Let’s talk about you!
Not only would I love to know more about the people who are kind enough to drop by my blog, but I also think it would be interesting for readers to get a feel for who else visits this site.
So, whether you’re a regular commenter from way back or a brand new reader who just lurks, I’d be delighted if you’d take a moment to leave a comment and introduce yourself. Here are five questions for your consideration:
- Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
- Where are you from?
- What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
- Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
- If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
Those are some things I’d be particularly interesting to know, but all questions are optional. I look forward to “meeting” you!
*Yes, fellow bibliophiles, you can list a few if you just can’t keep it to just one.
For your convenience, you can have each Conversion Diary post delivered free by email or on a feed reader.
Hi. I’m Thomas, I’m 24 years old. I’m a fairly new reader of this blog.
· Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
I was raised non-religiously in a post-Christian family (post-Baptist, primarily). I went to a Pentecostal youth group with a friend when I was 14 and had a religious experience that led to my attending that church for the nest four years. Then I spent two and a half years in a non-denominational Evangelical Protestant church, before converting to Catholcism three years ago (R.C.I.A. Class of 2005!).
· Where are you from?
I am from Southeast Michigan. I’ve lived here all my life and probably always will.
· What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
One of the books that has had a great impact on my life is “Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic,” by David B. Currie. It had a definite impact on my decision to become Catholic.
· Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
I’m a (final-smester!) college student, so my schedule varies quite a bit. Most of the days of the week are as follows: I stay up late, so I sleep late most days (10ish), and then I drive to campus. I park at the Catholic Student Chapel, and make it my base throughout my day, between classes. Four nights a week I work at the Chapel, keeping it open after office hours, 5-9pm, this is when I blog and do most of my homework. After work I usually go visit my girlfriend for an hour or two, and we watch television or a movie, or we hang out with her roommates. That’s my favorite part of my day.
· If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
I have a new blog, http://tomcatholic.stblogs.com. My “subtitle,” is “A young man tries to figure out life in the real world and the true Church.”
Tom, the book that catapulted me over into the church was also David Currie’s book…it BLEW my mind–answered all my questions and overcame any objection. LOVE it and so thankful for it that I buy it in bulk and give it away! Hundreds of copies!
Hi,I’m albert,29yrs old from Nigeria. I was born andd raised catholic but had my own personal convictions about the church while studying the penny cathechism for first holy communion when I was about 10 or 11 years old.Since then I told myself I’d rather die than leave the catholic church and I am still firm in that conviction to this day. I was and still is so sure that this is the church founded by christ and I will never be wavered by the scandaals that rock the church because I consider them the human aspects of the church which is also divine like christ who is fully human and fully divine. 2. Where am I from? Think I already answered that, Nigeria. 3. The one book that has had fundamental impact outside the bible is “Coming out straight” by Richard Cohen (he’s Catholic by the way,thank you) 4.My typical day starts at 5.30am when my alarm rings, I would like to say that I say my prayers but I’ve not been consistent in the recent past for a couple of reasons.Sometimes I wake up as early as 2am to study and from 5.30am, begin to prepare for work which starts at 8am and closes at 4pm except when I may have to work for extended hours,between 5pm and 7pm on certain days of the week I am involved in church activities(choir practice)on other days I rest or nap at this time and study later. My favourite time of the day is when I sleep or in the mornings of weekends when I play tennis.5.Don’t have a personal blog but ikve been contemplating on starting one for a while now. 5
Wow! I just saw your story on The Journey Home and am blown away. I have not seen anyone so far away from God only to come back to God and the Church.
My story is that I was raised Catholic in a very religious household. We said the Rosary as a family every night, went to church every Sunday, and had Jesus as an everyday part of my life. When I went to college i started missing church and then slowly started rationalizing that I could still pray and it would be the same etc. I never stopped believing in God or talking to him but wasn’t really practicing my faith.
When I was in my late 20′s I started dating a guy who was Jewish, but by tradition only. He was really an athiest. If I married him then I would have to convert and I knew that I could never deny Jesus. That led me to ask the question of what do I really believe? When I was growing up I did all of the tradtions and believed, but didn’t really understand why? I’m a person that has to understand why. So I started watching EWTN, reading books about conversions and arguments for the Catholic Church and realized that it truly held all of the truths. I am still learning and love to read about people’s conversions because they give examples of why this faith holds all of the truths of Jesus. I’ve grown deeper in my faith & relationship of Jesus, Mary & the communion of Saints. I truly feel a peace that I’ve never felt before. I’m from New Olreans, La, which is a very Catholic city. There’s a Catholic Church every couple of miles. I am married & a mother of one child. I’m bringing my child up in the faith & hopefully he’ll grow up to be a faithful servent of God. That’s my story…
Hi, I’m Megan. I’ve been lurking (actually, reading via Google reader) for about two months now.
I was raised in a liberal Methodist church, and am now an Evangelical with a liturgical bent; I was a member at an Anglican church when I lived in NYC and now I’m at a Presbyterian church.
I’m from Boulder, Colorado. I went to college in New York City, and now live in Boulder again.
One book? “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoefer, and currently, “Let the Nations be Glad” by John Piper.
I’m on staff with The Navigators, and am raising support to be a missionary in Japan. My typical day includes extended Bible study in the morning and support raising in the afternoon. Support raising can be anything from phone calls to meetings to emails. I’m living with my parents, so we usually have family dinner in the evenings. I have really enjoyed being at home again, and while support raising is challenging, it’s also neat to see God provide.
My blog: http://amishwolf.blogspot.com. I write about theology, Japan, missions.
This is not far from where I am. I’m an E-Free Bible Church guy, just 75 yrs old. I’ve been 46 yrs with my wife Doris. We too spent some time as Lutherans so do have a litergical bent also. Now I’m a Christian Apologist based on the Bible and my deep knowledge of modern science and its claaims. Love to talk with anybody.
1 Spiritual Journey: Cradle Catholic from a luke warm Catholic home, to new age nonsense to Catholic revert.
2 Grew up in a Detroit suburb, went to school in Ann Arbor, moved out to LA, married an LA darling, then back to Southeastern Michigan. Now we live in a rural area. We also have a condo in Port Townsend, WA to deal with our west coast production facility.
3 Favorite book is The Oddysey. I love Penelope because she remained faithful to Oddysseus and waited for him no matter who was trying to distract her from that mission. The spinning wheel trick, sheer genius.
4 Daily life: Wake up possibly work out a bit, head into the office with my husband. We have a small manufacturing company. I run the administrative aspects of our company which involve everything from billing, to material ordering, to VOIP phone system, the VPN, web sites, sales leads and database management, HR issues, etc. My staff consists of 6 folks in two states. My husband oversees sales, design and production in our company and he has a staff of 20 or so folks in several states.
Favorite part of the day is evenings when I get to be domestic and make dinner and take care of my house.
5 My blog is East of Eden. It’s at eastofedentoo.blogspot.com. I began a little over a year ago with a blog about the process of adopting children from foster care. Adoption hasn’t panned out and the whole works was a bit painful so I transitioned to a blog about conversion and living the Catholic life as a woman who’s not been blessed with children. Kind of a different take from most Catholic women who blog about family life.
Small silly factoid. Not being much of a blogger I didn’t realize anyone could even see my original blog until Jen posted a comment!!
Second factoid. I found this blog on Blogger’s Choice Awards, and I’m glad I did.
How cool to re-read this 3 years later. I realize this post was aprox. 14 days before we got the call about the child, now our son, who is laughing with a friend in the next room.
Our company is down to six people in this post banking crash era, but we survived and sometimes we even make a living!
Wow, what a difference 3 years makes!! I’m a mom and a homeschooling mom at that!!
I love your story!
I’m a born and sort-of-raised Catholic. My parents divorced when I was six, and my mother (understandably) kind of returned to her Congregational roots for a while after the divorce. I rediscovered my faith late in college, and was confirmed in 2001 before marrying in the Church in 2002.
I’m a military kid, so I’m from everywhere. I have spent most of my life in Kansas and Missouri, and I’m sure I’ll die here since I married a Missouri boy who can trace his heritage to Bavarian (that would be the Catholic part of Germany, where Papa Ratzi hails from) immigrants. I’m a SAHM of two, so I would bet you already know what my days are like.
I’d say both the “Good News about Sex and Marriage” by Christopher West and “Orthodoxy” by GK Chesterton had the biggest impacts on me.
And I blog (sometimes) about just about everything at http://www.catholicstewardship.blogspot.com
Female, Married 11 yrs, age 38 (on Friday). No children. 3 dogs. Favorite color is Red.
# Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
Cradle Catholic. Returned to Catholicism in 2007 after 20-yr hiatus. Even though my family is Catholic, I was raised in an ecumenical charismatic community (www.yeslord.com).
In 20 years I’ve gone from Catholic to Existentialist to Atheist to Fatalist to Catholic. I eventually accepted that I can’t run from God.
Ok, Well I can, but it’s futile and exhausting.
# Where are you from?
Hillbillburbia, by way of Deep South.
# What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. There’s a lot there. (Willy Wonka is a metaphor for God).
# Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
I’m a Learning Consultant and I work from home, in my comfy clothes and socks, surrounded by three insane dogs of various breeds. Hubby and I purchased this Appalachian ‘fixer upper’ two years ago and have just begun to dig in. On sunny days, I go outside and play in the dirt (or with the dogs). Hanging out with Hubby is my favorite part of the day (usually!)
# If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
My URL is: http://www.happyappywife.blogspot.com
I blog about spirituality, my hubby and dogs, life in hillbillburbia, and soapboxes, and my walk back to God. Not necessarily in that order.
____
My Testimony for You: Jen, I stumbled across your blog when I was in the grips of a deep dark fatalistic depression. Reading your conversion story (and the rest) helped me find my way home. Many nights, unable to sleep, I read your blog until my eyes hurt, because your voice was so calming, so rational, so logical, and so vulnerable and real. You gave me hope. Thank you for sharing your light with the world.
Hi there! I’m Chloe. I stumbled upon your blog a few weeks ago and absolutely love it! I’m 22 years old, in my last year of university studying political science and music (classical voice). I’m also a volunteer birth doula.
# Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
I didn’t grow up in a religious family at all, at best we could be described as lapsed Catholic, and worst agnostic. After years of atheism, I became friends with a fundamentalist Baptist preacher’s wife and she gently led me to Christ, two years ago next month. (Talk about an odd match!)
I hope to convert to Catholicism after I graduate from college and get settled in one town with one church home.
# Where are you from?
Currently in Massachusetts, by way of Vermont and Maryland.
# What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day
# Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
Usually I’m up no later than 7am, head to class in the mornings. The afternoons are reserved for practicing, studying, or watching the odd episode of House or Grey’s Anatomy. My favorite part of the day is singing and/or working with any pregnant mommies and babies that might be in my care.
# If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
No blog at the moment. I’ve thought about starting one, but I can’t think of anything interesting to say!
Hi there–I’m Denise–Married Mom of three boys (I used to be able to say three toddlers–they were such little guys forever, but now they’re honest-to-goodness boys–ages 6,5 &3)
I’ve been reading here for six months or so…maybe its already been a year.
*Spiritual background–Cradle Catholic, but I’ve noticed two distinct points in my life that have really defined my faith. One as a teen at Catholic Summer Camp when I realized that the world was bigger than my little hometown and again once I became a Mom (sidenote, I don’t know HOW ON EARTH parents do this without faith to back them up!!)
*I’m from all over. My parents moved frequently and so I most often refer to Florida as home, even though I don’t have family there anymore and I’d really rather not ever move back there. Currently I’m living in Northern Virginia…but only for a few years. I’m a nomad (that and married to the military).
*Books-Man’s Search for Meaning(Frankl) The Alchemist (Coelho) and 365 Saints (Koenig-Bricker). All for different reasons obviously, but each touched a part of my soul–the saints one does almost daily!
*Daily life–I’m a mom who has just relocated for the fourth time in five years. I have no routine
Actually I get up with my boys, I read blogs and the real paper, get my oldest off to school and then do morning stuff with my other two boys (errands, the gym, a bit of “preschool”, laundry). Afternoons are more of the same…we play, we read, we go outside, someone gets overtired and we bicker. I am blessed to live in a busy neighborhood with lots of kids, so most days end on a pretty good note for the boys with lots of free range time. We get everyone down for bed and then I try to have more free time to surf online and write. I occasionally catch a tv show—but I’d much rather be reading a good book.
