~1~ My niece Elise will turn 15 this week, so I’ve been assembling a package to ship to her in time for her birthday. I wish I could tell you what I’m sending, but she’s an enthusiastic 7 Quick Takes reader, so I’ll have to fill you in later. But I will tell you I […]

Go home and find a crucifix, the priest said. Sit and hold it and really look at it.

When you love God and recognize that he’s given you a role on earth that is just for you to do, you’ll find he helps you achieve things for him that seem almost impossible.

This year I decided we should have something Irish for our door.

It started as an ordinary enough day. I was just starting the workday at my office when my phone rang. My new nephew had been born!

When I put dinner on the table, I told my children that I bought the placemats because “bee is for Buettner.”

This week, as we find ourselves marking the second anniversary of the day schools—and the world—shut down, I find my mind wandering back to March 2020. Our world turned upside-down.

I love having a prayer basket for Lent. I don’t know why pulling an intention out of a basket feels so ceremonial and important, but it does.

Two years ago, on Ash Wednesday, we went to Mass as a family. It was a beautiful service on what was otherwise a relatively ordinary winter day.

~1~ Sometimes when I run out of ideas for dinner, we make fondue. It requires a little prep—cutting up vegetables and meats and preparing the broth, but then John takes over the pot and handles the cooking. It always feels fancy and special, but there are never leftovers. I wonder whether people will expect dinner […]