My Scribbler’s Heart

Relevant Fiction Reviews: Conquering Fear and Worry

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Relevant Fiction Reviews

In my totally unqualified opinion,  worry and anxiety are epidemics in modern culture. Fear, worry, anxiety –  they all separate us from God’s love. “Be not afraid,” the first words of Pope St. John Paul II’s pontificate, appear frequently in the Gospels. (I’ve found references to those words or a variation appearing from 120 times in the Gospels to 365 times throughout the Bible.) And yet, our lack of faith and our pride prevent us from  taking those words to heart. From letting go and letting God.

Within the space of a few days last month, I read two stellar books that address exactly these issues: one a contemporary romance and the other biblical fiction. Continue reading →

Small Success Thursday

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Small Success Thursday

Why small success? Because that’s the only kind I know! Even the big ones come in small steps. Here’s my paltry offering for the week:

  1. Greeting Cards Organized and  Replenished – I like to send greeting cards for birthdays, anniversaries, and other occasions. Rather than spend my days and nights selecting expensive greeting cards from the rack, I buy them in bulk from Current. This means that aside from unique special occasions, I need only stock up once or twice a year. Last week I went through my box of cards, reorganizing and assessing what I needed to purchase. Continue reading →

The Importance of Wasting Time

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I’m good at wasting time. One might call me an expert. Yet, I need to be reminded, by the Pope no less, to do that with my kids.

When I had only one child, I spent loads of “wasted” time with him. Four and a half years. I pushed Thomas trains around the wooden track. I sang and danced to silly songs in the backyard. I lay in the grass and watched the clouds pass.

Then I had another baby. And another. And another. And my time divided amongst the little people in my life. Continue reading →

#5Faves: First Communion Ideas

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fivefaves

My oldest daughter will be making her First Holy Communion this year, and we just purchased her lovely dress last weekend! Early in our marriage, before I’d ever been pregnant, I longed to see my children receive their First Communion. It’s such a special day, not only spiritually, of course, but also as a happy family celebration. Here are five items for gift-givers that can make the grace-filled day even more special!

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Journal

My First Holy Communion Keepsake Journal is the most inventive First Communion gift I’ve discovered. If your daughter likes to write, doodle, and dabble in journals, this is the perfect gift! This isn’t primarily a spiritual journal, more a journal to help remember the details of the day. Recall who came to your celebration, design a dress, color the rosary, etc. *My First Communion Keepsake Journal

Continue reading →

What She REALLY Wants for Valentine’s Day

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Guys, only six weeks out from Christmas, and again you’re called on to find the perfect gift. Are you fresh out of fresh ideas? Wondering what the woman you love really wants?

I asked my female Facebook friends what gift they’d really like from their significant other. I’ve sifted through the responses, and here’s what I’ve discovered:

The love of your life wants a break from her everyday duties and responsibilities.

It may be a little time alone, it may be romantic time with you or even an outing with the whole family, but she wants undistracted time – no planning, no clean-up, and  unless she’s alone, no distracting devices. Continue reading →

What We’re Reading Wednesday

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What We're Reading WednesdayI had hoped to link-up with others for What We’re Reading Wednesday, only to discover the link-up is no more. If I can find enough interested bloggers, I may decide to host it myself.

So, if you’re a blogger and you think you’d like to link your own reading posts from time to time, please comment below. (Post at will, no hard and fast commitment.) I rotate my blog posts, so this feature/link-up would only run once every four-five weeks, on Wednesdays, obviously.

I would provide the schedule and set up a mail list to send you a reminder a week in advance. I hope you’ll consider joining me! Continue reading →

Seven Quick Takes Friday

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Seven Quick Takes Friday

The Force Goes Overboard Edition

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my sporadic posts of increasingly bizarre Star Wars promotions. Mostly these are random products with Star Wars packaging and absolutely no tie-in to the movies.

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Apples

This one really got me. No connection here. None. And then I considered that my bananas often have Minion stickers on them. But Minions eat bananas. I’ve never noticed Darth Vader slipping an apple slice through his mask.

There are apparently other fruit tie-ins not carried by my local supermarkets. (language warning)

Star Wars Apples

Continue reading →