The last few weeks, I’ve noticed a real sense of feeling overwhelmed and out of balance, so I’ve put a temporary hold on my own blog and I’m trying out a new to=do list. My only goal of the day is to pray. If I get anything else done-GREAT! But my goal for the day is to just pray as often as I can. We’re still new to the area, so I don’t really have much on my plate right now, so I figured its now or never….before I get busy with PTA and T-ball, I need to find my own footing. I’m hoping to see some benefits and find some balance. My favorite part of the day is when I can connect with my family–either during dinner or bedtime books. I also love my tea and newspaper time in the morning.
I do have a blog–and if I knew how to link to it I would
but you can find it through my signature. As I said earlier, it is on hiatus right now…but I’ll be back.
Thanks for this!!
Sylvia. 19. Student. Recently started reading it over Lent when I gave up Facebook.
Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
Roman Catholic growing up.
But have become more and more involved and grown in my faith ever since entering college.
Where are you from?
Chicago, IL
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
LOVE BOOKS!
Rediscovering Catholicism, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, The Soul of Money, The Purpose-Driven Life, Ultramarahon Man.
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day? College student so class, napping, homework, reading, and of course, Mass.
I’m Patrick, originally from SoCal, but now living in a Washington, DC suburb.
I was a cradle Catholic who just couldn’t shake a strange daily mass habit. Throughout elementary school my mother would take me on a regular basis, and at a Catholic high school, I would regularly attend with the priests and brothers before school started for lack of a better thing to do. Finally, ended up at a secular college in San Antonio. A Holy Spirit moment led me to transfer to Franciscan University in Ohio, and my faith really deepened there. I have a wife and a daughter and we are actively striving for sanctity. I still go to mass as often as I can, and it is truly the best part of any day that I can go.
On an aside, I lived in Rome for a year studying, and frequented the major basilicas…after a while the first thing I’d search for was the tabernacle chapel: that red candle would life my heart more than any amazing sculpture or painting could ever do. I learned about God’s awesomeness firsthand when I could hurry past Michelangelo’s Pieta or Caravaggio’s Conversion of St Paul or Teresa in Ecstasy for a small nondescript gold box with a flickering red candle…
I work in a job I hate to support the family. I get up extra early so that I can leave early and be home by 4 to spend the afternoon with the family. I’m a perpetual student, and after attaining a couple of theological degrees, am trying to get a doctorate in an interesting field…I want the freedom that a career in academia would provide. The best part of any day is playing with my 9 month old.
I really enjoy John Grisham for fiction and Benedict for theology…although I’d have to say that Love and Responsibility by JPII is one of my favorites. It convinced me that there is rational basis in Catholicism.
Hi, I’m Megan. I’ve been reading your blog for a while–probably over a year now.
Spiritual journey: I’ve been officially Catholic since I was a little less than two months old, but about 5 1/2 years ago I made the conscious choice to believe in God, and ever since I’ve been trying (with greater or lesser success) to grow closer to Him.
Where I am from: small-town Ohio.
Great books: The Brothers Karamazov. I could list a few hundred others but that’s definitely one of my all-time favorites.
Daily life: Get up, walk to the chapel for 6:30 am Mass, eat breakfast, study, possibly go to class, eat lunch, more study and class, eat dinner, study or work or the occasional blessed few hours of free time, not enough sleep. (Have you guessed that I’m a college student?) My favorite part of each day: well, Mass is the obvious one. Other favorite moments involve having deep philosophical discussions at late hours.
My url: http://megans-digressions.blogspot.com
I don’t know how to make that a link. You can also follow the link on my profile.
Hi, I’m Will, I’m 44, and I’ve been reading your blog since some time last year.
1. Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
I was raised Catholic, got married, spent twenty years as an Episcopalian/Anglican, rediscovered the Catholic Church, came back last October, and am gloriously happy about it. I blogged extensively about coming home to Rome back in October.
2. Where are you from?
Los Angeles, more or less, born and raised.
3. What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
I’d say, The Lord of the Rings, and The Screwtape Letters. Among many, many others.
4. Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
I write software for a living, so most days I get up and head off to work. The best days are the ones when I get up with the details of a personal project buzzing in my head and and can dive into it before anyone else in the house is up. Second best is when I can dive into a project at work and really get into it.
5. If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
I blog at The View from the Foothills. Historically I’ve blogged mostly about books; more recently, I’ve been blogging a lot more about my journey into the church.
You know, I have been reading along these but haven’t had time to comment since you turned comments back on.
Heather, Western PA, Cradle Catholic turned Baptist now nondenominational Born Again Christian (Testimony here: http://untraditionalhome.com/?page_id=135).
Geeky, unschooling mom to three, artist, and avid reader married to a super geek. My kids are older now so I spend most of my daylight hours pursuing random project with the kids, playing Gamecube with them, drawing, painting, and doing web design–when I am not just reading blogs.
One book that had a huge impact? Um, Captivating and The Journey of Desire (yes that’s two but I can’t decide.) Ooo, and The Lord of the Rings, and Narnia, and Anne of Green Gables, and Passion and Purity, and The Shaping of a Christian Family, and Me? Obey Him?….never mind too many books.
And you already know my blog–http://untradfitionalhome.com about life in our geek house with our crazy kids and my art aand lots of pretty pictures.
I’m Jill.
I was raised Christian, and am pretty much not Christian at this point.
I’m from California.
Nothing Special: Living Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck had a big impact on my life. So did The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
I’m a housewife and stepmom to two boys. I take care of one of the boys every afternoon. I bake a lot of bread. I garden a little. I’m starting to make preserves. I’d say my favorite part of each day is snuggling up with my husband.
My main blog is The DHX — http://thedhx.com — where I write along with my stepkids’ mom about raising kids in two houses.
Hooo boy, Cally, sheesh
. Seriously though, well ‘met’. I’d welcome you, but this isn’t my ‘party’ or ‘house.’ I still maintain an appreciation of Buddhism, mostly through ‘adventures’ in zen > vipassanna > makkyo / mikkyo in that order. We don’t have a monopoly on truth, ‘it’ should have a monopoly on us.
“The Artist’s Way” Useful book as I recall. Particularly correct in demonstrating how we tend to inattention in not looking, listening, tasting, etc. etc.
Hi Jen! My name is Louise. I have been a loyal reader since last summer.
I am a cradle Catholic, but during the past year I have engaged in a much more concentrated effort to gain a deeper appreciation of my faith. The rewards are never-ending.
My hometown is in northeastern Ohio, but my husband and I currently live in central Pennsylvania, were we are in graduate school.
During the week, I typically spend part of my day at school either in class, performing teaching assistant duties, or doing other school-related work, and part of the day at home doing either school work or housework. My school workload decreases as the week progresses, so typically on Thursdays and Fridays I go to daily Mass. These are my favorite parts of the week, along with the evenings that I spend with my husband.
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis has had a great impact upon my life, as well as Good News About Sex and Marriage by Christopher West and Love and Responsibility by Pope John Paul II.
I have a new blog, Quid est Veritas, wherein I hope to explore current social issues in light of the Church’s teaching.
-Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
I was raised in various religions, converted to Catholisim when I was 15 with my family. I promptly left the Church shortly thereafter, and didn’t return until about 24 (too much partying). I am Roman Catholic now and trying to do my best to be a good one.
Where are you from?
Born in Washington, DC and raised in Maryland.
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
Peace of Soul by Fulton Sheen
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
A typical day for me is changing diapers (or a pull up), coaxing a three year old to stop wearing the pull up, serving massive amounts of apple juice, doing school work with my first grader, telling my four year old he can’t play video games again, cleaning, doing laundry, talking on the phone (too much sometimes), reading on the spiritual life, blogging, and enjoying coffee. My favorite time of the day is the morning. It’s quiet.
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
http://this-family-of-ours.blogspot.com/
I write about our daily life and try not to complain too much.
Oh, and I’m 32. Soon to be 33.
Hi, I’m Suzanne. I’ve been reading your blog since I started to get interested in Catholicism about 10 months ago.
I wasn’t raised religious. My mother is a Quaker and doesn’t impose her religious beliefs on anyone. My father is an ex-Lutheran. I was officially an atheist by middle school, and very anti-Christian, even though I actually knew nothing about Christianity. I was an atheist all through college, but had a good friend who made me intellectually (not spiritually, mind!) curious about Christian religion. I started by reading “Mere Christianity” by CS Lewis, and was immediately drawn to Christianity as a rational/moral system. I didn’t admit to myself that I believed in God until about two years after that when I got down on my knees and started to pray for the first time in my life. I was just baptized at Easter!
A lot of books were very influential, but what made me Catholic was reading the Catechism. It gave me a way to see the Truth as a whole, and convinced me that the Catholic church is the true church. I also love everything by Flannery O’Connor.
I grew up in the suburbs of NYC, went to college in Chicago, and now I’m back living in New York City. I work at a great non-profit. Since Easter I’ve been trying to make it to mass every day and to pray the liturgy of the hours more regularly. I read quite a lot, I try to go swimming often, and go out to eat way too much. In the summer I’m starting an alternate certification program to become a high school science teacher.
I don’t have a real blog =)
Jennifer – what a fun idea!
My spiritual journey – Hmmmm…well, raised in a “culturally Christian” family. Attended a few different churches growing up: mostly Methodist and Episcopal. But, oddly enough I went more regularly with a friend to her Catholic church. I often spent the night and went with the family the next morning. My grandfather was raised Catholic (Irish and Italian family) although he attended an Episcopal church as an adult (small southern town – no Catholic church nearby). Had a radical encounter with God at about 12, and then attended YoungLife in High School. Ditched Christianity in college…got married and found it again.
Now attending an Anglican church.
I grew up in Virginia Beach, VA and now live in the Piedmont area of NC.
My book: CS Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” and “Screwtape Letters”.
We homeschool, so that sets our daily schedule. School in the morning, lunch, more school (as needed) and then the kids (3 of them: 11, 8, 6) go outside to play until about dinner time.
Yes I do have a blog: http://www.theten0clockscholar.blogspot.com – I post a lot about the church year and family celebrations/observances of it…also about Anglicanism…and homeschooling…and lots more.
* Raised Evangelical, became Catholic at 30.
* Milan, Michigan
* “A Chance to Die” (biography of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot). I took “Amy” as my confirmation name because of her example of fearless Christianity.
* Work while kids are at school, then “momming” until bedtime, then blogging/hanging out with hubby. Best time: BEDTIME!
* My primary blog is my parenting/adoption blog, Mommy Monsters: http://mommymonsters.blogspot.com. Also recently added a “Mary” blog about my new book “Behold Your Mother” (http://beholdyourmotherbook.blogspot.com).
Hi! I’m Margaret and I am from New Zealand, though I leave in two days time for four months walking in Europe.
I was brought up Catholic. My father, who died when I was eight, was from a strong Catholic Irish family. My mother didn’t go to church often after my father died. Me… I have been lapsed for a long time, though I hang around somewhere on the edges these days.
In the past few months my days have been quite flexible as I have been working as a relieving teacher. When I didn’t end up working, I have often been out walking. I am usually a ‘morning person’ and I loved walking as the sun was just rising.
I am about to start walking some of the Camino of St James from Le Puy in France. I see myself more as a walker than a pilgrim, but you never know what surprises lie ahead.
My main blog records walks, travels in the countryside etc. It’s at:
http://kiwinomad06.blogspot.com/
But I am not sure I will get to update it much in rural France!
Margaret
Hi, I’m Danny, I’m 23 years old (24 in June) and I recently stumbled upon this blog from Creative Minority Report.
Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
I’m a cradle Catholic from devout Italian parents but recently I have begun to be more involved in my faith (I’ve never fallen from it but I did not truly know it before).
Where are you from?
From Brantford, Ontario, Canada
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
If it counts as a book, Summa Theologia by St. Thomas Aquinas (my favourite saint!) and Life is Worth Living by Fulton Sheen (telecasts).
