My submission for today’s Wordless Wednesday is entitled “Prayer.” Detroit, Mich. — September 2026.
Wordless Wednesday: Prayer
Tag: faith
One life-changing tip 😌
If someone were to ask me for one life-changing tip to share with them, then I would quietly say a quick prayer and offer this thought:
Love and trust in the Lord with all your heart. Pray for His wisdom so that you may know His will for your life. Then pray for the guidance and strength to follow it.
Trust me, friend—I speak from experience. It took me more than 25 years to truly understand the importance of this.
For much of my life, I struggled with my faith. Whenever I experienced hardship, I turned away from God instead of turning toward Him.
Is my life perfect now that I have returned to the Lord? Not at all.
Life still brings difficulties, disappointments, uncertainty, and sorrow. The difference is that I no longer walk through those seasons alone.
By God’s grace, even the difficult moments have taught me something and have drawn me closer to Him.
I am still very much growing in my faith. But each day, I find that my faith grows a little deeper. I am learning to trust more, worry less (big emphasis on this one!), and see things more clearly than I once did.
For me, that has changed everything.
💜 XO
One habit that has improved my life the most 🙏🏽
One habit that has improved my life the most is 🗣 DAILY PRAYER! 🙏🏽
It has been one year since I returned to the Lord and returned to faithfully practicing my faith, and I am SO grateful for God’s great love and mercy.
I am lost without Jesus and my daily prayer! 🙏🏽 Prayer helps me stay connected with God and keep Him center of my life.
I start each morning by first lighting my prayer candle, dipping my finger in Holy Water (we have a bottle of Holy Water gifted to us from our church), and signing the cross. Then, I begin to say my morning prayers in my kitchen.
Why my kitchen? 😅
Well, we live in a small house, and I am usually the first one to wake up before my husband and the children. So, I say my prayers in the kitchen first thing in the morning!
I always say the kitchen is the heart of our home. 💜😊
I also keep a prayer card that lists specific topics to pray about each day of the week (i.e. Mondays praying for the week ahead, Tuesdays praying for the sick, etc.).
And I keep a prayer list to pray for any personal needs or the needs and requests of others.
So, when I tell people I will add them to my prayer list and pray for them, I truly mean it!
My pastor once told me prayer is the most powerful thing we can do. 💯🙏🏽 It is one of the best pieces of advice he has given me.
I strongly believe in the power of prayer. No matter if I am feeling happy, frustrated, stressed, or sad I pray to the Lord. No matter where you are in your faith journey or if you are feeling unsure, prayer can help you connect to God.
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” — James 5:16
💜 XO
P.S.—if you would like me to pray for you, please let me know! Peace be with you. ✌🏾💜🙏🏽
📸 Feature image of St. Bonaventure Chapel in Detroit, Mich. when I visited the Blessed Solanus Casey Spiritual Center this past spring.
Church hop ⛪️
We went to a different parish for the 11:30 a.m. Mass today. (That’s where I took these rainy Sunday pictures, by the way—in the peaceful parish garden. 😌🌧🌻)
It’s the third church we visited within these last seven days.
We like to do what Travis and I call “church hop.” That means visit different parishes throughout the week.
(Okay, this next part might sound a bit confusing. 😄)
During the work week (Mon. – Fri.), our family attends the 7 p.m. daily Mass two to three times a week, and each evening Mass we attend is at a different parish.
Then, on the weekend, we attend either the Saturday Vigil Mass or a Sunday morning/afternoon Mass at a nearby local parish.
For the daily evening Mass, it is generally offered only once a week at select parishes. Not every Catholic Church offers an evening Mass.
The evening Mass may be at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., just depends on that particular parish’s Mass schedule.
Whereas, early morning daily Masses are offered pretty much at all parishes (there are a few exceptions, of course) four to five days out of the work week.
Morning daily Mass times range from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.. Also, each daily Mass, mornkng or evwning, is about 30 minutes long.
We’re just not able to go to a daily Mass in the morning right now. Travis has to be at work by 6 a.m., and we only have one working vehicle at the moment.
But boy, are we thankful we found a few evening Mass options at several local parishes during the work week! 😊🙏🏽
After today’s morning Mass, we went to say hello to the priest, and he said, “Don’t I know you?!” 🤔😆
We explained he probably remembered us from a different church we visited a couple of weeks ago when he was the celebrant at that Mass.
“Oh, yes!” he exclaimed remembering where he had last seen us. 😅
We do have a “home church” that we make the best effort to attend on the weekend a few times in the month.
However, Travis works a lot (six days a week), and life gets pretty busy with the kids, so having the flexibility to also attend a Saturday Vigil (at 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m. or 5 p.m.) or a Sunday Mass time (at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12 p.m., or even 5:30 p.m.!) that fits our schedule works best for us.
