by Catherine | Oct 31, 2022 | Podcast, Uncategorized
We started doing a “Sabbath Schedule” in our homeschool this year. We do 6 weeks of school, and then we take 1 week (called a Sabbath Week) off. We use that time to do all of the things we aren’t able to during our school weeks. We recently had our first sabbath week, so I thought I’d share about it: what went well, what didn’t, and what I plan to do differently next time around.
Links/Resources Mentioned This Episode:
Join the conversation!
Do you have a sabbath schedule in your homeschool? Maybe you don’t homeschool, but do you apply the idea of a sabbath into your routine? I’d love to hear about how you’re incorporating REST into your family’s rhythms!
Also, don’t forget: my pelvic floor physical therapist is going to be a guest on an upcoming episode, and she’d love to answer all of your questions! Now’s your chance to get all of your pelvic floor questions answered by a professional!
Get in touch!
E-mail me at: podcastATcatherineboucherDOTcom or
Facebook
or
Instagram
E-mail me an audio file as an attachment or send a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please tell a friend! For bonus points, leave a positive rating and a review! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. Here’s how to leave a rating or a review for a podcast.
Until next time, be sure to share what you heard While You Were Folding!
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by Catherine | Nov 10, 2021 | Uncategorized
This episode:
- What my physical prayer space set-up looks like
- What I actually do when I get to my prayer space (spoiler alert: it’s always different)
Links/Resources Mentioned:
Join the conversation!
- What does your prayer spot look like? Has it changed over time?
- What about what you do when you get to your prayer spot? Please share what’s worked for you throughout the various phases of singledom, marriage, and motherhood.
- If you have any thoughts on today’s episode or have a question you’d like me to take up in a future episode, please get in touch!
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
Facebook
or
Instagram
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review in Apple Podcasts.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Android |
by Catherine | Mar 4, 2020 | Podcast, Uncategorized
This week, we’re discussing all things Parenting and continuing our series on Holly Pierlot’s book, A Mother’s Rule of Life. (The series started back in Episode 50, so start there if you’re just joining us!)
Links/Resources Mentioned This Episode:
- Sharing about our decision to start homeschooling next year: While You Were Folding Episode 055: If I Ran the Zoo: Our Decision to Homeschool
- The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
- Other parenting experts I’d point you to:
- Working Out Your Essentials:
- Hygiene
- Clothing
- personal prayer
- Sports
- Hobbies
- Friends
- Catechism
- Sacraments: Mass, Confession
- school/homework
- sleep, naps
- For each essential item, decide:
- What supplies or materials are needed
- Where belongings go
- Put it into a schedule (decide with older children)
- Make charts and post them
- When can I help the kids?
- When you hit a speed bump:
- Confusion → more teaching and modeling
- Complaining → revise expectations
- Lacking motivation → something to look forward to
- Doing things grudgingly → importance of what they’re doing, teach to “offer it up”
- Sneaking away → make a freedom-within-limits choice (example: do the thing at another time)
- Sloppy work → stories of saints, logical consequences, suspension of privileges
- Keep an eye on how you are behaving
- Involved enough? Too much? Loving and patient? Consistent? Supervising? Teaching and modeling skills and virtues?
Next time: A Mother’s Rule of Life: 5th P, Provider
Get in touch!
Questions for you
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- Did you have the appropriate respect for parenting before you became a parent? What part of parenting is proving to be the most difficult for you? Have you brought your parenting challenges before God and asked Him for wisdom and help? Is there a mom a step or two ahead of you that you could meet with on a regular basis for some mentoring?
- Are your children’s essential needs being met? Does your family need to make some changes in your schedule to meet everyone’s needs? Is your day-to-day schedule reflecting your family’s values?
- Are you guilty of unrealistic parenting expectations? Do you resent “tending the garden” when it comes to parenting matters like discipline or teaching skills (like housework)?
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
Facebook
or
Instagram
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
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by Catherine | Jan 29, 2020 | Podcast, Uncategorized
Today’s Topic: Continuing the conversation based on Holly Pierlot’s book, A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to bring order to your home and peace to your soul. Today, we’re talking about the First “P” of a Mother’s Rule of Life: Prayer.
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I hope it’s an encouragement to take the time to make your personal prayer life a priority!
Links/references mentioned this episode:
- Dom Hubert Van Zeller’s Holiness for Housewives (and other working women)
- The Little Oratory: A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home
- Spousal Prayer: A Way to Marital Happiness
- My Prayer Practices (Note: Don’t compare! This is just what’s working for *me* right now.)
- Daily/Ongoing Prayer Practices
- Morning Offering before my feet hit the floor
- Morning prayer by myself 30 min.
- M/W: Day’s Gospel and journal
- T/TR: read Bible study group book and journal
- F: Catechism read and journal
- Angelus at lunch with the kids
- Re-commit Morning Offering before greeting kids after naptime/from school
- Gratitude sharing around the dinner table
- Family bedtime prayers
- Evening examen (3 ways I saw God working, biggest win against temptation, 1 specific way I’m asking for grace to do better tomorrow). Share with Philip, write them in journal, close in prayer together.