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
I am in my first year of pharmacy at the University of Toronto. A typical day would be commuting to Toronto in the morning, followed by a few classes, spend some time with my friends and then head home in the evening. My favourite part of the day is getting to pass the time with my pharmacy friends at school.
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
I don’t have a blog now, but when I become a pharmacist I would like to start one up that combines my faith with my career (I’m very pro-life and hope to spread this message as a practicing pharmacist).
I’m Barb; I’m 50 years old. I’ve been reading your blog since last summer, I think…I’ve been lurking here.
I’ve been married almost 30 years and have three children all through the miracle of adoption.
I was born and raised Catholic, but really got into my faith about 15 years ago.
I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio. I still live on the land that has been in my father’s family for over 100 years.
A book that has had a great impact on me is St. Therese’s autobiography. I also love St. Faustina’s diary and the diary of Elisabeth Leseur.
I’m a homeschooling mom. My 21 year old daughter is in college, but I’m still teaching my 14 and 15 year old sons at home. I start my day with morning prayer, a bit of computer time, and chores, go to noon Mass, spend the afternoon teaching and doing housework. I end my day with evening prayer and rosary and some more computer time.
My favorite part of my day is my prayer time and down time at night.
I’ve had a blog on Xanga for three years, but have decided to start a blog on blogspot.
http://mysoulshallliveforhim.blogspot.com
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog these past months…God bless!!
- Son of a lapsed Catholic father and a sometime Baptist mother. Raised with vague notions of Christian ethical precepts and a few cultural trappings, but with some healthy disdain for “organized religion”. Wife is a cradle Catholic, and a trip we took to Italy got me thinking about the Church in greater depth. Entered the Church on Easter Vigil, 2000.
- From “the OC” (no one there ever called it that), and still live in the greater LA metro area today.
- My high school calculus textbook probably had a big impact on my life. Suddenly, all that abstract math stuff started to come together and have meaning.
- I’m an analyst for a think tank, and I’ve done research work on defense policy, counterterrorism, and criminal justice. My favorite part of the day, however, is being with my kids.
- I don’t have a blog.
Hi, I’m Atun. 21 years old. I’ve been reading this blog since a couple months ago.
1. Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
My parents are Buddhist/Taoism. But they did not really practice it. I attended a catholic school since I was in kindergarten, so in a sense, also grew up in the catholic environment. I questioned my life when I was in the 3rd/4th grade due to the death of my grandpa. Attended RCIA while I was in 4th grade. Was introduced into Charismatic Catholic in 7th grade. Had so many doubts about catholicism as I go deeper in my faith, due to lack of catechisms. Went to states for college. Got deeper in my faith through my older brother, my parish, and books.
2. Where are you from?
Originally from Indonesia. A small town called Cirebon in West Java. Now residing in Madison, WI.
3. What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
The God Chasers by Tommy Tenney. It talks a lot about seeking God in our lives. Yet, there are things that I disagree with this book, such as: the importance of “experiencing God” as opposed to ordinary prayer.
Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn. It convinced me to stay in the Catholic Church. And I’m glad I did.
The Mass of the Early Christian by Mike Aquilina.
4. Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
My life is a mess. I’m a last semester college students, trying to overcome my senioritis. As far as this week, I have started doing the LoTH (Liturgy of The Hour), and THAT has been my favorite part of the day.
5. If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
http://www.crazytune.blogspot.com
I write mostly about thoughts that run through my mind; links that I found beautiful/interesting; answering questions about faith; asking questions.
small factoids: I found this blog through Sheila Liaugminas inforumblog. The first post that I read was: why I became pro-life. Loving this blog ever since! Thank you Jen for sharing your thoughts to the world. Your thoughts hit my very own struggle that I have in living this life of sainthood.
Hello! I’m Steve.
I grew up in Detroit. After my sophmore year of high school my family moved to the northwest part of Michigan where my Mother grew up. After I got married my wife and I moved to Atlanta (i prefer michigan to tell ya the truth).
I grew up Methodist and hated it! Not being Methodist but going to church. I fought it tooth and nail. Once I left home for college that was pretty much it for church. I did however, get married in the church. I have never been an atheist. A more apt description would apathic. I always felt I had better things to do with my time. The turning point came after my Father died. For the sake of brevity I will cut to the chase. I found myself in RCIA class and a Catholic on Easter of 2005. The last to be brought into the Church under JPII. I still have many struggles with all of it but I feel I could be nothing but Catholic. I really felt like I was called to it. Maybe sometime I will write a blog about the whole experience.
The book that turned on the light bulb for me was Scott Hahn’s “Rome Sweet Home”. I cannot get enough of Scott Hahn!
My daily life is bit upside down. I am a Respiratory Therapist working the night shift. My day begins at 3:00 in the afternoon and usually begins with running. I am an avid runner. Then my wife get’s home, dinner, walk the dog, watch t.v. then off to work! I have one son who is about to graduate from Georgia Tech.
To be honest I actually don’t recall how I came across you blog. I think I was searching a list of Catholic blogs and happened to click on yours. Glad I did! I do have a blog but I haven’t done much with it. Time is a problem and I find myself reading blogs more than I actually write. Probably much more interesting that way.
Here it is anyway:
http://arunners-muchadoaboutnothing.blogspot.com/
I’m Rebekka and I’m 29. I’m not entirely sure how long I’ve been reading your blog, maybe from last summer (2007).
I was raised Catholic by a Catholic mom and a non-religious dad, but came away from the church in my teens. I never really managed to be truly atheist but sort of bobbled along in misery. Wanted to be a pagan, but something was holding me back. About a year ago I started going to Mass again and never looked back. My husband is a member of the Danish state church (Protestant), but we are in negotiations between us to be re-married in the Church this summer.
I am born and raised in California, met my husband while I was on study abroad in Russia, and moved to Copenhagen in 2002. I have a bachelor’s degree in Russian and am currently in my last year of nursing school, which I never would have believed five years ago, but which has become a real vocation for me.
I have no daily schedule because it varies from sleeping all day after a night shift to a day shift that starts at 7 to trying to renovate my kitchen almost-singlehandedly. (We haven’t been blessed with kids yet.)
I can’t answer the book question. It’s just impossible.
I have a blog but it’s mostly boring day-to-day stuff that I write for the benefit of my family (they are all in the States).
Hey there Jen! I’ve been around for a few months now!
Spiritual journey: I was born and raised Catholic in Ireland, but moved to the US in my teens and Belgium. Married an unbaptised Christian who “doesn’t believe in organised religion” but we did agree to raise the kids Catholic. I’ve been pretty disillusioned with the church over the past ten years, but every time I go searching for meaning elsewhere I find myself right back on the front door step. Your blog has been a great source of inspiration. If someone who didn’t believe in anything can see truth in the church, then what on earth is my problem?
I think part of the problem is being back in Ireland. After our first was born in Michigan, we attended Mass regularly and enjoyed it. Here it’s awful. There’s no sense of community. Mass is a 30 minute affair with no music and the speed with which the creed is said would shock anyone. No one even takes their coats off. It’s just not what I want my children thinking church is. I miss the sense of community in the states.
Am from Dublin, Ireland, but left when I was 8. I lived in the US (MI) for 3 years, then finished out high school in Belgium. Returned to the US for university, met and married a lovely “Yank” and moved back to Ireland in 2005. Big mistake. Saving up to move back.
Book… hmmm… I’ve not read a lot of religious books, although I have written some of your suggestions down. From a life standpoint though I’d have to say 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has helped me, especially when I was a working Mum.
Daily Life. Hmmm… I have two wee girls ages 2 & 4 so we usually play in the morning, get some housework done. Have lunch, go walking, do errands etc. Pretty standard really. My favourite part of the day is the quiet time when they are in bed and my husband is not yet home. Time to reflect and enjoy the peace.
Blog. I blog about food over at http://blog.humblehousewife.com but am on a bit of a sabbatical at the moment. Lost my blogging mojo!
Howdy!
I was raised in an independent, pentecostal church. that church ended up closing, but the pastor (my father) moved here and opened a new one. This one has been so wonderful! My hubby is the assistant pastor. We have been married for 22 years and have 8 children (youngest is 5 months. Birth story http://homeschoolwwh.com/family/jane.html).Spiritually I have grown deeper in God every year and am excited about His plans.
We are origionaly from southern California. We now live in northern Nevada.
One book??!!! Umm, Mary Pride’s All the Way Home was a life changer. So was Chris Clicka’s Right Choice. Hmmmm, I could go on for quite a while here
My day begins at 4:30 with fixing hubby’s lunch and breakfast (he is also a warehouse manager as our church is still too small to support the ministry). then dress and personal devotions followed by MY school (I am studying to be a micwife and possibly an herbalist, both as home businesses/ministries). The dc are up between 6 and 7 and I supervise chores and clean my rooms. breakfast, the rest of chores, some PE and a walk up to the corner to burn some energy and clear heads. then we do school. I guess that is my favorite, though I like the whole day. emails at lunch, nap around 2:30 or 3, work on the computer (I am just finishing my second book, “Rubies, Silk and Chocolate covered Peanuts; a commentary on Proverbs 31 and Titus 2″) Then supper and I spend an hour or so reading to the dc (no I think this is my favorite). Tuck everyone in and its bed time.
My blog:
http://homeschoolwwh.blogspot.com/
My web site is http://homeschoolwwh.com (For my book “Homeschool: Why What How”
Right now I am sharing several years worth of favorite links and commenting on them. occasionaly I post about our everyday life.
Hi. I’m Jim. I’ve been a reader for just over a year now, though I don’t comment often.
I was a cradle cafeteria Catholic who chose to be Catholic around Junior Year in College.
I’m from just outside of Philadelphia, PA.
Books: Catholicism and Fundamentalism was very important in my “re-birth” but I credit The Hardy Boys with instilling my love of reading, so they subsume all other books.
I work as a cog in a giant corporate machine with excellent pay and benefits. I eagerly rush home to play with my girls and talk to my wife. I started a home-based business and my goal is to work from home.
http://naturalfamilylife.blogspot.com is my blog I write about NFP, business, cosleeping, and family life.
-I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools for 12 years. I really found my faith, however, at a public university (University of Illinois). The Newman Center there offered courses in Catholic theology for college credit, and I finally learned some of the truths of the Catholic faith instead of making felt banners (grade school) and being taught by dissidents (high school). Also, the Catholic community at the university was as vibrant and faithful as any I’d ever experienced, or have since. My faith has only deepened since leaving there 10 years ago.
I was born in southeast Michigan (hi, other commenters from around here). Went to college in Illinois. Got married and lived in Cincinnati/Dayton for 4 years before moving back to MI just in time for the birth of our first child.
At a certain time in my life, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged made a big impact on me. Now, I see how wrong she was, but I think it was important for me to go through that Ayn Rand phase before coming to see the truth and beauty in the teachings of the Catholic Church.
I have a 5, 3 and 1 year old. and i do not work outside the home. My favorite part of the day is any time I can spend outdoors.
I do not have a blog.
Hi! I’m Andrea age 28 homeschooling mom of four (so far!) married for 7 years. I found your blog when I was starting to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, I love your Reckless Experiment with Prayer series!
I converted to the Church 5 years ago, I was raised with no religion/new age leanings.
I grew up in New Jersey but now live in Wisconsin, love the “midwest nice”!
One book? I’d probably say “The Good News About Sex and Marriage” – that was definitely huge in my conversion.
I have four kids and I homeschool, I’ll leave a typical day in my life up to your imagination
I have a homeschool blog: http://www.grayfamilycircus.blogspot.com
I also just started a new blog for moms who want to read the catechism in a year, please pray for me in this endeavour:
http://www.catechismformoms.com
1. My spiritual journey has been a rocky and winding road. Being a product of divorced parents (one religious, one not) led me to following both of their philosophies at different points in time. At the moment, I don’t really know where I stand.
2. St. Louis, MO
3. “Shoeless Joe”, by W.P. Kinsella, although I can’t entirely point to why.
4. I wake up, get ready, go to work, work for most of the day, come home, and see if any of my friends want to do something. Sometimes I just spend the evening by myself and write or play video games.
5. http://www.frozentransparency.com
I tend to range from little musings about life and the universe to essays about politics, economics, and other “serious” issues. I don’t really tend to talk so much about religion, but the philosophy of it surely shows up from time to time.
