The Magazine and Daily Blog of Catholic Living
Faith & Family Live is where everyday moms offer one another inspiration, support, and
encouragement in Catholic living. Anyone grappling with the meaning of life or the cleaning of laundry is
welcome here. Read the blog, check out our magazine, join our community, learn more
about our mission, and come on in! READ MORE
Meet the Faith & Family bloggers. We invite you to join us in encouraging and helping the Faith & Family community grow in faith!
Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest and Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea, Mom to Mom, Day to Day, and most recently Small Steps for Catholic Moms. Though she once struggled to separate her life and her …
Read My Posts
Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and they are the parents of five lively boys and one precious baby girl. She is the author of How Do You Tuck In A Superhero?, and is a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has …
Read My Posts
Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com and the author of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also enjoys speaking around the country, is employed as webmaster for her parish web sites and spends time on various …
Read My Posts
Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their 4-year-old daughter, 2-year-old son, and twin boys born May 2011. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site …
Read My Posts
Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
Read My Posts
Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is a 30-something, single lady, living in Connecticut in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law and six kids ... and two doors down are her parents. She received her undergraduate degree from …
Read My Posts
DariaSockey
Daria Sockey is a freelance writer and veteran of the large family/homeschooling scene. She recently returned home from a three-year experiment in full time outside employment. (Hallelujah!) Daria authored several of the original Faith&Life Catechetical Series student texts (Ignatius Press), and is currently a Senior Writer for Faith&Family magazine. A latecomer …
Read My Posts
Kate Lloyd
Kate Lloyd is a rising senior, and a political science major at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire. While not in school, she lives in Whitehall PA, with her mom, dad, five sisters and little brother. She needs someone to write a piece about how it's possible to …
Read My Posts
Lynn Wehner
As a wife and mother, writer and speaker, Lynn Wehner challenges others to see the blessings that flow when we struggle to say "Yes" to God’s call. Control freak extraordinaire, she is adept at informing God of her brilliant plans and then wondering why the heck they never turn out that …
Read My Posts
coffee talk | advice | discussion | lenten reflection | sharing | parenting | family | nfp | prayer | fertility | education | marriage | homemaking | sex | school | open forum | couples | laundry | homeschool | wife | husband | relationships | lent | procreation | cleaning | babies | teach | learn | fun | humor | recipes | videos | love | children | faith | food | news | moms | kindness | saints | contraception | college | hhs mandate | religious liberty | books | hallie lord | style sex and substance | housekeeping | gratitude | forgiveness | ideas | giveaway | gifts | sweet | blessings | suffering | thanksgiving | eucharist | sleep | infertility | gospel | cooking | vocations | service | challenges | jesus | sewing | happiness | vocation | crafts | confession | traditions | absolution | journey | blogging | winners | last rites | friendship | culture of life | dinner | natural family planning | spiritual direction | church | girls | breakfast | touching | learning | sexual purity | holiness | webinars | pregnancy | time | star parker | giveaways | truth | questions | support | confirmation | toddlers | catholic |
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Thursday, April 28, 2011 12:00 PM
When I decided to major in theology in college, one of the reasons I did it was so that when my future children asked the hard questions, I’d be able to answer some of them.
I pictured solemn dinner table discussions about topics like Purgatory and the Beatific Vision. My kids would know exactly what “Oh happy fault!” means, and the difference between plenary and partial indulgences. I could teach them so much! It’d be like miniature versions of my college lectures, given daily!
My poor children.
Fortunately, God didn’t send me studious 12-year-olds with long attention spans. He sent me babies. Babies grow into toddlers who learn to point to the crucifix and say, “Jesus loves us!” Toddlers grow into preschoolers who have plenty of their own questions, but who couldn’t care less about indulgences.
(This reminds me of one of my favorite preschooler-theology stories. My sister overheard a discussion between my nephew and my daughter. “Daniel, did you know that Jesus is the son of God?” Camilla asked him. He nodded and replied, “I did know that. But what I want to know is, how did he do it?”)
(You gotta love the four-year-old, tapping right into the deepest Mysteries.)
I pictured mini-lectures, but the teaching process is much more organic - and frankly, much more fun. I tell stories of Jesus’ life. I answer the random, often bizarre questions my daughter dreams up. I enjoy her flash of a smile when she “gets” something and her puzzlement when she does not. (It’s okay, sweetie - transubstantiation is still pretty mysterious to me, too.)
And my favorite moments are the ones that come from her. Like this evening during our nightly discussion of the awesome powers of guardian angels, when she asked, “Does my Knuffle Bunny [stuffed animal] have an angel?” and then went into hysterics at the idea for a good fifteen minutes. “It’s so silly, Mama!” she shrieked. “I just can’t stop laughing!”
I have a feeling we’ll be joking about “Knuffle Bunny’s guardian angel” for weeks to come.
I’m so glad I was wrong about the theology lectures. What we have is much better.
Page 1 of 1 pages
Have you seen this story about the Archbishop of Canterbury, a little girl called Lulu and a letter to God? I think it’s rather lovely. http://tinyurl.com/44jfdb8
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
Print Blog
Email a Friend