Rachel Campos-Duffy: Stay-at-Home Motherhood Has Been Disparaged for Too Long

As a married mother of eight, the sacrifices made by stay-at-home moms is a topic that is near and dear to my heart.

I was an at-home mom for 14 years before I decided to go back to work for a myriad of reasons - not the least of which was financial. But those years at home were the most important years of my life. I learned so much about myself being an at-home parent.

Those years helped me build my confidence as a parent, which has proven to be so important to me as I juggle my current work in and out of our home.

Having been on both sides - an at-home mom and working outside the home - I do NOT believe that being at home makes you a better parent. In fact, for the at-home parent, there will actually be more opportunities to fall short of one’s expectations because there are so many more opportunities for interaction and failure. But that also means there are more occasions to reconcile and plenty of time to learn about and from one another in the process.

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Archdiocese of Dubuque Women's Conference: Saturday, January 26

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HT AS

Women of Christ Conference in West Bend Nov 7; Patrick Madrid, Jennifer Fulwiler speakers

Women of Christ Conference | Saturday 7 November | West Bend, Wisconsin

 Men of Christ, give the women in your life the gift of a ticket to the 7th Annual Women of Christ Conference. This year's theme is Seeking The Truth: 2000 Years of Scripture And Tradition. Please share the Women of Christ link with family and friends. Buy tickets online at womenofchrist.net

Men of Christ

Hey, they got Patrick Madrid, nice!  I think I read last year they were easily 1,000+ attendees.

Women of Christ conference set for Nov 1

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Winona Diocese offers Lenten retreat for women at Guadalupe Shrine March 29

Healing, Forgiveness and God’s Great Love” 

a Lenten retreat for women sponsored by the Diocese of Winona

Retreat Leader: Theresa Martin, Main Retreat Speaker: Vicki Thorn

What are You holding onto?
Loss of a loved one
Broken relationships
Child with special needs
Miscarriage
Infertility
Family member with a problem
Divorce or Separation
Unresolved hurts from childhood
Abortion

We all have wounds, hurts that we carry. Sometimes it is merely something doesn’t go the way we planned and we just want to scream “Why?!” Or perhaps it was something we did (intentionally or not), something someone else did or a loss that occurred.

As women we feel this pain deeply and even if we think we have “let it go” or forgiven the offender, God can draw us even deeper within our souls where another layer of healing needs to happen.

Our Savior, Jesus Christ forgives and heals. He can take that situation and bring even more good out of it! Spend a day with us this Lent to bring all your troubles, worries, anxieties and hurts to Him and lay them down on His cross. Through talks, time of peaceful prayer, reflection, fellowship, Confession and Holy Mass, we pray this will be a day of peace, forgiveness and healing. God loves you more than you could ever imagine. He is waiting to draw you even closer to Him.

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Words From a Father to His Daughter (From the Makeup Aisle)

A good post for Valentines Day
via Creative Minority Report: This Father Just DESTROYED Society’s Definition Of Beauty. This Is Perfect.

Dr. Kelly Flanagan, a licensed clinical psychologist and happy father of three, keeps a fantastic blog, full of wonderful opinions and personal advice. He has made a habit out of writing letters to his young daughter, to help teach her about the world. But not only his daughter could benefit from reading his wise words.

Check out what he had to say about the make-up and fashion industry. They are great words to live by.

Dear Little One,

As I write this, I’m sitting in the makeup aisle of our local Target store. A friend recently texted me from a different makeup aisle and told me it felt like one of the most oppressive places in the world. I wanted to find out what he meant. 

And now that I’m sitting here, I’m beginning to agree with him. Words have power, and the words on display in this aisle have a deep power. Words and phrases like:

Affordably gorgeous,
Infallible,
Flawless finish,
Brilliant strength,
Liquid power,
Go nude,
Age defying,
Instant age rewind,
Choose your dream,
Nearly naked, and
Natural beauty.

When you have a daughter you start to realize she’s just as strong as everyone else in the house—a force to be reckoned with, a soul on fire with the same life and gifts and passions as any man. But sitting in this store aisle, you also begin to realize most people won’t see her that way. They’ll see her as a pretty face and a body to enjoy. And they’ll tell her she has to look a certain way to have any worth or influence.

But words do have power and maybe, just maybe, the words of a father can begin to compete with the words of the world. Maybe a father’s words can deliver his daughter through this gauntlet of institutionalized shame and into a deep, unshakeable sense of her own worthiness and beauty.
A father’s words aren’t different words, but they are words with a radically different meaning:

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Must.Read.