6. I’m surprised you don’t have a question asking how/why we read your blog
I don’t honestly remember how I found it, but I find it enjoyable to read, and I have things I like about Catholicism
I’m Jenny, and I’ve been loyal to Et-Tu since this past summer. I’m a Catholic revert who had a couple years during college that were touch-and-go, but which have ultimately proved fruitful both in my spiritual maturation and as rich fodder for blog posts.
I’m from Colorado, though I’m trudging through grad school in eastern Ohio at present. I’m moving to DC this summer in hopes of changing the world! (or at least paying a whole lot more in rent)
My “one book” is undoubtably Perelandra, CS Lewis’ second in his Space trilogy. It really is a cleverly disguised treatment of the Genesis narrative, and it blew my mind and heart open. (Caution: reading CS Lewis will inevitably draw you to Eucharist Adoration, whether or not that was our good Anglican friend’s intention…perhaps this was Tolkein’s influence on his buddy)
A typical day for me begins with coffee, a few hours of writing, and then a day in the office of the wonderful non-profit I manage. I have a couple of night classes during the week, and I try to hit the gym between 8-10 pm. I’m addicted to running; I try to do 2 big races a year, using the motivation of always “being in training” to get me sweating. I also spend a good number of hours theologizing and laughing with my amazing friends, with whom I do ministry work in bars of all places! It’s great, we talk about sex, contraception, relationships… all under the umbrella of John Paul II’s Theology of the Body… and then I blog about it on The Great Deception.
Check out my blog at http://www.agreatdeception.blogspot.com
Hi, I’m Sandy. I’m 48 years old and have been reading this blog for several months. I found it on the blogroll at Julie D.’s Happy Catholic.
I was raised in a Fundamentalist Protestant home and was active in that church through my teens and attended Bible College for one year. By that time, I doubted all about the faith, even God’s existence. I wandered for almost 10 years and came back to the same church when my first child was born. Since then, I’ve been on quite a journey, through 4 Protestant denominations and now seriously considering Catholicism.
I grew up in St. Louis, lived in L.A. for 3 years in my 20′s and have lived in rural southern Indiana/Illinois for the past 21 years.
One book: Brothers Karamazov, too. I read it a couple of years ago and am ready to re-read it in another translation.
Daily Life: I’ve homeschooled for the past 10 years and my youngest will graduate in 6 weeks. My daily life includes doing household chores, blogging and blog reading, prayers and reading, homeschool co-op teaching one day a week, planning graduation for 4 homeschoolers, planning homeschool testing for our group. If it can be done from home on my computer, I’m in! I am a CPA and still do a handful of tax returns and a bit of bookkeeping from home as well.
My blog is http://maplegrove.blogspot.com. I talk about homeschooling, my spiritual journey, and daily life.
Blessings,
Sandy
Okay, I’ll bite:
Majellamom – born and raised in Colorado. Attended a Jesuit University in Denver, then attended CU in Boulder for some grad school, then moved to hubby’s farming hometown…still live in extreme rural Colorado, just not the same town!
I was raised without faith. My mom is allegedly a protestant of some variety. My dad has never been baptized. My older brother was baptized, but my mom gave up by the time I was born. I learned recently from my Aunt and Uncle (mom’s sister and her husband who just retired as a Methodist pastor) that some of why my mom gave up is she ended up going to a church where they told people to take second mortgages out on their homes and give the money to the church.
I was seeking for God for much of my youth (all my friends had religious conversions in our preteen years and tried to convert me.) I found nothing, so I became an atheist. Right before I graduated from HS, I began to search again, and I found something. I went to a Jesuit school because my dad worked there and I got free tuition. Now I know that the Holy Spirit was guiding my life. I converted during my first year of college, got married between my sophomore and junior years to my wonderful hubby, a cradle Catholic…and got a wonderful MIL out of the deal who has always been there for me, particularly spiritually.
My daily life: I am a homemaker and a mom of two (Eva 3, Charlotte 1). I homeschool preschool for Eva, and plan to continue. I don’t clean as much as I should, I try to cook most of our meals at home, and I read way too much (but at least it makes my girls want to read, too!) I’ve been struggling with my prayer life recently.
One book that really affected me: Well, there are so many (I probably read 6-8 books per month…I used to read at least a book a day before kids) I’ll stick with a couple more recent ones: “A Philadelphia Catholic in King James’ Court” was fabulous. I’ve really been struggling with the book “Dressing with Dignity” by Coleen Hammond. I am currently reading the Dairy of St. Faustina, and just getting so much out of it.
My spiritual life now: It can be difficult passing on a faith to kids when you didn’t have faith as a child. I struggle sometimes with anger toward my mother, particularly when she tells me about her memories of her dad teaching her how to pray. We try to attend daily Mass when it is offered in our parish. I’m trying to make more regular confessions. I definately do spiritual reading everyday, and pray everyday (though have some dryness in my prayer a lot). I just struggle with a lot of what other people can take for granted.
Finally, I do blog about everything and nothing all at the same time at http://www.majellamom.blogspot.com
Hi! My name is Jenn/Jennie/Ani, depending on what you want to use. I am 30 (!!), and have been reading your blog for a couple of months. I really like your blog, because many of your experiences are similar to mine (without the research part).
Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
I was raised atheist, and really had very little impression of God. He was kind of on par with the Easter bunny and leprechauns and stuff like that. Not real, but maybe a nice idea. Growing up, even though I didn’t really think that there was a God, I came to think that the Catholic church contained Truth — I know that sounds funny, but here I was with faith in the church and not in God. A discussion with one of my surgeons put a spark in me to think that maybe science and religion could coexist, although for a few more weeks I remained the laziest agnostic ever. God grabbed me however, because one day I woke up and decided to be Catholic, I went to Mass the next morning (in January), and was baptized April 7, 2007.
Where are you from?
I grew up in Troy, Michigan, and currently am living in the house I was raised in (I bought it from my parents). I left home at age 17 and joined the Navy, and in the process, came to see Orlando, Florida as my “hometown,” but returned to Michigan for college.
What is one book that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
Oooh, hard question, I read so much! I would have to say that “Theology of the Body” will have the greatest impact, as soon as I get to the point where I can actually understand all that it’s saying (so this make take quite a while).
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
My typical day: I get up somewhere between 4:30 and 5 am, drive 35 miles to attend 6:30 am Mass, go another 10 miles or so and grab coffee, go another 2 miles to park and grab a bus to go to the hospital where I work as a secretary for 2 surgeons. Work 8 – 5 pm. Get off work, and drive 45-50 miles back home, usually for something at church (5th grade catechism, RCIA, Bible Study, etc). Then, I get home about 10 pm or so, and get something to eat for dinner and I am usually in bed about midnight. I also work as a photography instructor, and have a couple extra jobs on the side.
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
My blog is Critical Mass at cadyly.stblogs.com. I will write about whatever comes to mind, but typically more of that which relates to the faith.
Hi, I’m Sandy. I’m 48 years old and have been reading this blog for several months. I found it on the blogroll at Julie D.’s Happy Catholic.
I was raised in a Fundamentalist Protestant home and was active in that church through my teens and attended Bible College for one year. By that time, I doubted all about the faith, even God’s existence. I wandered for almost 10 years and came back to the same church when my first child was born. Since then, I’ve been on quite a journey, through 4 Protestant denominations and now seriously considering Catholicism.
I grew up in St. Louis, lived in L.A. for 3 years in my 20′s and have lived in rural southern Indiana/Illinois for the past 21 years.
One book: Brothers Karamazov, too. I read it a couple of years ago and am ready to re-read it in another translation.
Daily Life: I’ve homeschooled for the past 10 years and my youngest will graduate in 6 weeks. My daily life includes doing household chores, blogging and blog reading, prayers and reading, homeschool co-op teaching one day a week, planning graduation for 4 homeschoolers, planning homeschool testing for our group. If it can be done from home on my computer, I’m in! I am a CPA and still do a handful of tax returns and a bit of bookkeeping from home as well.
My blog is http://maplegrove.blogspot.com. I talk about homeschooling, my spiritual journey, and daily life.
Blessings,
Sandy
Hi, I’m Jennifer. I’ve been lurking around your blog for the past few months. I cannot even begin to tell you the impact it has made on my conversion process. Thank you so much for sharing your story!
*My parents were lapsed Southern Baptists until I was about 10, when my mother decided I was a heathen and needed to be in church. I was “saved” when I was 12, but bad experiences with other members of my church made me cynical towards religion. To make a long story short, during college I started going to the Episcopal church but never was quite comfortable. Last Fall I started reading about Catholicism and knew that was where I needed to be. I am now in RCIA.
*The book that has had the most impact on my life has been The Brothers Karamazov. I could read this book once a year.
I do have to plug this great book that I’m reading right now called The Commonsense Book of Catholic Prayer and Meditation by Hilda Graef. I know the title sounds cheesy, and the cover definitely doesn’t help, but it is one of the best books I have ever read on living your faith.
*There is absolutely no structure to my daily life (perhaps I need to incorporate Jen’s AREWP plan). I am getting my Master’s degree on-line because the closest program for Library Media Education happens to be on the other side of the state. I also work part-time at the local public library. Books are pretty much my life. The best part of my day though is when my husband comes home from work.
*I just started a blog about my experience joining the Church. It is called Swimming Home at swimminghome.blogspot.com. Feel free to visit!
Hi! My name is Jessica and I’m an occasional lurker on your blog.
1. I was baptized Episcopalian as an infant. We attended a Baptist church a few times when we lived in the country so we could meet other people. My grandparents were somewhat religious but my parents were not, so we weren’t really raised to believe anything specific. In high school I got into Wicca and alternated between that and a poor understanding of Christianity that I gained from friends and a boyfriend. After high school I became a Christian. I married my high school sweetheart and we converted to Catholicism just before our second anniversary.
2. I was born in California but spent a few years in Virginia. Currently in Colorado wanting to get back to California.
3. Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I’ve been reading it and changing the way our family eats.
4. I homeschool haphazardly, clean, and waste way too much time on the Internet.
5. I do have a blog: http://dominicanbungalow.blogspot.com/ I mostly write about happenings in my family, weight loss, etc.
Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
I’m a cradle Catholic, married with three children. Up until about 12 or so years ago, I really knew very little about my faith, I didn’t go to Mass much (although my wife went regularly … and she’s the convert), and thought, for the most part, that Mass was a bore. When I was very young, my mom and dad took us to Mass regularly (I think I remember some things in the back of my head about a Latin Mass – but it is vague) and I remember having to memorize some prayers and things from the Baltimore Catechism for my First Communion. I don’t remember anything about going to Confession before hand … if I even did it at all. Sometime around the time I was in junior high, we stopped going except maybe at Christmas and Easter. Mom and Dad didn’t like our priest, so we just stopped going.
My first three years in college, the only time I went to Church was when our fraternity pledge class escorted our house mom to her service (I don’t remember which Protestant denomination). My senior year at college, I moved out of the fraternity house to live in a rent house with a couple of my friends from back home. A friend of one of these friends was getting married to a Catholic girl and he decided to join the Church at that time. He wanted someone to go to RCIA classes with and since I had never been confirmed, I went along. I remember almost nothing from those classes … although this time I do remember my confession. Both embarrassing and humbling.
Anyway, I got confirmed … but looking back now, I didn’t have a clue about all the particulars of my faith. I led a fairly decent life, did nothing illegal to speak of, didn’t sleep around, rarely cursed, and did well in school (Finance major)…. pretty boring stuff!
After I graduated and went to work in the City for a few years before I got married, I still rarely went to Mass and since few of my friends (mostly Protestant) did either, it wasn’t a big deal in my mind (I mean I believed in God and Jesus and watched an occasional service of some sort on TV ….. my attitude was kinda “Why do I need to go to church anyway? God exists outside the walls of some building. What’s the big deal?” =:^o
Anyway, after a few years, I got married and my wife and I had three wonderful children. My wife converted a year or two after we married. Her parents had bounced around from denomination to denomination, so she didn’t have any strong allegiances to any one denomination. She liked the Catholic service and the fact that the priest didn’t slam bibles and yell and scream and some of the stuff she had been used to ….. so she went through RCIA and joined.
