I love Theology and all things Orthodox, but in this season of life I need simplicity. A little nugget to take and slowly digest. I try to carve out a few minutes a day to read, so sometimes I get one or two pages in. I also recently subscribed to Audible and I have enjoyed listening to books while doing chores, or nursing my little one - and I have found that I am actually able to “read” a lot more through that method. So I will share my booklist on Audible as well! Below you will find my current reading list and a brief commentary on my thoughts so far!

All of my favorite feast day traditions have some food-related theme to them. St Phanourios, or the baking of the phanouropita, is one of my absolute favotires and just so happens to feast day tradition that sparked my love for learning more about the cultural food traditions celebrated throughout the world! This year, we had the joy of serving phanouropita for coffee hour!

An Orthodox Mother’s Blessing is a time for the pregnant mama to invite her close sisters to spend a quiet, cozy evening with food and prayer to carry her into her time of labor. This can be done in addition to a baby shower, but its a different than a baby shower. It’s a chance for the women in her life to slow down, pour out some love, wisdom and encouragement into the mama as she prepares for birth. We hosted our first one today, and it was so incredibly soul-filling. We laughed and cried together, and offered prayers for our sister in Christ!

As I was preparing for the feast of Holy Transfiguration (August 6), I had a brilliant idea to create a “Light of Christ” Night Light! This is a simple project just about anyone can do! Check out this blogpost for simple instructions and links to purchase anything you see here!

Do you have a notebook for taking down quotes from Holy Fathers in your reading? Do you always have a book of Holy Fathers that you are reading, and can turn to in a moment of gloom? Start now - this is essential.” - Fr Seraphim Rose.

Yesterday we had our house blessed. This morning, my children decided to recreate our living room into a little Church (literally) ☦️ which reminded me.... According to Saint John Chrysostom, the home is a little church. It’s where we continue to encounter Christ by seeking Him through prayer and study and where we struggle to acquire the virtues of the Christian life. This practice of cultivating our home into a little church is such a joy and one I am very grateful to continue to cultivate. I did not grow up in an Orthodox home. My husband and I both converted to Orthodoxy in our mid-twenties before we had children. In many ways, I feel like I am creating our Little Church without a paradigm. As my children grow, I feel myself growing right along side them. I have not figured it out fully and I am still on the journey, but I wanted to share some ways we work to create our home into a little church.

One of my goals for the New Year is to “write it down”. Check out these Orthodox resources that will aid in this goal including the Journal of Thanksgiving by Ancient Faith which has lines to record gratitude for every day of the year for 3 years.

Recently I heard a story about St John Maximovitch that has stuck with me and I think about it all the time now. He was a humble clergyman who lived in California for a time, always seen carrying around 2 large brief cases everywhere he went, and faithfully serving the Liturgy daily. It became a habit, that each time he would serve the Liturgy…

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! May the remembrance of our Lord’s incarnation life your spirits and cause your hearts to rejoice! Christ is born, glorify Him!

You might be wondering, “What exactly is Ascetic life of Motherhood?” What does that mean exactly? Good question! I’m happy to explain! An ascetic life is one characterized by a rigorous life of prayer and repentance.

In the Tradition of the Orthodox Church, when a baby is born, prayers are done at the following times: On the day of Birth; On the 8th day (Naming Prayers); On the 40th day (Churching), and their baptism. I love that the Church so tenderly cares for each child - they are prayed for, cherished, embraced and are full participants in the Christian life from birth! In this blog post, you’ll find information about the Churching (40 day blessing), book recommendation and my own personal reflection as a mother to 4 children.

As apart of our homeschool routine, we say prayers together before we begin. These are some of my favorite morning prayer/student Orthodox prayers. I wanted something beautiful we could hang up so the prayers were easy to find and pray together. Another aspect that was very important to me was that my children has a way of visually tracking their various tasks throughout the way.

Welcoming a new baby is a blessed time for families, but during this time, they will need support from their communities to help them through. For my family, we have had a meal train after the birth of each of our children. It was such a tangible experience of love from our community. In this blogpost I’m sharing the basic information on how to get one started for the family in your parish who just welcomed a new baby!

Baby William, named after St William of Gellone, and his middle name is shared with his Godfather, Father and Grandfather. He was born at home, after only 45 minutes of active labor! Glory to God! Enjoy these newborn pictures on his 6th day of life!

As a mother with small children, I know first hand how difficult it can be to have small children during services. I also have found some of the greatest joys of my life standing in worship with my precious family, hearing my children singing the hymns, and joyfully participating in the services. I’ve found a few things along the way that have helped us during services, so I wanted to pass these ideas along in case you may find them helpful.

Breakfast is usually the time of day we do our saint study. I keep a cookbook stand on the table opened up to the saint of the day. We eat all our meals together at the kitchen table (a practice I am trying very hard to establish). We start with prayer before our meal and after I have eaten a little bit, I begin to read the story of the saint of the day from our My Synaxarion Series. This usually takes just a few short minutes, and since the children are eating, they are a captive audience! It’s the perfect time to set aside to read.

When it comes to teaching my children about the Orthodox Faith, it is very valuable to have trustworthy resources. When asked if I was willing to review The Good Samaritan: A Children’s Catechism, I was ecstatic since I have been searching for a book just like this! 

Last week we celebrated the feast day of St Elizabeth the New Martyr (July 5th/18th), who is my oldest daughter’s patron saint. I thought I’d share how our family celebrates name days!

If you are preparing for birth, I want to encourage you to prepare for your labor and birth - not only by understanding birth and the incredible process, but prepare by having tools (and support) nearby that will keep your focus on Christ and that remind us of our dependence on Him for strength! Here I have provided a list of recommendations for spiritually preparing for birth!

Choosing a patron saint: As an adult convert to Orthodoxy, I was tasked with choosing a patron saint for my baptism. By choosing a saint, we are assuming their name as well as our Christian name. I chose my saint because her feast day happened to be the same day as my birthday. Although at the time it felt like a mystery, I felt drawn to her

Take a peak inside the newly released coloring book Beautiful Days by Ancient Faith Publishing showcasing “every day Orthodox living” which includes common scenes they might see in your home or in your community. My girls especially loved the icons that they recognized from our home! This coloring book is perfect for a beautiful day of coloring, or throw it in your church bag for a quiet activity for busy hands. One feature I especially love is the pages are perforated which makes for a clean tear when the time comes to remove their masterpiece!

What is “leavetaking”? For most major feasts, we continue celebrating beyond just one day. For Pascha, we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection for 40 day, and it concludes on the Holy Feast of Ascension. During those days, we sing “Christ is Risen” and the hymns in the services are still the beautiful and joyful Paschal hymns! The “leavetaking” is the 39th day (aka today)! Think of it as the last day of the feast!