Jennifer J Thomas

Dear Mom and Dad, Today is a pretty big day. My dear friend, Andrea Bear  and I have been on quite the journey in the past year. After meeting through Catholic Mom  and the Catholic Writer's Guild , we became fast friends and, more importantly, felt called to create something to help others who have experienced grief. Today, we are launching our podcast series, The Mourning Glory Podcast . It is a series where people can share their experiences about loss, faith, and hope and, more importantly, to know that they are not alone. It's crazy thinking about how God is making all of this happen. Even crazier to think about the fact that so much of my life lately is because of both of you and the inspiration you have given me over the years, especially with my writing. You both were always so encouraging with my various forms of writing in so many ways.  Dad, I remember the many times you came to my room to listen to me sing my latest original song to you. I actually still have a bind

As I continue to grow in my motherhood and on my journey to sainthood, I've had some realizations. When I first reverted back to the Catholic faith, I felt an immense amount of pressure to do everything perfectly. I felt I had to take my trio to Mass every Sunday, celebrate every feast day, teach my children all of the rote prayers that I had learned to rely on more fervently than ever before. I even wrote about allowing myself to be content in the   Little Ways   that make a big difference. And yet, even after giving myself that grace, the yearning to do all the things faith related has remained.   We recently had some work done in our backyard and my deep desire to have a Mary Garden is finally closer to being finished. I've had a vision in my head of what I wanted it to look like. Not what I thought it SHOULD look like, but how I felt like it was meant for our family. I have actually had our Mary statue for a couple of years and  moved her where I wanted her to be  just last

One of the first things I notice each time I discern a word of the year is how randomly I suddenly see that word or hear it said. It's like those moments when you are made aware of something that you immediately notice more. For example, I decided long before I could drive that my dream car was a Volkswagen Beetle. I saw one nearly every time I was in a car and still notice them, especially if it happens to be a metallic blue Super Beetle, to be exact. But this year for 2023, instead of a car, it is a word. And, ironically enough, I feel like God has been using my love language (which is "words of affirmation") to continue to solidify where He is guiding me.  I honestly don't remember the exact moment in time when it hit me but I knew it was my word. Or, rather, several variations of this word. Once again while driving, I heard it—just as I had  heard my first word .    Humility: freedom from pride or arrogance: the quality or state of being humble. ( Merriam-Webster.

The beauty of discerning a word of a year is that, even months after the process and decision, God has gently and lovingly shown me His why behind each of my words and His reasoning. After what I would call the success of my first two years of having a word of the year (and if you’d like to read about that,  here’s that article ) I felt pretty confident in the process. Not cocky, but confident. As my year of leaning into my vocation as a mother continued to unfold, it became quite clear to me what my next word should be for the year 2021. As we were still navigating the pandemic and finding ourselves in the midst of or online learning with our children and the blessings brought from the change in our normal routine, it became even more evident to me that I wanted to work on my relationship with my daughter. But this time, it was more complex. Even as I sit here writing, I’m having a hard time finding the right words because I am still working on it and will continue to work on it. Alth

  As we began a new liturgical year last week, I found myself wondering" what does liturgical living look like for my family? What exactly   is   liturgical living? After a bit of brief research and seeking feedback from others, I've learned that liturgical living means keeping my life and my family's life focused on Christ while following the liturgical seasons within our Catholic faith. I've pondered how to do this many times throughout the years and have recently come to the conclusion that I have successfully incorporated little tidbits of the liturgy into my everyday life without even realizing it. With the help of some resources from CatholicMom.com, I have also come to realize that liturgical living isn't as complicated as I have made it out to be in the past. Although, as my husband often tells me, I do have an incredible talent for complicating the simplest things ... and liturgical living has been no different.      Some of the resources I use now are one

Several years ago, I was introduced to the concept of a word of the year by way of a podcast series called   Abiding Together.   The women’s group I had recently joined had been listening to the series as a way for us to continue to grow in our faith. After listening to the episode about discerning a word of the year, I reflected on an   earlier episode that talked about striving versus abiding .   After listening to it again and, having not yet decided on my word for the year, I initially felt convinced it should be "strive." I wanted to strive to do better as a wife and mother and faithful daughter of God. I was so confident, in fact, that I shared what I thought was to be my word of the year with several of my friends. Looking back, I can see that God was guiding me in the right direction but re-focused my attention. Literally, while I was driving. I distinctly remember the moment and location I fully discerned my first word of the year. As I paused to a stop, I said to my