Back to the start of the story, about 9 or 10 years ago, I got a piece of junk mail from a Catholic magazine (the now defunct “Sursum Corda”) and it had some stories of Protestant ministers that gave up their jobs and converted to Catholicism. I thought … “hmm, that’s kinda strange”. A few of the stories mentioned some guy named Scott Hahn (who at the time, I didn’t know from Adam). I tossed the junk mail in the trash. A few months later, I got a catalog from Ignatius Press (I had never before received anything from them or even heard of them), and it had Scott & Kimberly Hahn’s book “Rome Sweet Home”, and out of curiosity, remembering the other junk mail, I ordered it to see who this guy was. After reading it, I realized how little I knew about my faith and ordered some more.
At first, I read a lot of books by converts … “Surprised by Truth” by Pat Madrid, “Born Fundementalist, Born Again Catholic” by David Currie, “The Hand of God” by Bernard Nathanson, “Evangelical is Not Enough” by Thomas Howard, and a few others. I continued to read, more and more books on different aspects of the faith and spirituality. I have a library full of religious books.
Some would call that being a glutton for punishment, but I thoroughly enjoyed everyone of these.
I remember going to our priest when I first started taking my faith serious, and realized it had been 17 years since the last time I had gone to confession, back in my senior year in college.
I began reading the Bible, having now done a couple read-throughs from start to finish. And just by going to Sunday Mass, over a three year time period, the bulk of the New Testament and the key parts of the Old Testament are heard. Most non-Catholic churches could follow that example. I’ve taken several Masters level bible study course the diocese offers, a college correspondence course on the Sacraments, listening to many tapes, etc. While I still have much to learn, I do feel I have a good understanding of Jesus and His truth and have grown to love Him and His Church as I should.
Where are you from?
Oklahoma
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
I’d probably have to say “Rome Sweet Home”.
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
Wake up, eat breakfast, morning prayers, get ready for work, go to work. In the evenings, I have been playing tennis several times a week. I just started last year and I am really enjoying that.
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
No blog, but I do manage the Papal Encyclicals Online” website.
Hi Jen, thanks for asking! I am indeed a “lurker”-by-default, being a shy sort of person, and very new to the world of Catholic blahging, but your site is exceptionally beautiful among blogs, your links site is almost too rich, and I’m almost certain you’ll never have a chance to read this comment so innudated you’ll be:
I’m 31; a cradle catholic who’s somewhat matured into an artist in love with the church.
Tennessee
The collected works of G.K. Chesterton
Lord of the rings trilogy
Chronicles of Narnia
God’s Human face: the Christ icon-Cardinal Schonborn
True devotion to the Holy Spirit-Luis Martinez
Leisure the basis of Culture- Joseph Pieper
The timeless way of building- Christopher Alexander
The Contrary Farmer- Gene Logsdon
and last but not least
Summa Theologica- Aquinas
As for the rest.. I spend my days doing artsy things with the web and computers ’cause I’m also an armchair theolosopherizing web-designer (critic and geek)
Post on!
My name is Valent. Indonesian, 22 years old. I have been lurking in your blog for past several months.
Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
I was baptized as Catholic when I was baby. Both my parents are Catholic, but in the past they did not really practice it. So I could not see the faith and I grew up as lukewarm Catholic. I was lazy to go for mass and thought that it was a waste of time.
Then I moved from Jakarta to Singapore 4 years ago to study in university. That was the time I started to question my faith.
That was time I was also introduced to Catholic Charismatic Renewal. At first, I thought it was silly and crazy, but now I end up believing in Catholic Church because of it. I could feel the love of Catholic community at my university and that was the one sustaining me for 4 years at uni life.
Now I am trying very hard to live my faith daily in working life and also still thinking of what God really wants me to do with my life.
Where are you from?
I am from Jakarta, Indonesia. But now working in Singapore.
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
St Augustine’s “Confessions”…
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
System engineer, watching over servers daily, just sit in front of computer and wait. Sometimes trying to design website too during free time. Favourite part: after working time, cos I sometimes can have bible study, meetings for the prayer group, etc.
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
http://www.valentrichie.com/blog
Just started to blog though. So not much posts as for now. I like to write about my daily life and also regarding my spiritual life in my blog.
Hi, Jen. I’m Ashley and I am 24. I stumbled upon your blog thanks to a friend who emailed me a link mid Lent. I’ve been hooked ever since!
1. My spiritual journey: I grew up in long line of German American Catholics. In that order. My parents were always Catholic, but I remember a time in my childhood when they started to delve more deeply into their faith. Our family sticks out a little bit from the rest of the aunts and uncles and grandparents. For example, my grandmother doesn’t really agree with the Catholic Church on any ground, but she was “brought up Catholic and will always be Catholic.” I was interested in my faith as a teen, but not very well catechized. The turning point for me was going to the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio for college. I had an incredible spiritual rejuvination, and I majored in Theology to learn more about my faith. These last 2 years I’ve been trying to figure out how to live in the “real world” and maintain the spiritual motivation I had at FUS.
2. My home: I grew up in Northern Indiana, and I’ve ended up again in Indiana, an hour from my hometown.
3. A great Book (or 2): I would have to say The Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux and A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanuken.
4. My daily life: I wake up later than I should; go to work on campus from 8am to 5pm – copying books and papers, chatting with professors, securing copyright permissions, and getting my internet fix – spend my lunch time with either my husband or baby sister; try to do housework after work work; usually just relax on the couch instead; and then I spend time with my husband or our neighbors or his family. On weekends I catch up on housework, scrapbook with my mother-in-law, have a couple of parish commitments, and love hosting dinner parties!
5. My shameless plug: I write about being the wife of a graduate student and my desire for motherhood. It’s a pretty new blog, so I am glad for the free adverstisement! Putting Hubby Through
1. I came to faith as an evangelical Protestant, went through a bit of a dark and ‘prodigal’ phase in college, and was then restored to orthodox Christianity. I identify once again as an evangelical and worship in a conservative Episcopal parish, though I don’t know where I’ll end up church-wise in the long term.
2. I’m from Pittsburgh, PA. I’ve attended school in VA and CT and will move to the SF Bay Area after I am married this summer.
3. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
4. I’m in my final semester of divinity school, so much of my time is taken up with classes and my internship at a retreat center for overseas missionaries. My favorite part of each day is chatting on the phone with my fiance, and I also love relaxing with a good book whenever I can grab the time.
I started reading your blog last month when I was searching for insights about natural family planning, and I’ve continued to really enjoy reading your thoughts on faith and family.
Hello, I’m Patty. I just turned 30 and I am a wife and mom of 2 little ones. I live in Kansas (where I also grew up). I’ve been Catholic my whole life, went to Franciscan University of Steubenville, and completed my Masters in Theology/Catechetics there a few years ago.
One book? The Catechism I suppose. I use it a lot in my work and I just love reading and sharing the Truth.
My daily life is much like your own I suppose. You can read about it on my blog, http://www.holybananahands.blogspot.com
I take care of my babies and try to love my hard-working husband and keep my house semi-orderly all the while trying to grow in holiness and get us all to heaven! No big deal, right?
I’m new to your site but have been reading and enjoying (and planning to steal) your discoveries about daily prayer and a peaceful home.
What an awesome idea! I am thoroughly enjoying reading everyone’s comments.
Looks like I am the old timer around here…not age wise… but in that I’ve been here since ‘almost’ when you began blogging.
My first (of many) comment was on your old site (hope you don’t mind me linking to it) in September of 2005 (What! It’s been almost 3 years already!) , and I’ve been bugging you ever since.
Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
*Raised in a culturally Catholic family, parents divorced at 5 yrs old, mom became Born Again shortly after.
*I left Catholicism after confirmation and became evangelical (mom’s influence) as a teenager.
*Drifted away and ended up agnostic by early 20’s ended up marrying an atheist.
*Reverted to Catholicism at age 29. Wife converted 2 years later. Three kids since the (7 boy, 4 boy, 2 girl)
*Catholic for 8+ years now and can’t imagine being anything else.
Where are you from?
*The greatest city in America…Pittsburgh, PA!
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
It seems that identifying one book per ‘stage’ in my journey is the only way I can tackle this.
*Coming from Agnosticism –>Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)
*Overcoming my anti-Catholicism–>Fundamentalism and Catholicism (Karl Keating)
*Embracing my Catholicm more deeply –>Orthodoxy (G.K. Chesterton)
*Deepening my understanding –>Theology and Sanity (Frank Sheed)
*Changing the way I view almost everything –>Hold On To Your Kids (Gordon Neufeld)
*Deepening my interior life –>Appointment with God (Fr. Scanlon)
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
*Wake about 6:00 and pray the LOH and other morning prayers.
*Off to work as early as possible to get home as early as possible.
*Earn a good paycheck doing something I neither love nor hate at a big corporation.
*Leave by 4:00 to get home ASAP
*Play with kids…talk to wife…help get dinner on the table…clean up…play more…talk more prayers…bed *for kids…mom and dad time…bed…rinse and repeat.
Favorite? Prayer time….then followed by evening family time.
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
No blog…would love to, but just don’t have the time.
I was raised in a very liturgically abusive parish in the Detroit area, and where Catholic Social Teaching was the only magisterial teaching obeyed. My love of liturgy led me to seek the Real Presence elsewhere, and I try to go to Mass where the Eucharist is adored and confessors are always available.
Reading papal encyclicals was an avocation in college, and they have made me fiercely committed to the teachings of the Church.
I try to begin and end each day in prayer. The favorite part of my day is when I can speak to my fiancee over the phone before bedtime.
My blog is catholicland.blogspot.com, and there I express my Joy at being Catholic.
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# Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
Raised in a lukewarm Catholic household. Family stopped attending Mass when the interpretive dances started showing up (i am not making this up). To this day, felt banners make me break out in a cold sweat. Ended up at a Jesuit college and have been drawn back in since then.
# Where are you from?
Currently in Delaware via North Carolina and originally NJ.
# What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
I was enthralled as a kid by stories of Greek mythology. Action, excitement, adventure and fantastic creatures.
# Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
Very busy father of 4 boys (7, 6, 5, 15 mos) Compounding the situation is that our eldest is autistic and also OCD. Favorite part of each day is time with the kids.
# If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
http://firststate.blogspot.com
I write about say nothing about everything. My blog is so horrible I won’t show it to people who know me personally. I’d be mortified.
[lurk]
Hi there -
My name is Amber, and I have been married for 7 years and I have three children (6 yo, 2 yo, and one due in 2 mo)
!) I was raised by a militant atheist step-father, a very skeptical agnostic mother, and a lukewarm evangelical father and step-mother (went to church, but didn’t talk about faith at home except to say grace before dinner). I had a weird forced conversion experience at a summer camp with my father and step-mother in middle school and that really soured me on Christianity (that and the horrid and vapid sunday school at their church). I turned to militant atheism in high school, than a pagan/wiccan sort of thing in college. I was rather numb and not practicing anything for several years after college, but still a seeker at heart. After my daughter was born I started seeking in earnest and was finally baptized in the Episcopal Church. I started having some serious issues with that church shortly after and ended up realizing I was being called into Catholic Church. I went through RCIA in 06-07 and was received into the Church at Easter in 2007.
2) I’m a born and bred Californian, and I’ll probably always be here… not that I really want to be, but it seems too hard to leave.
3) Mere Christianity. The first time I started reading in college it made so much sense I threw it across the room because I didn’t want it to make sense. I read it again after my daughter was born and was deeply changed.
4) Daily life… Up, Lauds, breakfast, Latin, breakfast for the kids, chores, homeschooling, lunch, Sext (if I manage to remember *sigh*) errands or play-time at the property, home to make dinner, dinner, chat with my husband for awhile & ignore the kids, clean-up, bedtime for kiddos, reading time, Compline, then bedtime. I squeeze a little computer time in here and there whenever something is done early. Rinse, lather, and repeat.
Good thing I like routine. My favorite time? Either when I’m up before the kids or chatting with my husband after dinner. (Not that I don’t like my kids and all, but I’m an introvert at heart and I like peace and time to reflect)
5) Blog – Rutabaga Dreams – I write about my life – homeschooling, raising kids, trying to build a house, gardening, that sort of thing. I wish I could write more about my faith journey, but I find that incredibly difficult for some reason.
This is fun – what a diverse and interesting group of readers you have, Jennifer!
I just wanted to leave a quick note to thank everyone who has responded so far. I’m trying to find time to respond to some of your comments in detail, but until then I just wanted to say that I am reading every word of every comment and love hearing all your stories!
…And my Amazon wish list just keeps getting longer and longer.
Hi. I’ve been lurking for about 3 or 4 months. I was born and raised Catholic in a little Catholic town (no more than 30,000 people, six Catholic churches). I’ve had moments of challenge and doubt, but am still Catholic. Now I direct the music ministry at our parish.
I’m from the metro Detroit area — born there and returned there after college.
“A Swiftly Tilting Planet” by Madeleine L’Engle has had a great impact on my life. I first read it in fifth grade, and I re-read it at least once a year. Great message about how tiny, loving acts can change the world. Pretty much anything else by her, too, especially her non-fiction stuff.
A typical at-home day for me is pretty quiet. Get up early to drink coffee and talk to DH before waking the DD. Breakfast and playtime with said DD, lunch, nap, snack, etc. A church day is a little crazier, because if I have to go in on a weekday (for a funeral or staff meeting), I have to arrange for a babysitter — luckily I have a SAHM sister in town, as well as a retired FIL, as well as a very healthy grandmother — and sometimes my three-year-old doesn’t understand why I’m rushing her though our routine on those days. My favorite part of the day is when my DH comes home from work, because then we can have some family time, or I can leave for a half hour if I really need a time out.
I blog — very irregularly lately — at fibercafe.blogspot.com. Mostly about knitting, but family too.
Jen, thank you for your blog. I have found some really rich food for thought here.
I’m Rusty, 31 years old. I’ve been reading, mostly lurking for quite some time.
* I was raised Pentecostal, experienced a period of practical atheism during my college years, and eventually found my way into the Catholic Church.
* I’m from Mississippi.
* One book. I was actually thinking about this last night. I would say, Evangelical is Not Enough by Thomas Howard. Absolutely altered my way of thinking about God and the sacramental life.
* I’m a field engineer that supports small businesses. I drive around a lot so I tend to listen to podcasts. Thanks SQPN!
* http://becominghinged.wordpress.com
I’m Shannon, live in sight of Mt. Rainier, and work as the Catholic chaplain at a men’s prison in the NW.
Grew up in a Catholic home but wasn’t active in high school. Made a SEARCH retreat as a college freshman, and went to charismatic prayer meetings. Switched to theology my sophomore year to learn and understand what I was experiencing.
Spent my junior year in Rome at Loyola of Chicago. Had a great teacher who turned me on to historical trivia and suddenly church history made sense.
Went on to be a high school religion teacher, then a parish worker in liturgy and religious education. I’ve always felt very lucky that I was in good parishes with pastoral people who understood and explained changes as they came along.
Greatest insight when I was in college? After living through Latin in the 60s, discovering that EVERY language is holy when we went to English.
Murray Bodo, ofm’s book “The Journey and the Dream”is the one that had a profound effect on me. Turned me into a St. Francis and Clare groupie.
My daily life? Every day is different. Sundays I do four Word and Communion services at different places in the prison. Monday through Thursday I do a lot of personal counseling. Lately, there have been a number of deaths in the families of offenders and that is a whole other realm of time spent with people. I love the variety and the “close to the bone” work with both staff and offenders.
My sporadic prison blog is at http://www.findinggracewithin.blogspot.com
Jennifer, This a great thread. I have read all the stories–you have an amazing group of readers here.
My name is Mary Margaret; I’m almost 49 years old (eeeeek!) I am divorced and have 2 daughters (Andrea-24 and Anastasia-20)
1) Raised Catholic in a very strong Catholic home, in a very Protestant town. (I was the only Catholic in my class–rather intimidating, to say the least). Drifted away from the Church after both my parents had died (Mom when I was 12, Dad when I was 13). Didn’t seem to be much point in religion when God didn’t seem to care about me.
I came back due to my older daughter. When she was around 4 years old, she came to me because all her friends went to church–she wanted to know why we did not. I asked if she wanted to go to church and she said yes. So, off we went–to the Catholic Church, because that was the only Church I knew. I was surprised by my reaction to the consecration. Tears came to my eyes, and I knew I wanted to come home. But I had no clue how to go about it. Thankfully, one day there was a note in the bulletin, describing a new group beginning, called Remembering Church. I made the call, went to the classes, had the girls baptized, and I’ve been home ever since. Andrea probably had times when she wished she’d kept her mouth shut–now she HAD to go to Mass, whether she wanted to or not!
2) Living in Wichita, KS since 1980.
3) Ha! One book, indeed! I will have to go with Salt of the Earth by Cardinal Ratzinger, and all the works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
4) Typical day–work 7/8 to 5/6. Go home, spend some time with my younger daughter (in college and living at home), eat dinner, read, read blogs (try to listen to Catholic Answers Live as often as possible), go out to ride our horse a few times a week. Pretty dull existence, I suppose. Best time of the day is when Anastasia and I talk. She is a great girl and I am so blessed to have such a daughter. (I am also blessed to have Andrea, but she is living with her husband – a super guy – thanks, God! – in Tennessee. We talk on the phone quite often, and I miss more than I can say.)
5) No blog, but I really love yours. I’ve been reading you since you were the “Reluctant Atheist”, or something like that. Your journey has been very inspirational for me.
Hello. I am a married 35 year old stay-at-home mom to two preschoolers.
I’ve always believed in God, raised Protestant but always loved the Catholic faith. My mom is a cradle Catholic. I’m currently taking RCIA and loving it.
I know this is silly but one book that came to mind as having some sort of impact on me was Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume.
My typical day is caring for my two children. We have fun but some days I want to pull my hair out and run for the hills. I often wonder what possessed me to quit my job and stay home. But it’s those special and precious moments I get to share with my kids all day long that I normally wouldn’t if I were working. So I remind myself to cherish those moments because that’s what makes it all worth it.
I started my blog, Almost Catholic Momma,in January so I’m pretty new to blogging. It’s basically about my RCIA journey, family life and random stuff. Nothing that is going to change the world, but it’s a fun hobby for me.
I live in California.
I love your blog and how interactive it is. Thanks!!
28 year old Catholic wife and mom in Northern Virginia.
1. I’m a cradle Catholic who was blessed with saintly parents. I recieved wonderful formation in the Faith from my parents and later in college at Franciscan University of Steubenville. From a young age, I felt called to the religious life and even had a date chosen to enter the Order of the Visitation (awesome order!). The Lord intervened, however, and lead me to my vocation as a wife and mother. He was right. Shocker.
2. Though I live just outside Washington, D.C. currently, I’m from a very, very small town in western Ohio.
3. Toughie. C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” were the first books I remember reading and were a gateway into a whole host of good literature for me.
4. Three kids in four years of marriage – enough said. My days are probably alot like yours!
5. I blog about motherhood, religion, politics, and culture over at
http://ordinarytime-bremberg.blogspot.com/
Hi! I’m a loyal reader of your blog, though I’ve only commented occasionally. My name’s Elizabeth, I’m 27, and a cradle Catholic. My dad converted to Catholicism when I was about 11 years old, and my mom is also a cradle Catholic. I’ve always been a faithful Catholic, but sometimes it has been more of a struggle. I think I really learned the most about my faith and made a full decision to follow the Church when I was in college.
I’m from Jeannette, PA and currently live in Latrobe, PA with my wonderful husband, Ben and our two kids a soon to be 4 year old daughter and a 1 year old son.
Lately, a typical day is absolute insanity. I’m really struggling to keep my head above water with housework, and my kids are driving me crazy. It is a constant struggle for me to be a halfway-decent mom for them. Right now, I don’t have much of a daily rhythm or a prayer life. But, I’ll keep on struggling (at least most of the time–other times, I eat a bag of Hershey’s kisses and watch Pride and Prejudice!)
Most influential books: The Lord of the Rings, anything Jane Austen wrote, Mere Christianity and Till We Have Faces both by C.S. Lewis, Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn (really led me to learn more about my faith in high school). There are many more I could name, but that’s probably long enough!
I don’t have a blog, but I kind of want one and am always toying with the idea. I started reading your blog last year–my mom forwarded a link to a post about potty training, just when I was really struggling with potty training my daughter. I’ve been reading ever since (though I’m disappointed at the recent lack of scorpion-related content!)
Love your blog–God bless!
i’m not much more than a lurker and have probably only been reading for a couple of months. my name is sarah.
1-i was raised catholic but not very well. ummm…we’ll leave that for what it is. while my husband and i were dating, i began going to church with him and on my own regularly. i found peace and solace and felt like i was re-discovering something or maybe discovering something new. i was finally confirmed just weeks before our wedding – he was/is my sponsor.
2-pennsylvania
3-i’m only just actually reading the bible for the first time. i’ve read little bits in theology classes. but i decided i didn’t want to be one of those catholics who’s never read the bible…so i’m trying. as for other books – well, that’s hard – there are books i devour b/c i love them. but books that have had a profound impact…definitely chronicles of narnia for all of its symbolism and beauty. this is probably controversial but while not profound i appreciate the classic good vs. evil story of the harry potter series. i learned to daydream and appreciate the beauty of words reading the anne of green gables series. and what woman’s library would be complete without little women or the red tent(which i read while in labor with my first)? other than that i have a serious addiction to historical fiction and gorge myself on phillipa gregory.
4-my typical day…my preschooler wakes me up at 630 asking for breakfast. i try to send him back to bed for a little bit longer. it’s a futile battle while i try to snag a few more minutes of sleep. when hubby is done in the bathroom it’s my turn. when he leaves, the day is a flurry of chores, errands, playtime until lunch. then the baby naps and the preschool rests. the afternoon is either time for some more chores, playing with my preschooler or snagging a little computer time while he plays on his own. evenings are a muddle of dinner and the music lessons that i teach. after our bedtime routines with the kids, my hubby and i usually spend the evening watching some favorite programs or fiddling around with whatever hobbies we’re working on at the moment. we’re homebodies and would rather stay at home in our jammies in the evenings watching mash reruns, playing games or wii than most anything else.
my blog…i’ve just recently started a public blog called rat i’m not. i’m writing about trying to feed my family healthy food on as tight of a budget as i can make. i’m not sure if it’s at all entertaining or interesting. but my hubby laughs when he reads it so that’s enough for me to keep playing with it.
My mother was always an organist/music director at a church, so I was very exposed to worship services, Sunday school, the whole bit. Neither parent identifies with a particular religion, and I never felt particularly religious. As I got into college and started thinking about it more, I decided I was agnostic.
My husband identifies strongly as Jewish (although he’s also agnostic). We’ve become fairly active in a local Reform synagogue, and the worship services and Bible study has become very meaningful to us.
When I first started reading (and commenting), there were two or three other regular commenters from an agnostic-type point of view. For a long time now, I’ve been the only one. It feels very lonely and I’m sometimes hesitant to comment at all because of it. It’s good to see in the previous replies a couple of other readers from outside the Christian path.
I moved a lot as a child: Texas panhandle, New Mexico, Dallas area, finally seven years in Galveston (near Houston). Went to college and now live in the Midwest.
My book choice: Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. It’s amazing how many areas of my life have been positively impacted by better understanding my fertility. I wish I had been taught this stuff when I was twelve.
My weekday routine starts with getting up about 5:30. I eat breakfast while reading a magazine or book, then hang out with my birds for 5-10 minutes, and finally head off to work. I cut up and examine and talk about steel for eight or nine hours, then come home. Do home stuff (which might be dishes or exercise or cooking dinner, although none of these are daily activities). Usually a few hours on the internet, hang out with the husband and the birds. Bed by nine. Well, not really, but my well-being suffers on days I stay up past my bedtime.
I have two blogs. One’s just political and might be inactive now. The newer one (About Lyrl) is just anything I feel is important to me; a major topic so far is being a female engineer. I’m hoping that writing out my thoughts in these blogs will help me get them straight for myself, even if my readership remains in the single digits.
I’m Sarah, a lurker for many months now.