- On days that I don’t nap: spiritual reading 30 min. (consult list of books to read)
- Create little oratory
- Consult “Under Construction” list
- Weekly Spiritual Practices
- Holy hour (alternate weeks with the kids)
- Sunday Mass
- Monthly Spiritual Practices
- Spiritual direction and confession
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- Annual Spiritual Practices
- Personal retreat at Cloisters on the Platte
- Mine: First weekend of September, Thursday – Sunday
- Philip’s: Second weekend of September, Thursday – Sunday
- Marriage retreat
Questions to chew on until next time:
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- What are some basic prayer practices I’d like to implement into my daily routine?
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- How can I make them happen?
- What are my potential obstacles?
- What materials do I need?
- Where will it happen and when?
- What distractions are stopping me from connecting with God in prayer?
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- Do I need to eliminate something from my schedule?
- Do I need to seek healing from a priest or Catholic therapist?
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
Facebook
or
Instagram
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Android |
by Catherine | Aug 25, 2018 | Uncategorized
Ever since we announced our pregnancy, we’ve gotten a lot of questions. I thought I’d type up a quick summary of your FAQ in case some of you were wondering them but didn’t feel bold enough to ask.
Congratulations on your pregnancy! But what about your adoption? Are you still adopting?
If a prospective adoptive family discovers that they are pregnant during the adoption process, they must immediately disclose the pregnancy to the agency. We contacted our agency as soon as we discovered we were pregnant. We agreed to keep our file on hold until I reach 12 weeks. At that point, the agency will close our file. You cannot pursue adoption and be pregnant at the same time.
Did you plan this?
In a word? No. I posted this to Facebook a week and a half before I took a pregnancy test. I didn’t know it then, but I was already pregnant. God was laughing.
How did you react?
My cycles are pretty textbook, and we’ve become *quite* familiar with my patterns since we started charting for NFP (Natural Family Planning) during our engagement. We switched to the Marquette Method of NFP to help us feel more confident during the postpartum phase after Dorothy was born. We were confident with the method. I had recently started taking new medications for hormonal acne that could change my cycle. When I was a few days late in July, I thought that maybe the acne medication was altering my cycle. “But that’s really weird for me to be this late….Maybe I’ll just take a test. It’ll be negative, but just to be sure…”
I was so confident that I wouldn’t be pregnant, that I took these on a whim an hour before we were leaving for Mass…on July 22…the first day of NFP Awareness Week and the 50th Anniversary of Humanae Vitae, Blessed Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical expounding on the Church’s teaching for married love and the transmission of human life. Again, God is hilarious!
Something happened in the seconds I waited for the results. I thought, “You know, this would be awesome. We’ve been trying to adopt for nearly two years now.” I started hoping for a positive. I glanced down to see the results.
And then I laughed! I took a few more tests for good measure because, well, they’re not 100% accurate, right? I immediately took the tests downstairs to find Philip.
How did Philip react?
The kids were playing in the family room, and Philip was coming upstairs. I waved him over and tried not to get the kids’ attention. I discreetly showed him the tests. He smiled, shook his head, gave me a huge hug, and said, “I knew exactly what you were going to tell me when you waved me over!” When you’re an NFP couple trying to avoid pregnancy and you know you’re a few days late, I suppose it’s not much of a surprise when your wife frantically waves you over with a sheepish smile.
Side note: We were both surprised when reviewing our chart to see that this is a DAY 5 BABY. That’s all I’m gonna say about THAT! God really wanted this baby. 🙂
Are you sad about the adoption?
It’s been a long road. We started the adoption process when Dorothy was shy of a year old because we knew it would take a few years. We were nearly done with our dossier to China when China changed their rules. Then, during our required wait for Dorothy to turn 3 to submit our application to China, we decided to pursue adoption from South Korea instead. We were literally two documents away from being ready to submit our application to South Korea when we found out we were pregnant.
I wouldn’t say that Philip or I are sad about the adoption. We were surprised by the news, but we both described feeling immediate joy and peace when we found out that we were pregnant. From the beginning of our adoption journey, we said that God would open the doors that needed opening and close the doors that needed closing. Back in July 2017, I wrote:
This is all a very general and broad overview of the process as we understand it. Only God knows how it will all play out! Meanwhile, we are doing what we can as we have time and are leaving the rest up to Him. We keep reminding ourselves that it is impossible for us to “miss” the child that God intends for our family. We are contentedly focused on the children God already blessed us with, and we plug away at adoption stuff in the fringe hours.
Will you still adopt in the future?
We hope so! We still think our family is called to adopt. Unfortunately, as we’ve learned these past few years, adoption is a tough, long road to haul. Having 4 biological children eliminated us from a lot of countries for international adoption. Having 5 biological children limits us even more. South Korea’s limit was 4 children already in the home.
For now, our focus is on this biological baby that God sent our family. We will likely revisit adoption as we approach this baby’s first birthday.
How far along are you? When are you due? How are you feeling?
