Just keep praying…

In my never ending love for garden analogies, I see the little tiny roots taking shape – finding water and hope in ways we don’t see.

Thursday was a good day. An unusually good day.

I think it was Katie McGrady who said earlier that her “Lent was very Lent-y” this year.

I nodded my head and wondered how I could share without complaining and bemoaning that life I’ve ended up in a valley the past few months.

My aunt passed away at Thanksgiving. I had seen her the day before. We had played “Go Fish” with my youngest children and she had made a huge, decadent table of desserts. It took our breath away. As we waited for her funeral, it felt like we were holding our breath until we could truly say goodbye.

This was followed by a dead battery in the church parking lot in the pouring rain on Christmas Eve, a blown transmission the week of Valentines Day, an epic trip-and-fall adventure by yours truly into the back of a closet, 2 weeks of the mysterious “you tested negative for everything” sickness, and finally (I hope!) a cracked tooth all the way to the root – cue incredible thankfulness for dental insurance.

I needed a good day. I did.

Thursday morning, Riley woke up cheerful and joyful and ready to tackle the day. We bounced back and forth from reviewing the butterfly method of dividing fractions to questions about his Gotcha Day. Many, many years ago, he asked us to stop celebrating his gotcha day.

I looked up the date to be sure I was telling correctly. We talked about who was there and what the day was like.

We spent the morning looking at pictures and talking about September 4th. It was so good just to hear his quiet thoughts and memories about the day.

(Pictures below from September 4th, 2014)

He wandered off to do his reading, and I opened facebook to thank people for praying and not to stop. It may take weeks, or months, or years, but your prayers make a difference. And right there – in my messages – was a message from a college friend that said “Good morning, Kate. Today is the day I’m praying for you and Riley.” I had forgotten that he had offered his 40 days in Lent to pray for someone each day. Weeks ago, I sent him Riley’s name.

He didn’t know that I needed a good day. He didn’t know that my Lent has been very Lent-y. He didn’t know that I plead with our Lord every day for a miracle to happen and for Riley to be healed and find peace.

But all of that didn’t matter. He promised to pray, and he did.

And it made all the difference in the world.

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Word of the Year {2024}

Choosing my word of the year this year proved harder than in years past. Do your words come easily? Do you know before the calendar even turns to January? I don’t. I’m usually well into the first month before I truly have peace about letting Him choose my word of the year, instead of pretending that my word is where He and I should explore together.

I laugh and remind myself that I am an oldest. I am an older sister of a brother who was very accommodating of what games we should play, what songs we should sing, what TV show we should watch after school, and who sat shotgun first. This may have been great from my point of view (sorry, Johnny) but not the best recipe for getting to know someone and making room for where you need to grow.

I usually spend a few days in silence, wondering why He hasn’t shown me my word.

Then, slowly, a word begins to come up over and over – in scripture, in homilies, in podcasts, and in my husband’s words to me.

I’m not even kidding when I tell you that this is the song that just came on as I write this post:

You Hold it All
The Porter’s Gate: Contemporary

God, we bring you the work of our hands now
Lay it down, lay it at Your feet
What we’ve done, where we’ve been, what we’ve broken
Lay it down, lay it at Your feet

You hold it all
Jesus You hold it all

Worried hearts, wearied hands, weakened body
Lay them down, lay it at Your feet
What we used, what we lost, what we wasted
Lay it down, lay it at Your feet

You hold it all
Jesus, You hold it all
You hold it all
Jesus, You hold it all

All our plans, all our dreams, our ambition
Lay them down, lay them at Your feet
Even if nothing comes to fruition
Lay them down, lay it at Your feet
Lay it down, lay it at Your feet

Surrender.

Surrender is my word this year.

The rough draft of the book about Saint Dyphna is finished and I’ve sent it off to a dear friend to read. I immediately felt small and childish when I hit send and He sweetly reminded me to surrender.

If I am doing this for His glory – not mine,

If I am doing this according to His will – not mine,

If I am not seeking personal gain but to give Him glory, then it will be easy to surrender.