As you can see, living in a metropolitan means we have A LOT of options! 😂 And that’s another great blessing for us. 🙏🏽
This is just the stage of life we’re in right now, ya know. 😄 #busybigfamilylife
Honestly, I wish we would have thought to do this (church hop) when the kids were babies and toddlers instead of always being late to church. Haha 😂🫣
💜 XO
Tough day 😏, so let’s enjoy some flowers 💐
This question of the day is very timely, as I am having a tough day on this Wednesday. 😏
Our minivan needs some costly repairs, and it’s our only vehicle. So, it immediately triggered my anxiety.
Negative thoughts and questions started swarming through my head, and I felt a little defeated, at first.
What about this…? What about that…? How will we…? How much will it cost…? Trying to hurriedly come up with solutions, and so on.
Pause and just breathe
But instead of letting it get me down, I took a few slow deep breaths and quietly sat in the kitchen for a moment. 😌
The kitchen is the heart of our home, so it just made the most sense to pause here. 💜
I decided to stick with my morning routine: light the prayer candle, morning prayers, get the tea kettle on, tidy the kitchen, start breakfast for the kids.
And then I spent the rest of the morning in my garden. My happy place. 😊🌼
It doesn’t make the problems go away. We will still have to get the minivan fixed. I know that.
But I also trust in God; He is my hope. 🙏🏽
A timely message of encouragement
Yesterday, we went to the Tuesday evening Mass. Fr. Jim’s homily focused on having hope and trusting in Jesus even when life throws us some curve balls.
I’m thankful for his very timely message. It turned out I would need it this Wednesday morning. 💜🙏🏽
And tending to the vegetable plants and admiring our flower blooms was the joy and peace I needed to help me take a break from the stress of auto repair issues. 🥰🌸💜🙏🏽
💜 XO
What would the opening sentence of your autobiography be?
Daily writing prompt
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
If I were to write my autobiography, I would want it to begin with a reflection of how I strive to live each day—deep in prayer.
Here’s what my opening sentence would be:
I’m a woman who is always praying—sometimes in church, sometimes in the kitchen, and often while driving a minivan full of kids.
I am always finding myself praying, whether the prayers are short or long. And yes, always with a loud house filled with happy kids running around. 😆
Prayer is the quiet thread running through my ordinary days.
💜XO
Tattoo collector
American traditional tattoos—I love the classic, vintage imagery and bold colors and lines.
📸 Feature image credit Isabella Fischer
Faith,family, and Chinese New Year fun
Hi, friends! How was your weekend? This weekend we were on the go quite a bit attending two events—Rite of Election and a Chinese New Year celebration.
On Saturday, Travis participated in the Rite of Election, reaching a special milestone in his faith journey.
In case you’re unfamiliar with what Rite of Election means, it’s when those preparing to enter the Catholic faith are formally welcomed and encouraged on their faith journey.
Rite of Election usually occurs on the first Sunday of Lent, but this year, there was a BIG group of people participating—over 1,400 people 😲 preparing for their baptisms/confirmations—so multiple services were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday!
According to this article I read, it’s the most in Detroit in 21 years! I think that’s just so beautiful and a wonderful blessing. Congratulations to everyone! 😊💜🙏🏽
We had Sunday morning plans to attend a Chinese New Year festival, but Travis and I were still recovering from attending Saturday’s evening church service and late night grocery shopping. 😴
So, we ended up having a slow morning with a homemade brunch and blueberry tea. Plus, it was snowing, and we wanted to wait it out just in case the roads got bad.
After brunch. Zechariah (10) handed me a dollar and said it was my tip for cooking such a delicious breakfast. Lol! 😄
Thankfully, the snowfall was light and didn’t last long, so we were able to still attend the event.
The kids loved the Lunar New Year celebration! We’ve been learning about Chinese New Year for world geography, so attending the local event helped the children make authentic connections to our mini unit study.
I brought my camera with me, and the kids took turns taking pictures. 📸😊
We enjoyed delicious food, browsing the market vendors, watching performances, and just spending time together as a family. 🥰
We loved learning more about the Chinese New Year! I love that we live in a culturally diverse city where we can connect with others and celebrate with them.
Happy Lunar New Year and Happy Year of the Horse!🐴❤️ Hope you find moments of joy this week.
💜XO
Waffles, Netflix, and Junk Journaling
A quiet day at home with waffles, Little House on the Prairie, and junk journaling.
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday was dreary and gray today. Dense fog and rain off and on. But despite the gloomy weather, the mood was peaceful and bright.
The kids were excited to receive their ashes. They even woke up early (with NO grumbling!) to get ready for Mass. I was shocked! Lol 😲(Travis had to work today, so he attended Mass later in the evening.)
