Where I come from:

I am Jesus’ beloved, wife to Garrett, mother to a daughter and two sons.  From the time I learned to read, I have been in love with books. The written word captivates me, both as consumer and creator.  I have kept a journal since childhood, and looking back I can see that writing has always been not only a journey of self-discovery for me, but my way of understanding the world and coming to know God in it.  Writing is our love language.

I have always been a Catholic school girl, but it wasn’t until my freshman year of college at Loyola Marymount University that I became drawn to the Catholic Church.  I began to see and experience Christianity with much more depth, through the lives of the saints, the wisdom and compassion of Catholic Social teaching, and most powerfully, the immanence and availability of Jesus in the Eucharist.  The more I devoured apologetics texts and lived Ignatian spirituality, the more enchanted I became by what I soon realized was Jesus’ invitation to me: to live life more deeply and fully with him at home in the Catholic Church. Accepting this invitation changed the trajectory of my life, and has brought more joy and freedom than I ever imagined it might.

My vocation as wife and mother has led me to new depths of understanding of God and what it means to love.  Prayer and the intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church have become for me the keys by which I gradually unlock the meaning of life, ultimately a journey to know ever more deeply the love of Jesus.

This journey is full of bumps, roadblocks, and delays.  I share openly about these struggles in my writing because vulnerability is the birthplace of connection, and this journey is one we are not meant to walk alone.  So, as I live it and pray though it, I will continue to write about it, and to share that writing with the world. With you. I hope to hear from you, too.

Where I’m at

These days, I spend my time finger painting, doing dishes, and loving my little ones.  I create a home for my husband. I try to find God in the ordinary and beauty in our mess.  Life with little ones can be chaotic, unpredictable, and at times, incredibly monotonous. Other times, gratitude washes over me and I can appreciate how fleeting these moments are.  I love sharing glimpses of grace from the little, hidden life of our very ordinary family.

As all moms know (but sometimes forget), no mom is “just a mom.”  Each of us has something within that burns to express itself. For me, that thing is writing.  In sharing my thoughts, I want to invite others into dialogue on topics like prayer, social justice, discernment, philosophy, contemplation, bioethics, authentic feminism, and the meaning of life.  I hope you’ll peruse my writing page to get a sense of how this desire is manifesting itself, and to find something that your heart connects with as well. If you do, please let me know!

Where I’m going

To heaven, I hope.