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TOTAL W(H)INE

Jesus made it. My kids do it. I drink it. In vino veritas.

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All articles filed in tabithadwalter

Labor of Love

By: tabithadwalter January 28, 2019February 12, 2019
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On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled to enshrine  a woman’s “right” to have an abortion. Ever since that ruling, advances in medical science cease to allow us to be blind to the fact that the being formed in a mother’s womb is a human being from the moment of conception. Even with incredible…

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A Look on the Bright Side Birth Stories Book Reviews Catholic Culture Family Guest Writers Lent 2019 Marian Devotion Marriage Media Motherhood NFP Recipes Stories of Conversion Tell It Like It Is This Mom's Opinion Tips and Tricks

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I could go on and on about my father and my husband this Father’s Day, and how proud and lucky I am to witness their tireless love and sacrifice for their children. Today, however, I want to remember the fathers we see every Sunday, the ones we seek out to offer the words that heal our souls, the ones who bring us Jesus - our wonderful priests. I had the joy this morning to attend the first mass offered by the brother of a very dear friend who was just ordained yesterday (we attended the ordination for about 10 minutes before a tantrum forced us to leave. The father of my children graciously took them over this morning so I could enjoy). The homily given by one of the concelebrating priests highlighted the life giving nature of this sacrament, that priests are fathers who both bring forth and renew the spiritual life of their flock in the sacraments. Celibacy, he said, is thus made fruitful, and priests indeed have many many children. As I sat in my pew, my eye caught this newly ordained priest’s mother. I remembered what Bishop Sheen said, that the mass is like a wedding, the sacred covenant union of God and man renewed daily around the world. I suddenly realized that I was at Cana. As I looked to this mother as her son spoke the words of Consecration, I felt that this must be what Mary would have felt at that wedding, watching her Son cease to be hers alone and become brother and father to us all. Their missions began at weddings, and it signified that this mission would be a life-giving one. I know that many of our priests have caused tremendous harm within our Church, as many fathers do within their own homes. My heart aches for the trials we now face, especially our new priests. Today was a beautiful reminder that no matter what harm befalls us, this wondrous Body is being healed by a renewal of faithfulness and zeal from even unlikely places. Let’s remember and pray for these marvelous men this Father’s Day, who join in union with our Holy Mother Church and give their lives to bring us all new life in Jesus. To all our priests, Happy Father’s Day! #mymasstakeaway
This period of transition from baby to toddler is step one in the great task of parenting: helping her move from total dependence to total independence. Right now, it’s a steep learning curve reconciling her new physical freedoms and healthy curiosity with appropriate boundaries, all while there is still a massive language barrier between us. If there’s one thing this period has taught me it’s this: in order to teach self-discipline, which I believe is the ultimate goal of parenthood, I must be self-disciplined first. This two year old problem drove me to reading a parenting book (which was awesome), and one thing hit hard. The author’s main point over and over again - no matter what tyrannical fits erupt from your child - Mom and Dad, REMAIN CALM. Treat the outbursts as the natural rebellion we all experience when confronted with the demand to limit ourselves. Don’t be surprised. Just accept it, then correct or redirect it with consistency, simplicity, endurance, and a lot of humor. In other words, I must respond to my child in her tantrums just as God responds to me in mine. Remember that often quoted but rarely digested text in Corinthians? Love is patient, kind, understanding, slow to anger, quick in mercy. Being a parent makes you finish growing up from the inside out. The fact is I don’t want to remain calm. I want this problem to be resolved yesterday. I’m often quick to anger, quick to want my pound of flesh when a public tantrum breaks out. Kids make you deal with your crap, and it’s definitely true for me. If I want my daughter to learn love, to one day be able to discipline herself, to develop the cognitive skills to regulate her own desires and wants in a healthy and holy way - well, who is she going to learn that from if not me? And how else will I teach it to her if I don’t apply it to myself when it really matters? If this sweet girl has taught me anything, it’s that I have just as much growing up to do as she does. And what's more, we’re perfectly suited to help each other do it.
For whatever reason, the Gram experts say “show your workspace,” and I’m pretty sure that’s the only Gram rule I’m following here. (Notice my daughter’s unfinished lunch in the background? I’m making you wish you had a workspace this awesome, I know.) • So why am even showing this? Well, you’ll probably see less of me on here for a little while. I’m dialing back while I focus on a big and exciting project coming to the blog next month. It’s going to be a lot of editing, and I could not be more stoked! No really, I’m one of those weirdos who enjoys editing. • Anyone (who doesn’t know) want to make a bet on what this project will be?? Proceeds can be designated for the Frase Child Food and Diapering Fund or Mom Frase’s Special Juice Fund 🍷🥃🍻 • Get excited y’all!! You’re going to love what I’ve got planned!
I've been thinking a lot about the in between of the Ascension and Pentecost (also I had planned this post for yesterday, but life...). • 🕊 What a crazy time this was for the Apostles! Within the span of 50 days, they lost their Teacher, got Him back, and then lost Him again, leaving them with the promise of receiving the Spirit. While the Apostles were with Jesus, they enjoyed relative security. At His death, they were left wondering what next. His promises of rising again didn't make sense. It's the hallmark of all great adventures though, right. You have to leave something good behind - comfort and security - to expand and pursue things even better. • 🕊 This is what Jesus meant when He said that He had to go so the Spirit could come. His love for His friends was so great, that He wanted to see them grow to the point of leaving them to allow their full potential to be reached. It's no accident that every time He told them of His departure and the coming of the Spirit, He always added, "Peace be with you." • 🕊 I've been thinking about this in relation to major changes in my own life. It was always a weird emotional mix of fear, excitement, anticipation, and strangely peace. Because when we do what we were made to do, it's an adventure that paradoxically calms us. Bishop Sheen called it a "wild tranquility." • 🕊 Pentecost reminds us that change comes at the cost of comfort, that uncertainty is necessary, but in the end it is often precisely what we need to be the best version of ourselves.
"For a long time, the artificial birth control was the BIGGEST thing that kept me from converting. ... I really didn’t understand why a woman couldn’t take hormonal birth control or use condoms to ensure she wasn’t pregnant all. the. time. I had heard of NFP, but I understood it to be the rhythm method, so all I could think about was that joke… “What do you call a couple that uses NFP? Pregnant.” So I kept searching and asking for more information about this, and I stumbled across Theology of the Body, particularly in relation to why NFP was approved by the Church. I fell in love. ... NFP was more in line with my feminism than birth control anyway. After that, I understood that Catholic feminism was more in line with my values after all - in all areas of faith and life." * 🕊 Today's story is the last story in this series, and I'm thrilled to share this story with you. Meet Johnna Wilford, writer, speaker and wellness coach who hosts the @welllife.co podcast. Her full story is wonderful, so tap the link in my bio to read!
Today I came across a post on @humansofny from a young mom in Italy. I am not judging her or the decisions she and her husband make for their family. This is also not a judgement of mothers who work outside the home - I’ve heard and personally know women who need the outlet in order to be better wives and mothers and applaud them for making that difficult decision. . But.... This mom ended her thoughts on being a working mom saying if motherhood is the most important job in the world that means that makes your child the most important person in the world. Just no. . . Every single SAHM goes through an existential crisis when they leave the workforce to stay home with their babes. As a friend once said, it requires completely redefining how you get paid. Instead of promotions, you get kisses. Instead of leading meetings, you’re in charge of tantrum control (not that different now that I think about it). It requires a woman to make herself over completely. It’s an arduous task, and it’s never done and also thankless. . . We SAHM find ourselves in the strange position of defending our decision to the world, of feeling like we need to wear a sign saying, “Look, I *am* actually smart”. What this woman says betrays the fact that we live in a world that thinks that a