I was a cradle Catholic, born and raised in the Church. My family has always been close to the Lord, but I would say I continued on a steady deepening of faith, especially in college. When I met my husband, I think my steady conversion deepened even more.
I am from south Florida, but now live in the Dallas area.
2 Books: Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton and A Severe Mercy.
I was a working mom with a 9 month old up until about a week ago when we moved. Since I still feel like I’m on “spring break”, I’ll go with that. Alarm goes off at 4:30, hit the snooze once. Get baby out of bed, nurse him while praying my Hail Mary’s for a smooth day of teaching. Shower, dress, pack punch, make sure bottles are sterilized. Make it to school by 6am so I can get my grades in and lessons planned before school instead of after so that I can get home and be with baby and husband. 7:05, first bell rings and teaching begins. Until 2:10, I teach 6 classes, including 10th grade Reading, 10th Grade English and 12th Grade English. After school I try and make it home as soon as possible. That usually is about 3pm. The rest of the next few hours are baby time. Playing, feeding, walk, bath. Also, figure out something for dinner during that time. Put baby to bed somewhere between 6 and 7pm depending on his mood. Breathe a sigh of relief. After he’s in bed, I usually take a few minutes to check email, blogs and relax. Eat dinner with husband when he comes home from work. Try to make it to bed by 9 – normally ends up being 10 or 10:30. Uhg. I never thought I’d be a working mom. But somehow it all works and I have a happy healthy boy. Praise God!
Blogs:
I don’t have much time for my own right now. I did have: http://www.graceaplenty.blogspot.com before married life and baby.
Now, I do just pictures http://www.augustinebaby.blogspot.com. And occasionally contribute on my husband’s http://www.aragoweb.com.
My name is Laura and I am 42 years old. I found your blog this past Lent and I love it! I was raised Catholic, taught to go to church every Sunday but that was about it. I had my conversion experience 14 years ago in my car on the highway while the song “I Can See Clearly Now, The Rain Has Gone” was playing on the radio. (That wasn’t what caused my conversion, it was just one of those neat “Christ”-incidences:) The past 14 years have been quite a spiritual journey.
I was born, raised and live in the Land of Lincoln.
There have been many books that have shaped my beliefs and changed my life over the years. If God wants me to learn a lesson, He usually puts a book in front of me. Three that I can remember from the last few years are “A Mother’s Rule of Life” by Holly Pierlot, “Mother Angelica” by Raymond Arroyo and “Created to Be His Helpmeet” by Debbie Pearl (somewhat controversial because it is not Catholic, but I sure learned A LOT from it!)
What is my daily life like? Well I can say that we do these things every day: I get up, pray, shower, get the kids up (we have seven) and we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Beyond that, no two days seems to be the same. My husband is self-employed and we homeschool, so you never know what you’re going to get!
I just began blogging in February. My blog is entitles Homeschooling With Joy at hsjoy.blogspot.com. I write about all kinds of things that help me to be more joyful and more at peace – whether that means something spiritual, organizational or something directly related to homeschooling.
I am a cradle Catholic. Vatican II took place while I was in grade school, so I can remember the old Latin Mass. I was confirmed when I was in fourth grade after intensive catechisis, so unlike my younger siblings (who were confirmed during the Age of Felt Banners) I actually knew what the Church taught. I never left the faith and tried my best to hand it on to my kids. Recently I’ve been getting more into the Liturgy of the Hours.
I consider myself to be from Southern California even though, as a Navy brat, I lived in many different places when I was growing up.
Little Women was a formative book in my childhood. Lord of the Rings was the most important book of my adult years. (Had I not read the latter, I would never have met my husband or most of our best friends!)
I’m a 55 year old widow and a retired homeschooling mom. My days are pretty unstructured right now. Reading, writing, cooking, housework, quilting — and I’m taking a class in garment sewing at the local junior college. I live next door to my elderly parents, so I help them out a good deal.
My blog is Catholic Bibliophagist where I write about books and reading.
I can’t remember exactly how long I’ve been reading your blog. I originally found my way here through Darwin Catholic.
Has anyone else besides me scrolled all the way down this list? There are some great stories here!
I’m Ouiz (nickname, obviously). I’m 40 yrs old and have been reading your blog for at least a year now. I am blessed to be a homeschooling mom of 7 children ages 10 down to 5 mths.
I was raised Roman Catholic — Mass every Sunday, grace at dinner, and parochial school during the day. I was given a great background, but it didn’t seem to sink in at the time. I was desperate for a meaningful relationship with God, and tried to live it vicariously through reading the stories of the saints. I was blown away after reading A MAN CALLED PETER by Catherine Marshall. For the first time, I saw that an “ordinary” person could have that relationship with God that I had been seeking.
Thinking that Protestantism had discovered the great truth I had been lacking all my life, I bolted from the Catholic Church as soon as I could. I was a happy Evangelical Protestant during college, and remained so until my friend (then… now husband) asked me to “walk him through a Mass.” I thought he was insane, but I took him to the daily Mass at our parish.
He was hooked.
He went through RCIA and joined the Church in 1996. When we got engaged, I made a decision that I needed to follow his lead and go back to Mass… even though I wasn’t happy about it at all.
It wasn’t until my first child was born 10 years ago that I started to earnestly beg God to show me where He wanted me to be. I didn’t want to be a lukewarm Catholic. If we were a Catholic family, I needed to be able to agree… or at least obey… 100%.
I started digging deeper and now, 10 years later, I have come to appreciate and accept all that I was taught when I was younger.
The book that started it all:
A MAN CALLED PETER (Catherine Marshall)
Typical day: You can see it on my blog… http://www.chezouiz.blogspot.com.
My name is Patrick. I’m a cradle Catholic who was born and raised in Hawaii, spent more than 10 years in California, and now lives in North Carolina with my wife and two children (one boy, one girl, both adopted).
Rather than diluting my faith, college actually helped to grow it, thanks to a couple of interesting theology courses and a few pretty coeds who weren’t shy about their affection for Campus Ministry.
I’m a technical writer and editor by trade. I’ve been influenced by many books, but my favorite is Richard Bradford’s novel “Red Sky at Morning.”
I’m a self-styled “paragraph farmer,” so naturally I run a blog called The Paragraph Farm. It might have been Julie at Happy Catholic who first tipped me to “Et Tu?” and I liked this place the moment I laid eyes on it– Jennifer’s title reminds me of “Quo Vadis?”
I’m from the Midwest!
A book that has had a great impact on me is “Sophie’s Choice” by William Styron. I’m not sure why – trying to figure that out.
I chase a 1 and 3 year old around, quite unsuccessfully, at that.
I blog about vodka on the rocks, my intense dislike of all things socialist, lip gloss and changing diapers at pipsylou.blogspot.com.
Yes, Quiz, I read all the stories. Good bunch of people here!
Hi, I’m Elaine. I found your blog, following a link from someone else several months back. I’ve been reading reguarly ever since, and inspired by your ReWP, am trying to do similarly: put hard stops in the day to pay attention to God.
I’m in my late 40s, homeschooling a daughter with health problems. Born Catholic, was lukewarm in early adulthood, came back and trying reallyhard to cooperate with Him.
I’m that rarity, a second generation native Californian, still living here.
Several books – Chesterton’s _Everlasting Man_ helped bring me back to Catholicism. Other Chesterton, too. LOTR. Some Pratchett, especially when he’d talking about belief.
Hi, I’m Tausign, (I’m from the planet Tau…I’ve been trapped here since the fall of last year.) I have an awesome earth wife and two children; one son 29, who makes me feel much older than I am, and one adorable daughter, age 8 who makes me feel much younger than my 56 years.
Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
Cradle Catholic who vaguely remembers pre-Vatican II church. I was a reasonably devout youth until I was liberated from all sources of authority in some confusing college years. I drifted away from the church and explored myriad other relations with God (finding nothing) and eventually returned with a powerful reversion in early thirties. Something of note was that due to a strange set of circumstances I missed my teenage Confirmation with my peers. I was Confirmed as an adult and experienced what I latter learned was ‘being slain in the spirit’. Sensing a ‘calling’ and a deep hunger to grow in faith I joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1986 and was professed a year later.
My profession as a lay Franciscan has been seminal in my relation with God, the Church and others. When I began to understand the meaning of different spiritual ways or paths within the one Catholic Church, much of my faith life began to gel. I’ve had the opportunity to receive spiritual direction and formation and also to share this with others who were inquirers in the Order. Conversion and formation is continuous and ongoing.
Where are you from?
I’ve lived my entire life in CT. After attending UConn I stayed in the eastern half (actually kind of rural as the last green area on the eastern seaboard from Washington to Boston). This area has grown immensely in my adult years here as we have had two Native American Casinos (Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun – which may be the largest casinos in the world) explode in popularity.
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
Too hard a question – I’ll pass except to say I enjoy spiritual reading and insist it’s vital for growth in the life of faith.
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
Prayer is foundational: I start each day with 7am mass; followed by Rosary with a few who hang around. (Funny though it sounds, I can’t sustain the habit of Rosary without a group.) After that I say my morning LOTH in front of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and pray for the whole wide world. At 8 am I’m on my way. (That’s the most beautiful part of the entire day and the source of all my spiritual energy.) Note to Jen: That one hour is the ONLY structured part of my entire day: evening prayer is less rigid, but I’ve kept at it for two decades.
My wife teaches 2nd grade at the Cathedral School next door and my daughter is in Mom’s class (a mixed blessing). I work in my own business so I have plenty of freedom. I had a heart attack when I was 50 so I’ve given up the intense drive of life and decided to take things slowly and unhurriedly. I work perhaps 5 or so hours a day and that’s enough for my daily bread.
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
My blog is called ‘Perfect Joy’ which is a buzzword phrase for those who understand Franciscan Spirituality. http://tau-cross.blogspot.com/ is the url. I began writing reflections to force myself to get things out into words and help my own spiritual growth. I write with the idea that someone is listening and try to write in a way that anyone picking up a reflection on the sidebar can enjoy it on any day they are drawn to it.
Why do I enjoy coming to Et-Tu?
I’m just a sucker for conversion stories and this is the best I’ve encountered on the blogosphere. For me it’s not just watching Jen grope along, it’s also the joy of watching the Holy Spirit’s hand in the entire matter with all the participants. I confess to being a little ‘paternalistic’ about this whole scene (She get’s it…She doesn’t get it) but I’ve been pleasantly surprised and have learned new things while listening to others. As much as I hate to admit it…this is a spiritual soap opera for me.
Hi, Jen. I’m Colleen, a 30 year old stay at home mother of three children ages 6, 3, and 10 months.
I’m a cradle Catholic from a fairly devout family. My parents were great examples of faith, though that does not mean that they did not have their struggles. My faith grew even more when I went to college at Texas A&M. The Catholic student body there is very active and alive with the faith and my desire for more knowledge about the Catholic church exploded. Also, my boyfriend (who later became my husband) went through a conversion from Church of Christ to Catholicism while we were dating. I went through the entire RCIA process with him, which had a profound impact of my faith. I’ve had a special love for converts ever since and that is one of the reasons that I so enjoy your blog. Another reason is because the struggles you are going through as a wife and mother of three small children are the same struggles that I am having. You seem to articulate those struggles much better than I can, though!
I was born in Nebraska, raised in West Texas and am currently living in the Houston area.
Some of my favorite books are Pride and Prejudice, Les Miserables, Lord of the Rings, and a bunch of Scott Hahn books (The Lamb’s Supper is one of my favorites).
My typical day begins by getting my oldest fed, dressed and out the door for school. I then read my Magnificat (a habit I’m trying to begin after reading about your fruitful experiences with the Liturgy of the Hours). After that my days become less structured. There is usually lots of nursing the baby, reading books to my three year old, laundry, and trips to the grocery store or library and a little time blogging. In the afternoon I pick up my son from school and then begin the evening routine of homework, supper, baths, prayers, etc. After the kids get to bed is time for my husband and myself together and for evening prayer.
On my blog I write about things happening in my life and struggles and triumphs in my life as a Catholic wife and mom. Blogging is also how I recharge my batteries and connect with other Catholic moms.
Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: what were your religious beliefs when you were younger? What are your religious beliefs now (if different)?
Born and raised Catholic and then drifted far away in HS and College. Got deep into drugs and drinking. It bottom and go cleaned up around age 22 and returned to the church and married my soul-mate.
