Erin Franco
One Monday night a few months ago, I lay curled on top of my bed, still dressed, at 9 o’clock in the evening. I was done, done, done with the world for the day. A copy of Mansfield Park lay beside me where I’d tossed it onto the bed, more like a favorite teddy bear in function rather than something I really planned to pick up and
When we bought our first house, the owners were a nice young family with four children. The father was an engineer, and the mother stayed home and homeschooled the kids. The interior walls were covered with fingerprints and crayon scribbles. There were plenty of dents and dings and holes in the walls. When we finally got the keys to the house, we were appalled at
Did you know that I used to ride horses? (Check out this sweet and really old post I wrote). Growing up, I competed in hunter jumper, cross country, Pony Club, and eventually dressage. I haven’t ridden in years, but I still love horses, and I really treasure my memories of my days as a horse-crazy teen mucking out stalls, taking care of my horse, and training for
My friend Emily shared this beautiful prayer during a small group session at a recent Domestic Church marriage retreat that Michael and I facilitated, and it has become my new favorite prayer. I hope that it blesses some of you as much as it has me. Litany of Trust Written by Sr. Faustina Maria Pia, SV From the belief that I have to earn Your love
I’ve spent most of my adult life as a Christian having “morning prayer time” as a “that’d be really nice’ kind of goal, but it was a goal that always felt like a dream that I’d get to…someday. I’ll start that when that baby sleeps through the night. I’ll start when things aren’t so stressful. I’ll start when the kids are older. I’ll start when I’m stronger
I’ve been making my way through Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ since Michael and I received it as a wedding gift from a friend. There is a reason it is one of the bestselling and most-translated books of all time. There’s also a reason that I’ve had to digest it so slowly. It’s that rich. Patience, mercy, and what those need to look like
I was reading Luke 1 again the other day, and the Holy Spirit lifted something new for me out of this favorite passage of mine. After Gabriel tells Mary that she will bear the Son of God, she asks him, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” I wonder the same thing sometimes about God’s plans for me. How can this be? When
Over the past year or so, I think I felt like all of my blog posts needed to be wrapped up in nice packages made of hours of editing and fancy PicMonkey title images. That’s just not where I am right now. But here’s to getting back to blogging like I used to in the old days when I started Humble Handmaid: posting pictures of my
I feel like the slow, leisurely summer I had was probably a God-send. August has been a real roller coaster. First came my 30th birthday, on August 1. There was a long, lovely weekend of shopping, good food, and cake. Among my favorite gifts was a mini shopping spree at Bath and Body Works (thanks, Mom!). I haven’t had bubble baths and yummy-smelling lotion for ages. Michael has had to
Why is it that the good news, achievements, talents or even virtues of other people sometimes rub us the wrong way? Why are we so quick to fall into discouragement about where we are in our own lives when we hear or see success in someone else? I am not beyond this struggle. Honestly, there are a hundred times every week that I battle feelings of insecurity over the smallest things. Should I be
I was at our neighborhood park one evening by myself last spring, with then … [Read More...]
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