woman who devotes 18+ years of her life to bringing about the total metamorphosis of a human being is uninteresting, unproductive, and unfulfilled and is therefore a drain. . . My children are not the most important people in the world, and let me tell ya, that’s not a pleasant pill to have to deliver day in and day out with patient love and discipline. But let me tell you - I’m the most important person in their world. This job is hard. There’s days where I need a shot of Scotch to keep our peaceful abode from turning into a crime scene. But the last thing you can call a SAHM is a drain because our work produces our countries’ next generation of productive citizens. . . Don’t believe me? Talk to one. You’ll find that the process of forming children into decent human beings makes a person intensely grounded, deep thinking, beautifully adaptable, and - dare I say it - fulfilled.
Hey y’all! It’s me, Emily. Some of you have asked with all the stories of conversion that I've been posting the past several weeks if I'm a convert too. For today's #fridayintro, I'll share a little about my own faith. I am a cradle Catholic, but like many of our breed, at one point in my life I got complacent, taking this amazing thing called the Catholic Church for granted in myriad ways. When I was in college, I told God that I couldn't go to church because my vocation of the moment was to be a good student. In order to be a good student, I didn't have an hour to waste in church. I wasn't even partying. I was an architecture major, and if you went to a school where that major was available, you all know that the architecture students were famous for never being seen. We had no life, and our professors encouraged that. It ended up being the worst year of my life, culminating in almost no friends, zero balance in my life and a virtually collapsed metabolism. I had given my life over to something that gave nothing in return. A very dear Baptist friend started asking me lots of questions about my faith, and I, being very rusty, had to research the answers. I ended up back in the confessional after a year and a half, and my first mass after that was unforgettable. When we stood for the Our Father, I could feel physical arms wrap me in a warm embrace. I will never forget that feeling. I tried in vain not to cry. Since then, I made my faith my own, and I firmly believe that everyone should. There is nothing now that will make me leave the sacraments ever again, or the Church that makes them available to me. This doesn't mean I'm without doubts - I have them all the time. But I don't walk away from them anymore. As painful as it can be, I wrestle with them wherever they pop up. Our lives are one long conversion story. Your reasons for walking away from God do not have to define you. Your reasons for coming back to Him will. • ✨ Cradle Catholic, non Catholic or convert - how has God reminded you He loves you??? Share in the comments!!! • • •
"[I] discovered what Catholics believe about Communion which was a huge shock to me. I ordered the first book I could find on the Catholic faith, which was Waking Up Catholic by Chad Torgerson. I had known nothing about the Catholic faith, and this book spelled everything out in a simple, concise and clear way. By the end, I knew something had changed. It’s interesting because as a child, when receiving communion in Protestant church for the first time, I was frightened because I thought, judging from the reading of the Last Supper the minister recited, that I was eating a person. I remember crying to my sister out of fear and arguing with her when she told me it was a symbol because “that’s not what the reading said!” Twenty years later I found out I had the right idea all along!" * 🕊 Happy Feast of the Ascension!! Today we get to meet Holly Vaughan, wife, mom, and Third Order Benedictine. Link in bio
"I always like to think my whole life and relationship with Our Lord was building to my conversion. Truly no detail was insignificant. I had a solid faith foundation being raised in a devout Christian home and being surrounded by people who loved Jesus and the Gospel. I just always had a sense that there was something more, and while I never purposefully went out looking for it, and there was never a desire to reject my upbringing I was simply hungry and waiting for Jesus to reveal Himself more fully. Thankfully, through many tiny and enormous encounters with faithful brothers and sisters over the course of six years, my prayers were answered." * 🕊 I'm beyond excited to share today's story from Meredith Vanderplas! Meredith and I met years ago through my mom, and we recently reconnected through her incredible prayer ministry @dailydivinemercy Her story is so fun and honest, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! • • Link in my bio

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