In case you “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”…

I thought that Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” was the most romantic song I’d ever heard when I was in 7th grade and heard it in the movie, Armageddon. It actually nudged the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” from it’s longtime #1 spot, that is until my future husband and his friends sang it to me for my birthday in the dining hall at camp in 2006. Gotta love my summer camp love story. 🙂

Despite my last blog post about slowing down, as it happens the last two or three weeks have ended up being sort of ridiculously busy with different writing and recording things I’ve done over the past few months simply coming out all around the same time.

So, just in case you’re like Aerosmith and Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, here is a quick roundup of links for your listening and reading pleasure:

• “Slowing down” – This was my most recent blog post, and in it I shared that I’ve discerned that God’s will for me at this time is to slow down (to a crawl or a take-a-nap-instead pace) with blogging and podcasting. I want to thank all of my readers, listeners, family and friends who called, gave me a hug in person, or sent me texts, Facebook messages, emails and comments on the post with affirmation and support for this discernment of mine. I didn’t expect so much kindness from so many of you. Thank you.:)
• “The Martyrdom of Everyday Life” – In my latest article for CatholicMom.com (here’s a link to all of my articles over the years for that site), I talk about it has struck me that suffering well is what characterizes a saint–not how extraordinary his or her suffering is. I talk about how the everyday crosses and struggles we each have in life can be transformed into a kind of everyday martyrdom by cooperating with His grace to freely choose to suffer well.
• “Cooperating with God’s Grace” – This is an article interview (so you can read it) that Michael and I were approached about doing for PassionatePurpose.org. Michael and I were the featured couple for the month of June. I actually really enjoyed working through the questions with Michael and taking a look back on what we’ve done and learned in our nearly eight years of marriage so far. There were some good questions in there that we definitely had to talk about before answering. I think it came out very honest, grounded, and (I hope) uplifting.:)
• How Community Nourishes and Mentors Newly-married Couples – This was another great episode I did for Staci Gulino’s Catholic Radio Show, “Faith and Good Counsel.” Staci and I chat about the great impact that a strong community of other young married couples and young families had on Michael and me, who were just starting out in our vocation. I give some examples of what community has looked like for us over the eight years of our marriage so far. I even have a few tips for couples who desire community, but don’t know how to get started with one.
• Getting Back to the Heart of Sunday Rest, with Lisa Schmidt {Episode 27} – This is one of my favorite episodes of The Right Heart so far. What “rest” should/can/might look like for us on Sundays is a topic that I think a lot of us gloss over because there are no hard and fast rules–or easy answers. Lisa and I don’t just commiserate on this topic though–we intentionally go back to the instruction and treasure we have in Scripture and Church teaching to find some answers and look at God’s own design for Sundays. This is a good one, ya’ll!
• “Tools for Battling Insecurity and Fear” – This was a 10-minute interview I did for the Spirit Mornings show, a local Catholic morning show on the Spirit Catholic Radio Network in Nebraska. The show’s producer’s read my blog post on this topic and wanted me to come on the show for their daily blogger spotlight segment.

Coming Soon!

As soon as I get the links for them, I’ll post two more interviews I recorded this past month for the podcasts of my friends Staci Gulino and Katie Sciba.

• Why Being a Mom is “Enough” – In this radio interview, Staci and I talked about how even if everything and everyone you know pushes you to do “more,” being a mom is important work, and it is “enough.” We are all working mommas, regardless of our situation with paid work inside or outside the home, and we are called to unique ways of living our lives. This is an encouraging, honest conversation about being brave enough to put the work of motherhood in the place of consideration and priority that it deserves, starting in our own hearts.
• “Discerning and Starting a Business as a Couple” – Katie and her husband, Andrew, recently launched a small business, and since Michael and I have some experience with doing that, Katie asked me to come on the show to talk ups, downs, discerning as a couple, and the ins and outs of what starting and running a small business looked like for our marriage. This was a very honest conversation for both of us. I was really honored to be one of Katie’s first interviews for her upcoming podcast, “Brave by Grace” (don’t you love the name?!), but maybe she was just returning the favor…she was one of my first interviews for The Right Heart last year, and I’ve had her on the podcast three times now (her most recent interview is still in my “Need to Edit and Publish” folder though.:/)

Honey, what happened to slowing down?!

Whew! No wonder I’ve been discerning the need to slow down. I didn’t realize until I laid it all out (and until this post took me a couple of hours longer than that I thought it would!) how much I’ve been doing lately. All good things, but as so many of us have to learn the hard way at some point, too much of a good thing is still too much.:)

Well, I’m off to take a nap and maybe get in a few pages of Kristin Lavransdatter on my Kindle before I start drooling on my pillow (good thing I’m borrowing it from the library on my Kindle instead of lugging around one huge volume).

All of the heat lately is further increasing my need for naps. It’s hot, hot, HOT down here in south Louisiana right now. And our AC has gone out three times in the past two weeks (my own mini Armageddon?! A stretch, but my pregnancy brain wants to treat it like one in the moments where the full 105-degree heat index is bearing down on me.) I think my Humble Handyman of a husband has it finally fixed, though, and we have a pretty good home warranty to fall back on if not…but oh-my-goodness does the heat drag out Mean Mommy in me lately. And there I was recently writing so nicely about everyday martyrdom. I have honestly suffered through my little dysfunctional-AC-in-the-middle-of-summer-while-pregnant cross pretty badly at some points. Just ask my kids. And the Lord humbles the Humble Handmaid yet again. At least I buy them snowballs and read a lot to them to make up for it.

Yes, thank goodness for snowballs and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Blue Bell ice cream has been on sale lately, and I’ve already made it through the snowball stand punch card and am up for a free one. 🙂

God bless you and yours today!