Chapter 14: Faith Like A Child In the summer of 2016, our family had the opportunity to visit northern France to make a pilgrimage to the birthplace and tomb of Saint Therese of Lisieux. Courtney and I feel a great gratitude to Saint Therese for her intercession in our relationship, and as Ellie s patron saint [...]

Chapter 13: Puzzles and Suffering I know that most of you people are probably offended when someone makes generalizations about entire groups of people, but Austrians are really good at taking care of their stuff. (As a side note, I don t generally generalize, nor do I support the habit in others. I thought it would [...]

Chapter 12: On Our Side I ve found that part of parenting is making a huge deal out of seemingly insignificant events in the lives of our children. We ve all had the painful experience of having to listen to parents ramble on about their little geniuses or insist on showing you their little brat s macaroni art; [...]

Chapter 11: Paper Scraps and Worship Kids are pretty terrible at keeping secrets. Maybe this is why they re not typically hired to do intelligence work. For Christmas this past year, both Ellie and Francis made a gift for Courtney and I at their school. The gift each kid made was a battery-operated light made to look [...]

Chapter 10: Just Go To Sleep Last night was rough. The night started off strong as Courtney and I lucked out with a dinner that everyone ate without complaining. After cleaning up the pieces of food that Isaac finally rejected after several rounds of taste testing, we let the kids play for a few minutes [...]

Chapter 9: Working with Dad Some days, the kids decide that they d like to help with work around the house. The only problem is that the chores they re motivated to assist with are rarely the tasks that Courtney and I are hoping to tackle that day. Usually the jobs our children feel drawn to are [...]

Chapter 8: Every Good Gift Sometimes she just knows. Her heart is set and there s no changing her mind. From the moment she wakes up, to the time we walk together to her school bus, she s unwavering. Other days it s back and forth, weighing the pros and cons of each option, still undecided by the [...]

Chapter 7: So Many Rules It s never been clear to me exactly when kids are old enough to have a rational discussion about our family policies, procedures, and general expectations for living in our home. I ve often found myself in the middle of a long conversation with Isaac, trying to find a solution regarding his [...]

Chapter 6: Sin and Diapers It amazes me how different each of our kids is from their siblings. We believed that each child would be unique and unrepeatable and all that stuff they tell you about when you re cutting out paper snowflakes in Catholic elementary schools, but we had no idea how little of our [...]

Chapter 5: Agape, Eros, and Crying Babies For as long as I can remember, I ve been good at sleeping. Usually within a few seconds of trying, I can reach full snore. I m so good at it that the presence of a bed isn t even necessary for me to pass out. When I was younger, I would [...]