Where are you from?
Maryland. lived here for most of my life.
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
The Second Coming by Walker Percy
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
When not working, lots of activies with all the kids and I like to work out: running, biking, swimming
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
http://sardoniccatholicdad.blogspot.com/
Where my inner annoying self comes out
I am a 27 year old stay-at-home mom with an almost 2 yr. old and another on the way.
I came across your blog a couple of months ago when you posted a comment on my husband’s Catholic blog.
I enjoy reading your entries. Your so honest and very inspiring. Finding your blog has been a blessing to me.
# Tell me a little bit about your own spiritual journey: Cradle Catholic, met and married a Presbyterian who was pretty hard core and helped convince me to leave the church, though I was already out the door because of some experiences I had and friendships I had made in college. I left the church for a while, became protestant for about 3 yrs., and then by the grace of God, my husband was led to the Catholic Church through scripture reading and research. I’m sure my very Catholic, deceased Grandma, along with other family had been praying for me to return to the church for those 3 years. It’s good to be HOME!
# Where are you from?
The great state of Texas!
# What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
Angela’s Ashes. The Power of One. Both are great coming of age stories that touched my heart.
# Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you?
Taking care of my daughter and another infant for some friends during the day; household chores. Probably very similar to your days. The good days are great and the bad days are REALLY ROUGH!
# If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
My URL is: http://blogahon.blogspot.com/
I blog about my life as a stay at home mom, mostly about my daughter, though I also blog about my spirituality from time to time….I can also get on one of my soap boxes every once in a while.
Hi, I’m Kathy. Also a fairly new reader of your blog. I’m a recent college graduate in Tennessee.
Spiritual journey: Raised in a Methodist home, attended churches ranging from pretty traditional to Metho-Baptist (in my high school years). Though that was a formative time for me, I’ve moved away from that, attending a Reformed Presbyterian church for 3 years, and currently attending a Lutheran church with my Catholic husband (who might have had some influence over my current love of the liturgy).
From? A little bit of all over. Back in the South after 4 years in New England.
Books? Ooh. Sometimes I think that the book that has had the most profound impact on me is the one I’ve just read (I have a short memory span like that). So recently, I’m revisiting some much beloved childhood favorites and savoring the clear-cut distinction between the good guys and the bad guys, or even the simple stories (Little House books, Little Women, Dark is Rising series).
Life? Recent college graduate, working at my first job, and learning to be married, and a grown-up, and thinking about the future.
Blog? I just started one (or actually, I started just after Christmas, but I haven’t really figured it out yet), http://www.aspiringameliorant.blogspot.com. I oscillate between wanting to give out the address because maybe it will motivate me to post more, and wanting to put some more content up before exposing myself.
Wow.
We all like to talk about ourselves, don’t we…
To Answer your questions:
–Spiritual journey:
I was born a 3rd-generation Nazarene (Protestant denomination) and their core theology still heavily influences my beliefs. Currently this creates a bit of internal conflict as I now attend a non-denominational church with Baptist leanings (Main conflict is the common one of where the balance falls between God’s sovereignty and Man’s free-will.)
My parents have always been in leadership, so I have a hard time (even now) separating the “church” experience from a sense of being watched and how I make Christians/the church look: both in- and outside the Body.
–Where are you from?
I am still living in the town I grew-up in. We came here when I was 5 to support my already elderly grandparents (two questions, two references to family– can you tell where I find my identity?)
–What is one book?
I don’t have one jumping out at me. I don’t finish books that aren’t paying their way, so everything I do finish seems significant at the time. You’ve read some of my blog so you’ve got an idea of how everything I read weaves into my current happenings.
–Tell me a little bit about your daily life:
I am home with my children daily, and don’t work outside of my home. But I have always placed a very high value on independent-play among siblings, so I still have times when there are no demands from them and can write if I ignore the house ;o)
–what’s your URL?
UntanglingTales.com
–What do you write about?
Stories (mostly traditional tales, occasionally movies/shows), the process of my writing a YA fantasy novel based on such a tale, and my ponderings on the issues and debates of our culture where they intersect my life at home.
It’s the place where I organize my thoughts so that they will spill in a more organized fashion when they escape my mouth.
Blessings on your Day!
Hello, I’m Sarah. I’m a college sophomore, majoring in French Education. Have been following this blog since sometime last semester
I grew up Catholic, and just very gradually got more involved and more knowledgeable about it…especially after becoming part of my church’s amazing college student organization!
I’m a native of Auburn, AL.
Book…hmmm I want to say Rome Sweet Home because I read it so fast, it made me really want more – more books on Catholicism!
Daily Life: I mostly…walk to the coffeeshop to finish up homework before classes, go to class, work in our library lugging around books, check facebook and email and sometimes blogs, go home for real food and to see family, and go to church.
And I don’t have a blog, only facebook
Hello, I’m Lady of the Lake. I live in Minnesota (God’s Country).
I was raised Catholic, and in college my Fundamentalist friends asked why Catholics worshipped Mary, prayed to dead people, never read the bible, etc. All the silly things they believe about us. So I subscribed to Catholic Answers magazine, and became a campus apologist for the Catholic faith. Not only did they come to understand all things Catholic, but I fell in love with Jesus in the Eucharist, and with confession, the most under-appreciated Sacrament! Admit it. You crave to go, your heart yearns to release your past sins, but somehow you never get there more often than Christmas and Easter. My family goes 2x a month. Then we have a party afterwards! (Kids love it!) Clean souls feel so light, so fresh. For a short while, we are free from sin. Party time!
After the bible, my favorite book is probably The Imitation of Christ. Years ago, a convent was being demolished to make room for a church expansion. Since all the holy nuns had died, the church had an “estate sale” and I bought thousands of books from their Catholic library at 10 for a $1. Lots of saint biographies. Needless to say, we have lined our walls with bookshelves. A house full of Catholic books is an early heaven!
I once read an article about how a Catholic family home is very similar to a monastery. Lots of God, lots of family, lots of fun! So that’s how we run things around here.
I’ve tweaked my daily routine to live peacefully, orderly, and joyfully with my hubby and family. We get up with the sun, exercise, eat breakfast. Hubby leaves for work. We do 20 min. schooling, 20 min. cleaning, 20 min. playing together all morning long. 20/20/20 every hour.
By lunchtime, the little kiddos have been schooled, the house has been cleaned, and everyone has played/tumbled with mommy. Afternoons are free for schooling advanced subjects with older kids, music lessons, doctor appointments, etc. My oldest kiddos are on sports teams, so lots of driving to practices.
While we make supper, the kids take turns reading aloud to me. We try to eat supper together as a family 5 nights a week. Everyone helps to clean the kitchen. (It takes only 15 min.)
Then family rosary, followed by an evening project. This could be remodling our old house, taking a family walk, yardwork, hauling firewood, etc. On Friday nights, we watch a Catholic video together.
Our budget is tight. We don’t do spendy vacations, and we drive older cars (1993 & 1995), but we have everything we need to make a good meal and enjoy life.
We teach confirmation, do pro-life work, visit neighborhood shut-ins, anything that teaches the kiddos humility and serving others.
A Catholic family life is the best way to live.
Jen, I really enjoy reading your blog. You have such deep thoughts for being a new Christian/Catholic. Hugs to you, and God Bless.
Hi! I’m Sarah and I’ve been reading your blog for a while (probably over a year . . . sometime near the scorpion episodes? I don’t recall how I found it, I think via Suburban CEO? Anyway . . . I am 28, have been married to my college sweetheart for two years, have a baby boy who just turned one this past Saturday and live in Los Angeles but I’m originally from Alaska.
I grew up in a very faith-full house by Evangelical Christians (and my parents and sisters are still very faith-full!). We attended various churches, Southern Baptist (though we didn’t like the hierarchy and left – funny now!), Independent Baptist, Evangelical Free, Community Churches, start-up churches held at Christian camps and Senior Citizen homes – pretty much non-denominational Christian that wanted nothing to do with any currently established Christian identity (i.e. Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, etc.) My husband grew up as a cradle Catholic in a relatively lukewarm Catholic home.
When we were dating and as we decided to get married we went looking for a church home, one week in one of “my” churches and one week at a Catholic church. Every time I’d go to Catholic church, I’d cry. EVERY TIME. And everytime we’d go to one of “my” churches it was disastrous. The sermon would be horrible, the people all old, not friendly, too friendly. We didn’t feel right anywhere. I began to read about Catholocism (and so did my hubby) and continued to get more and more interested in it. We got married in the church and then the following Easter (2006) I entered the Catholic church. Since then, I’ve been exploring my faith and the Catholic church (still getting use to the liturgy, liturgical year, everything from the rosary and saints to the hierarchy to confession . . . and sometimes I still feel quite lost, but I know I’m home). Oh, and I don’t cry anymore.
Where are you from?
Lived in Northern California until I was 13 when we moved to Alaska. Lived there until college, and then kept moving almost every year thereafter. New Mexico, Texas, back to Alaska and now back in California. We now live in Santa Monica after a two-year stint in San Francisco (which I miss!)
What is one book* that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
Oh dear, I’m going to be one of your asterisks. Books are my life. I love to read. I’m probably one of amazon.com’s best customers. I think ONE book that has influenced my life recently has been “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis, but favorite authors include John Irving (especially “A Prayer for Owen Meany”), Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison (I love “Song of Solomon,” hate “Beloved”) and have been working on reading all of the Pulitzer Prize Winning literature books. Two fiction books I’d recommend include “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides and “The Time Travelers Wife” by Audrey Niffengegger which always makes me cry. I credit Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in teaching me to challenge myself cooking; you probably will find out it is easier than you think (except for her 3-day French bread), and for religion, I love all Scott Hahn books, am working my way through C.S. Lewis and really found “Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic” by David Currie a help with my background. I’m currently reading “Jesus of Nazareth” by Pope Benedict XVI and find it fascinating and easily readable, and hope to delve into the Theology of the Body by JPII this summer. Phew!
Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What’s your favorite part of each day?
I’m now a housewife and mama to my dear boy, Lloyd. Typical day involves waking up, deciding whether or not it is going to be a coffee day (I’m trying not to drink coffee everyday, augmenting with both black and herbal tea) which invariably is a decision directly related to both a) how many times Lloyd woke up last night and b) what day of the week it is. The probability of coffee increases as the week progresses. This morning (Friday) was a coffee day. Make breakfast, play, nurse, snacks, naps . . . somewhere in there I read e-mails and blog and try to spend time doing something that makes me happy while he naps, and then try to make the house presentable! We hop in the stroller and go to the park at the end of our block a few days a week.
I spend a lot of my time cleaning up and putting away random items that he takes out of non-(yet)-child-proofed cabinets and pantry, including box graters, a box of sandwich bags (which he has pulled all of them out), empty toilet paper rolls, baby wipes scattered about, plastic jars of Smoked Paprika and Thyme, various stacking blocks, cups, books, halves of Easter eggs, tiny bits of paper that he has found and shredded, pieces of peas and Cheddar Bunnies that he has thrown on the floor, rediscovered and brought into the living room. . . I feel like half my life involves me carrying around a little broom and dustpan. But it is fun nonetheless!
My favorite part of the day is probably when my husband comes home and I get to see how excited my son is to play with him, I get a brief reprieve from the little guy and make dinner (did I mention I enjoy cooking? This is fun for me!) while I watch them play and then we eat as a family. Lloyd is even learning how to pray a little (or at least he isn’t resisting holding our hands as much any longer!) Then playtime, bedtime routine where daddy reads a story, I nurse him and we put him to bed, and then a few special hours of quiet time with hubby, maybe watching TV or a movie, maybe reading quietly together, maybe sharing a bottle of wine. Just quiet time. It’s nice and cozy!
If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what’s your URL? What do you write about?
Do I have a blog? Absolutely! I write primarily at
http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com
and if I could think of the primary things that I write about, it’d be all F-words . . . Family, Faith and FOOD! Sometimes more of one than another! I often do food challenges or write about new recipes for big people and baby food, I write about my faith and being a new mom with renewed faith trying to live the liturgical year in my little domestic church, I write about what books I’m reading and projects I’ve begun . . . I write about me!