Bonnie Engstrom is a cradle Catholic and stay-at-home mom. She married her dashing husband in 2006 and they now have five children: one in Heaven and four more wandering around their house, probably eating pretzels found under the couch. Bonnie lives in central Illinois and gets excited about baking, music, film adaptations of Jane Austen books, and the Chicago Bears. She was a cofounder of The Behold Conference and she blogs at A Knotted Life.
In all the discussions about abstinence-only sex ed lately there is much talk about spit and water, licked ice cream cones, and tape that is no longer sticky. Obviously, as many other writers have already pointed out, that kind of abstinence-only sex ed leaves much to be desired, especially for the women who – for one [...]
Last week my friend Audrey and her husband Phil took their two children to the Texas Roadhouse at Arrowhead in Peoria, Arizona – a suburb of Phoenix. One of their kids, Henry, has autism and he had a rough time adjusting to the new environment with its music, noise, bustling people, animal heads on the walls, and [...]
The trial against Dr. Kermit Gosnell continues with some new twists. First, there was the judge throwing out all five of the counts of corpse abuse. To my knowledge Judge Minehart has not explained how cutting off the feet of aborted babies and storing them in jars as souvenirs is not grossly disrespectful to a [...]
The day after Thanksgiving our neighbor had her Christmas wreath hanging on her front door. Before New Year’s the Christmas wreath had been exchanged for a generic winter one, which was up for a few weeks before making way for a Valentine decoration. By February 16th that red heart was gone for a shamrock and [...]
This sincere comment was left on a National Catholic Register article by Dr. Janet Smith, “Downton’s Delightful Dilemmas.” “I started watching Downton Abbey and turned it off in the middle of the first episode… What made me turn it off was the two men kissing in the first episode. Others who continued watching tell me this story [...]
I miss the Pope. I know he’s still around, hopefully sitting in an easy chair and probably praying for the upcoming conclave. I’ve pretty much had a lump in my throat since he announced he was leaving. Anything else I was going to post today seems not as important, and I realized that I want [...]
“But what if there really were two paths? I want to be on the one that leads to awesome.” The path that leads to awesome. What will that look like in your life? Are you on it now? The path that leads you to awesome may very well be the one less traveled. It may [...]
Twenty children, between the ages of 5 and 10, and seven adults are dead today because of a shooting in an elementary school in Connecticut. Every heart in this nation is burdened with this news. We are all sad, we are all shaking our heads in disbelief, we are all longing for the end of [...]
My husband prefers we not listen to Christmas music until Guadete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent when we “Rejoice” that our Savior is near. On that day we not only light the pink candle but plug in our outside lights, put up our tree, and break out my favorite Christmas albums: Jars of Clay’s [...]
Looking ahead, Advent begins in less than a month, so now’s a good time to prepare for how you will prepare. Just in time for this preparation is Fr. Gary Caster’s new book The Little Way of Advent: Meditations in the Spirit of St. Therese of Lisieux. Fr. Caster, a priest of the Diocese of [...]
Below is the conclusion to my conversation with Teri and Amanda about special needs etiquette. You can read Part I here. How do you want parents to educate their own kids about your child and how he/she is different? Teri: It’s important to know that individuals with Down syndrome are more alike their peers than [...]
As my son laid in the neonatal intensive care unit with promises of severe mental and physical disability, I stood at a Wal-Mart, watching an older man interact with his grown son. The younger man, probably in his mid-to-late thirties, clearly had a mental disability and the two of them bopped about, oblivious to my [...]
Our first child was lost to miscarriage. He was too young to know his gender but my husband felt confident that he was a boy and so he was named Peter Mark. His due date was January 15, 2008 and in honor of his loss I take a moment on the fifteenth of each month [...]
By the time the seasons change I am ready for change in most areas of my life. So as autumn comes rolling in I’m putting away the iced coffee, flip flops, and Weezer’s blue album and bringing out the chai tea, cardigans, and a new playlist. In case you too are looking for some good [...]
Maybe you love your parish and it’s almost perfect, but it’s missing just one little thing – a niche for you. The priest is great, his homilies are good, you approve of the music, and the tabernacle is where it’s supposed to be (right in the middle, behind the alter). If your parish could use some community [...]
Our personal crosses are curious things. Every good Christian knows that to follow Christ we must first take up our cross. And every good Christian,
The only time I have ever wanted to be a missionary of any sort was when I met a Franciscan sister from Togo. She was radiant, especially because her love of Christ was obvious in every word she spoke and movement she made. I was drawn to her and as she spoke of her order’s [...]
Exciting news: Pope Benedict has approved the heroic virtues of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, declaring him Venerable, and bringing him one step closer to beatification. Now that the mighty Sheen has been declared Venerable the next step is for an alleged miracle to be submitted for review by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. [...]
One month ago today I gave birth to a baby girl. She was big, as in eleven pounds nine and a half ounces big. She was beautiful, with long fingers, a sweet chin, and delicious chubbiness all around. She was alive which, after miscarrying my first child and delivering a stillborn with my fourth, was something [...]
As he lay in his hospital crib, the newborn’s parents were warned that his mind and body would be limited because of cerebral palsy. His mom wrote the following: I can and will keep asking for a miraculous full restoration. But in the meantime I also have to be prepared for God wanting my son to be who he [...]
When I first heard the rumblings that Betty Beguiles’ Hallie Lord was writing a book I grew eager with anticipation. When I read the title, Style, Sex, & Substance, I knew I’d like it. When I saw the list of contributors – several of whom rank among my favorite writers – I knew I’d love it. And when Hallie, [...]
In the middle of a test the teacher caught a boy cheating. According to her classroom policy she took the test and the boy was given an automatic zero. The next day after school the boy and his mother sat in the classroom, meeting with the teacher. The mother insisted her son did not cheat because, [...]
Maybe you are a student with a busy life of studying, volunteering, working, discerning. In the midst of the busyness you have the task of figuring out your life. Maybe you are a working woman with bills to pay, events to plan, decisions to make, and questions to answer. Every day you learn more what trust in God is [...]
Looking at pictures of the March for Life makes me happy, with a little twinge of “Oh-I-wish-I-coulda-been-there!” All these people, many of them still students, interrupting their lives to joyfully support the great gift of life. And every year when 40 Days for Life comes around I am grateful for a way to join in and [...]
Q. How do you pronounce “ignitum”? A. Well, you have some options. The Romans would have said ig-NEE-toom. In church, we’d say “in-YEE-toom.”
Why?
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