Lord, I surrender it all to you – today, tomorrow, and yesterday.

TRIPPING OVER THE SAINTS :: KATE ESCHBACH WITH GUEST JOSEPH VALENTIC – EPISODE 20

I am so excited to share Saint Peter Eymard with you today! Join me as Joe Valentic shares his journey with this Saint and the story of his beautiful apostolate.
About Joe:

Joe Valentic is a Catholic entrepreneur, author, and apostolate leader. He has a passion for sharing the Catholic faith and for helping people to integrate their faith into all areas of their life to achieve their full God given potential.

Joe has over 30 years of business experience and over 19 years of Catholic apostolate experience.  He has served in the community in multiple board and executive roles for Catholic and pro-life organizations. He currently serves as the volunteer Chairman of Alliance Catholic Credit Union and the President of the board of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament Apostolate.

Joe is blessed to be married for 32 years. He and his wife have 7 children with us and 2 with the Lord. They also have 4 grandchildren. Joe lives in metro Detroit and has been blessed to be engaged with multiple parishes.

Resources:
Free Printable:

A reflection on scaffolding

Tonight we attended Mass at the church in Lake Jackson, where the Lord showed me my word of the year for 2022. The scaffolding is gone and the antennae tower stands tall outside of the window. I smiled when I realized what I was looking for outside of the window.

It may be the most unusual word I’ve ever had for my word of the year. And it may also be the most meaningful. Visual reminders throughout the past two years kept me seeking and quiet, trying to understand what He was showing me though scaffolding.

Scaffolding in Assisi, Italy

In Assisi – my very first overseas trip to Italy, the summer of 2022.

I kept the word in 2023, feeling that I still had much more to learn.

At our home parish – St. Philip the Apostle – on the day of Mary Alice’s first communion.

In New York, when we visited Julia.

And inside my parents’ home as they replaced their roof. A tornado sent a tree into my parent’s roof. They weren’t home. They were at my home watching my children while we were on our pilgrimage this summer to Belgium. Glass and drywall covered my mother’s recliner, but she wasn’t there. This incredibly practical word unfolded over the past two years into something poetic.

Scaffolding is to be temporary. It is not to be a replacement for permanence.

In Assisi, it was a kind reminder that our time away from home was fleeting but full of meaning and lessons and growth.

In New York, the scaffolding seemed to be a permanent part of everyday life. As if people were thankful that it kept them dry in the rain and shaded from the hot sun, offering a fast solution for the needs of those who lived there.

At our parish, it was the huge red bow placed on the church to remind me that Jesus was there with us. The scaffolding was a very loud ‘hello’ from Heaven, celebrating the Eucharist and our community.

At my parents’ home, scaffolding became a reminder of God’s faithfulness after months of wrestling with the insurance company, sincerely wondering if my parents would ever have a new roof again. The presence of scaffolding signaled that what the tornado destroyed would become new in His time.

Strong and sturdy, straight and purposeful.

Are we to become scaffolding? Are we going to be the ones who support each other temporarily while we rebuild?

When grief comes spilling out and we cannot stand.

When we reach the end of our paycheck and we search for a way to fill our car with gas.

When our bodies need mending and we are suddenly unable.

We our mind fills with worry and we can’t see when it will ever be okay.

When we question why we are here and what we believe.

In these times, I pray you have a friend that steps in and becomes your scaffolding. I pray you have the faith to be salt and light in the dark times.

TRIPPING OVER THE SAINTS :: KATE ESCHBACH WITH GUEST NICOLE BERLUCCHI – EPISODE 19

You may remember Nicole from our episode on St. Francis de Sales. After we finished recording that episode, we had a beautiful chat about Our Lady of Guadalupe and I knew she just had to come back to tell us all about it!
Join me as I talk with Nicole about her special experience with Our Lady of Guadalupe!
About Nicole:
Resources:
Guadalupe Mysteries: Deciphering the Code – The book I handed out in the drive thru (LOL)
Free Printable: