Girlfriends

One of the most fun benefits I get to provide to paid subscribers here at Girlfriends are our monthly retreat rooms. This is a virtual space where we can gather, pray, and get inspired. Each month has a theme, and the theme for October is Gather what Is Good. Too often, we only note the things that go wrong as we collect worries and disappointments. This month, we have the chance to encourage one another as we notice our blessings and give thanks for them.

Hello friends! It’s almost time for our monthly Girlfriends Gathering. These virtual meetups are a chance for us to pray together, have a little fun, and share what’s on our hearts and minds in a supportive group. We plan to meet next Wednesday, September 30 at 7:30 pm ET. Last time we met, we talked a little bit about saints who have “found us,” and I loved learning more about some new-to-me saints as well as hearing your love for some of my favorites.

“Where have you been?” I didn’t hear the words out loud, mind you, but they were what came to mind one Wednesday morning this summer when I paused, mid-drive to an appointment, and opened my heart to God. I had rushed out the door early that morning after racing to send last-minute work emails, after scrambling to fill a tumbler with coffee, after feeding the chickens and the dog. Where have I been? The answer was that I had been busy. Aren’t we all just so busy?

What happens when you offer a sincere apology, and the other person doesn’t apologize back? In this mini podcast, I’m reflecting on one of the hardest lessons I’m still learning after 32 years of marriage: how to own my part in a conflict without keeping score. We’ll talk about what makes an apology sincere, why we’re tempted to attach conditions to it, and what Jesus’ challenging words about forgiveness ask of us in our closest relationships. This mini podcast is for paid Girlfriends subscribers.

I added a little something new to our September Retreat Room today. 💛 There’s now a new A Pause for Prayer section, with an audio recording of the Litany of Trust that you can listen to and pray along with whenever you need a few quiet minutes with God. I love the idea of us praying together in this way! I also added a simple practice called Leave It Here: an invitation to name one thing you’ve been carrying, trying to control, or worrying over, and place it in God’s hands.

Presentation at the Temple, Giovanni Bellini This week we observe the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (tomorrow, September 15). I say “observe” because it doesn’t seem right to “celebrate” sorrows, but something about Mary’s suffering does invite us to see how tears and joys are a mix. In one of Mary’s seven sorrows, the Prophecy of Simeon, Mary is at the temple, presenting her infant son in accordance with the laws of her time. Milestones like these are typically happy occasions.

Hello, my friends! I have exciting news and also a little bit of a Girlfriends announcement. The exciting news is that I am working on a new book. After years of saying “I’ll never write another book,” this one little idea came to my mind. And it stayed there. Stubbornly. I pushed it away, and it came right back. It popped up when I was lying awake in the middle of the night and whenever I sat down to write something else. It just wasn’t giving up. So I decided to try it out.

I had trouble keeping up with our yogurt needs this summer. With two young men weight-lifting and two adults counting macros living here, the high-protein greek yogurt I bought each week was in high demand. Have you seen the yogurt shelves at the grocery store lately? The options are endless. You can find full-fat or fat-free yogurt, yogurt with sugar sprinkles or no sugar at all.

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -2:01 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Hello! Here’s a little idea I had, and in typical DB fashion, I went right into creating it: a mini podcast just for my paid subscribers here at Substack. You can listen to the preview for free, but these will be occasional offerings for upgraded members. I look forward to sharing life updates, little stories, things that are making me think, and sometimes answers to your questions in this space.

It’s goodbye season again. Our second-youngest son Rafe will soon leave for his semester in Ireland, and soon after, our youngest, Danny, will leave for a semester in Rome. Then it will be just Dan and me at home. Just the two of us. Like we did last school year. After all these years. After eight babies, decades of homeschooling, crowded dinner tables, endless loads of laundry, rides to basketball, and a house that once seemed incapable of being quiet.