the ears, hearing the concerns and hearing […] Written by Barbara Barkley January 22, 2021January 22, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
A watery way to release accumulated tension Creek Study, a watercolor by Will Noble Tension, especially tension that has built up over a long time, doesn’t necessarily disappear when the external cause of the fear that tightened us up is removed. It can become habitual. So this week in class my guided meditation was focused on releasing the accumulated and recently exacerbated […] Written by Stephanie Noble January 22, 2021January 22, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Meditating with pets I have a daily Zoom meditation group as part of Wildmind’s Meditation Initiative, and there are often a few pets in evidence. In fact one day someone commented that it must be “Take Your Dog to Meditation Day.” In some ways pets are natural meditators. I’ve had a few cats in my life, and currently […] Written by Bodhipaksa January 21, 2021January 21, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked