Every year I hear folks bemoaning the secularization of Christmas and how commercialism has overtaken what used to be a Christian holiday. I read news stories about which retail stores are promoting “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” and which groups and organizations are boycotting those stores for choosing to greet their customers in one way or another. People label it the “war on … [Read more...]
Our Conversion Story: Part III
Part III: (Our Son, and Other Gifts of Grace) (read Part I and Part II) But still we didn’t act. Daily we felt more distant from our Protestant faith and discovered that objections we had always had to the Catholic Church were dissolving as we actually learned what the doctrines meant. But making the plunge would require sacrifices that we weren’t quite ready to make. The toll a conversion would … [Read more...]
Our Conversion Story: Part II
(In Which I Try to Prove St. Thomas Aquinas Wrong and Fail. Obviously.) (Catch up on Part I here.) In late high school I felt drawn to the Catholic Church for aesthetic reasons. But I ignored my attraction to it because I didn’t think the Church could possibly be true. I had so many misconceptions about Catholic doctrine from growing up as a southern Protestant gal. However, while I was … [Read more...]
Our Conversion Story: Part I
I have been putting off writing this post for two years. Because the story of our journey to the Catholic Church is really the story of our lives so…what to include? How to explain? Overwhelming. In my favorite novel, Brideshead Revisited, the main characters read a passage from a Father Brown story by Chesterton which becomes a theme in the book: “I caught him (the thief) with an unseen … [Read more...]
Getting to Know Mary (And a GIVEAWAY from Trendy Traditions! NOW CLOSED)
Daniel and I both agree that getting to know the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the most grace-filled aspects of our conversion to Catholicism. It was not so long ago that the idea was absolutely unfamiliar to me. I grew up in the Protestant tradition which, in my experience, completely ignored the Mother of God except during Christmas time when we were sure to mention that she was “just a regular … [Read more...]
What’s the Big Deal About Birth Control?
First of all, thanks for your encouragement about our decision to neither avoid or attempt to achieve pregnancy. And as a follow-up to yesterday's post about our super rad birth control method (AKA: none), some lengthy and very incomplete thoughts on contraception: Since the HHS Mandate, there has been so much press about Catholicism and contraception. SO MUCH PRESS. You may be … [Read more...]
AFP: Awesome Family Planning
On the outside chance that you haven’t already decided that we’re completely nuts, this post will probably convince you. You may previously have figured out that we’re Catholic converts leaning toward the traditional, but now you’re going to think that we’re bordering on total lunacy. Who knows? Maybe you’re right. And this topic is going to be a hot button for controversy, but I’m gonna post it … [Read more...]