I’m between 10 and 11 weeks along, and I’m due around March 20th. We discovered during my first ultrasound that I released an egg from each ovary. Although only one egg was fertilized, each egg created a (painful!) cyst to support this pregnancy. I typically struggle with extreme nausea during pregnancy, but the increased hormones have made this pregnancy especially difficult. Aside from school drop-off and an OB appointment, I haven’t left the house in a month. Nonetheless, ever since our miscarriage with Therese, I’ve grown to find comfort in the nausea as a sign of Baby thriving. Baby is doing great, so we are thankful! Philip and the kids have been wonderful, sweet helpers. We appreciate all of your prayers and support for us as we prepare to welcome our newest family member!
by Catherine | Aug 9, 2018 | Uncategorized
I can’t think of a more perfect Gospel to bring comfort to those hurting in the Church.
“upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
No matter what kind of hell we messed up human beings try to bring into the Church, Jesus promised us that the Church simply cannot and will not end. Period. He entrusted Peter with the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. He gave Peter the authority to be His vicar on earth. He entrusted Peter and the Apostles with the sacraments to bring healing and Communion to His Church. He knew He was going to suffer and die on the cross, that He would rise from the dead, and that the Church needed leadership until His Second Coming. He didn’t leave them orphans; He sent Peter and the Church the Holy Spirit to guide them.
And you know what?
Jesus did all of that knowing that we’d do our best to screw it all up.
But He still chose us to be part of His plan.
And He promised us that the powers of hell will never prevail against the Church.
Praise You, Jesus.
Just a few verses after Jesus entrusted Peter with the keys of the Kingdom, Peter started refuting God’s plan for bringing salvation to the world. Upon hearing Jesus say that He would go to Jerusalem to suffer, be killed, and rise, Peter said, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
Do you understand the magnitude of what was happening here? Peter was actually trying to prevent Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection from coming to fruition. His love and allegiance to Christ became all about him and his feelings. (Never mind that a few chapters later Peter’s feelings would lead him to deny his beloved Christ three times.) It was all about what Peter wanted instead of Peter trying to figure out if it was somehow what God wanted.
So what does Jesus say to Peter? “Aw, friend, I know you love me, but it’s gonna be okay.”
Nope.
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Two things:
- He called the guy He entrusted with the keys to the Kingdom Satan.
- We become obstacles to God when we think like humans
If Peter, the guy Jesus Himself entrusted with the keys to the Kingdom can get called Satan, then of course the rest of us are capable of trying to bring hell to the Church. I certainly am. All the live-long day.
The Church wouldn’t have such a PR problem if it weren’t full of humans.
But there’s great, great news! It’s not our Church. (Again: Praise You, Jesus!) It belongs to Him. And we have to stop thinking like humans if we’re going to stop bringing hell to His Church.
As a mother, I cannot even fathom entrusting my children with the Church the way Jesus entrusted us with it. As much as I love my children, I don’t let their sticky fingers touch my pristine wedding gown. But isn’t that exactly what He does for us? He allows us, His children, with our sins to do our darnedest to mar His Bride, the Church. He allows broken, imperfect men to participate in the ministerial priesthood. Their soiled hands administer the sacraments. They distribute His literal Body. And you know what the best part is? The sacraments are not dependent on the holiness of the priest administering them. (Again: Praise You, Jesus!) In spite of their failings, the accused priests we keep hearing about in the news were still baptizing its newest members into eternal life, extending God’s real forgiveness in reconciliation, uniting couples in holy matrimony, feeding us Jesus in the Eucharist. Their failings are indeed a scandal, but they can never alter the Truth of what the sacraments are.
God never needed us. He chose us. And we let Him down every day. But He still chooses us. And perhaps He’s being glorified more because His Church has lived on for more than two thousand years in spite of us.
So what about the latest muckity muck happening in the Church? Well. It’s rotten. There’s plenty to have righteous anger about. I like to imagine table-turning Jesus confronting the individuals inflicting so much damage upon His Body–especially those entrusted with leadership positions.
But we have to make sure our response isn’t governed by emotions. We saw where that got Peter. Let’s put on the mind of Christ.
We can be angered and scandalized by the news, but we don’t need to fear what’s coming. No matter what hell remains to be uncovered, it cannot and will not ever affect the truth that this is Christ’s Church, and the gates of hell will never prevail against it. We should and must do what we can to ensure that the kinds of abuses that have taken place do not continue. It’s time for the sleeping giant (aka the lay faithful) to wake up and embrace our role as the universal priesthood of the Church. We must protect our most vulnerable and prevent further damage from taking place. But beyond doing everything humanly possible, we know sinful humans remain within the Church. So long as humans remain in the church, it will be a hospital for sinners instead of a museum for saints. But we can rest in the knowledge that it’s not up to us to keep it afloat. The Church is His. When Pope John XXIII went to sleep, he famously prayed, “It’s Your Church, Lord. I’m going to bed.” Let’s follow his example.
Keep bringing all of the muck to the Light. Bring it to the authorities. Bring it to the Cross for Christ to transform it. Allow Him to bring healing to the victims, to the perpetrators, and to all those scandalized by the failings of our imperfect members. May we never abandon Jesus because of Judas. Jesus, renew Your Church, draw Your faithful ever closer, and cleanse Your Bride. We refuse to leave You.
66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. 67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him.
