The seed for this blog was planted years ago, as my dear mom neared the end of her earthly days and began spontaneously singing, 'Let There Be Peace on Earth.' God put on my heart to write a blog with the theme of 'Let Peace Begin with Me' because peace was beginning with me in my home.
That was August 2013.
The months after my mom passed away were trying for my family and for me.
I slipped away from peaceful parenting as I struggled to just get done what needed to get done each day with regard to my job, helping my dad, homeschooling the boys, and trying to tend to my precious marriage.
I made some effort to get a blog up and going at that time, in part to help me get back aligned with peaceful parenting, but I never published it.
It just didn’t feel right.
Over the years, the idea stayed safely in my heart.
I wasn’t sure if it was God's will or my own,
and I didn’t know how to discern at that time.
In 2018, I read ‘Perfectly Yourself’ by Matthew Kelly, and I was reminded that when a dream is God-given, we feel enthused and joyful.
It was eye-opening for me to understand that God will put something on our hearts and then reveal the plan over time.
My job was to “do the next right thing.”
The book prompted me to reflect on what I am most passionate about,
so I took that to Adoration and gave it to God, praying, “Here I am, Lord. I’m listening.”
That prayer led me to realize my passion and love are in peaceful parenting and writing (writing is where time flies and where I “become unconscious of the passing of time,” to borrow a phrase from Fulton Sheen).
At that time, I reflected on the fact that I was afraid to wake the blog.
I was afraid to put my thoughts and experiences out there and risk criticism.
I knew that I needed to offer it to our Lord,
but I was still relying on me.
I decided that the next right thing was to begin organizing things that I had written in various places.
For years, I continued on that path of organizing what I’d previously written.
I’d organize here and there, sometimes going months without doing it.
Organizing went on the back burner because there was so much going on in my life, with my dad getting sick with Glioblastoma Multiforme (an aggressive brain cancer) and passing away in 2019, and a couple of career shifts in order to make it easier to help care for him.
The next unfolding of the Lord’s plan came in March 2021 when it was once again put on my heart to organize my thoughts about peaceful parenting into a book or blog,
but God seemed to have shifted this to be a book or blog from a Catholic perspective.
I had the strong feeling that God wants Catholic mamas to know that they don’t need to parent from punishment and demanding blind obedience.
The kind of obedience God desires comes out of love, not fear.
It comes about through the heart and relationship, not through punishment.
It was then that I was flooded with all of the doubts -
I’m not good enough.
I’m not Catholic enough.
I don’t have the right education.
My experience is too limited.
Suddenly Jesus said, “hush.”
Just as he had quieted the waters when he was in the boat with the apostles (Mark 4:35-41),
he quieted the stormy, doubting thoughts in my head.
And then He said to me, “How can you not trust me? How can you think I would put something on your heart that I would not see you through? Let me worry about what happens after you write. Let me worry about the hearts and minds of those who read what you write. All I ask of you is that you write. Out of love for me.”
I became more committed to organizing,
and I also dove into my Catholic faith more deeply.
I discovered the Hallow app,
and I learned more ways to pray (e.g. Lectio Divina, mental prayer inspired by St Teresa of Avila, etc).
I also began praying with The Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz.
This is an ongoing journey of deepening my relationship with our Lord,
and I am excited to see where it leads.
So, here I am.
Walking with God on this peaceful parenting journey.
And I welcome you to walk with me.
May Christ's Peace be with you.
💕🙏💕