Here are a few moments from our Ash Wednesday…
“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
I thought the “Nail It to the Cross” was a wonderful idea to encourage us to bring our anxiety, doubt, fear, illness, and any life hardships we may be experiencing to the Lord.
Durung the second half of Mass—after we received our ashes—Zaya (5) kept asking me if her cross was still on her forehead. 😄
She’d look up at me with her big, beautiful blue eyes and whisper, “Can you still see it, Mommy? Is my cross still there?” 💜
To be very honest—my last Ash Wednesday observation was about 7 or 8 years ago. Life’s hardships and doubting my faith kept me away for so long.
It feels good to be back home. I am thankful for God’s grace and love.
🙏🏽💜XO
“Return to the LORD, your God, for gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.”— Joel 2:13
Wordless Wednesday: Front Porch Sitting
Photos of the children enjoying a morning of “front porch sitting.”
Five Children’s Books Guiding Us Through Lent
Lent begins tomorrow, starting with Ash Wednesday. We’re exploring five meaningful Lent books for kids that are gently guiding our family through this sacred season. 🙏🏽💜
We are also using these faith-based books as part of our homeschooling studies. This will give us an opportunity to reserve more time for deeper reflection and help us grow in understanding and devotion.
Here are a few kids’ books about Lent we’re reading this season.
1. Child’s Guide to Mass by Sue Stanton (2000) — Understanding the Catholic Mass can be challenging for adults and children alike. So, I love how this picture book is written in a fun story format that will hold my kids’ attention and keep them engaged.
Sarah, the main character of the story, invites the reader to attend Mass with her. She explains every part of the Mass including the Introductory Rite, Penitential Rite, Liturgy of the Word, and Homily.
There are even questions throughout the story that invites children to find key terms and identify faith symbols in the illustrations.
2. I Believe: The Nicene Creed illustrated by Pauline Baynes (2003) — In this book, the late author and illustrator Pauline Baynes shows the beauty of the profession of faith in her remarkable illustrations of angels, Christ’s passion, animals, beasts, and celestial imagery.
It’s a lovely book to read for prayer time with the kids, as part of a homeschooling lesson, to take to church, or even as a bedtime story.
3. Stories of the Saints: Bold and Inspirong Tales of Adventure, Grace, and Courage by Carey Wallace (2020) — This isn’t a book on Lent. However, we just started learning more about saints this month. So, we are going to include this book with our Lent studies.
Stories of the Saints features 70 saints such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Monica, Francis, Thomas Aquinas, Joan of Arc, and Moses the Strong.
The illustrations are beautiful and reminds me of graphic novel art style. I only wish the saints were featured chronologically in order according to their feast days.
4. Lenten Survival Guide for Kids by Peter Celano (2014) — I like how this Lenten guide explains to kids the meaning of Lent and how to practice it in a relatable and sometimes funny way.
This guide features what Lent means, what is fasting, prayers for kids to say, Stations of the Cross, scripture references, and encourages regular Bible reading for the children.
5. An Introduction to the Liturgical Year by Inos Biffi (1994) — This book is perfect for year-round guidance for kids to help them grasp the Catholic Liturgical Year. It helps children (and dare I say even the grownups!) understand the feasts as they are reflected in the missal.
For Lent purposes, there are features on the meaning of Lent, the significance of 40 days depicted numerous times in the Bible, the objection of Peter, Jesus is the living water, Jesus is the light of the world, Holy Week, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and so much more!
I plan on purchasing this book for our home library collection so we can use it throughout the Liturgical Year.
So far, our library picks on Lent books for kids are serving as a great guide for our faith journey, adding a meaningful rhythm to our Lenten days.
Are there any other children’s books you’d recommend for Lent?
💜XO
P.S.—a few moments from our Ash Wednesday.
World Marriage Day
Today is World Marriage Day! Travis and I have been married for 14½ years now. ❤️
At church today, the priest said a special blessing and prayer for the married couples. Then, the wives were given a beautiful white rose, and the husbands received a marriage prayer card.
One of the many things I love about being married to my husband is that we get to grow old together. It is truly a great blessing from God to share my life with Travis.
I love looking back on pictures of us from over the years (like the one above).
To me, these photographs show how much we’ve grown together—both as a couple and individuals—deepening in love, faith, and spirit.
I can’t help but smile when I see the gray in our hair and the silver in Travis’ beard. They’re cherished reflections of the milestones we have reached together in our fourteen years of marriage.
❤️ XO
P.S.— Happy World Marriage Day to you, too, if you are married! 😊💗
“Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away.” Song of Songs 8:7
Broken sunflowers still bloom 🌻
Despite being broken, the sunflowers still served a great purpose. 🌻😊