Lent isn’t a test we will pass or fail. It’s an opportunity. It’s an invitation.

Every Lent we fill a basket with slips of paper with the names of people we know—living and deceased. We pull one out every morning and pray for that person that day. It’s a simple concept, but it works well for our family.

Often what I’m asking for isn’t what I need, but the equivalent of a chocolate chip cookie for dinner.

Once upon a time there was a dog. She broke free from her yard and went exploring.

You have to love a snow day that falls on a Wednesday. I mean, you don’t have to, but I enjoyed having a day off in the middle of the week.

There are so many things that people say are lucky. There are horseshoes, four-leaf clovers, and rabbit’s feet, of course. Then there’s walking through a spiderweb, getting hit with bird excrement, and rain on your wedding day.

One morning I went out to start the car and realized it was encased in ice. I tried to open the door to turn on the engine and start defrosting the windows, but I couldn’t get it open.

When we first started celebrating the Chinese New Year, we put a plastic toy tiger on a cake, sliced the cake with a few cousins, and called it a party.

Do you know Pedro Arrupe? He was a Spanish Jesuit, and he served as the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

The Year of the Pig, which begins today, comes every 12 years, so I’ve lived through a couple of them. But this is the first one I’ve celebrated.