Heidi Saxton is an author of several books and columns. She and her husband Craig are adoptive parents of two children. Her "Extraordinary Moms Network" has special relevance to families of adopted, foster, or special-needs children. Heidi is currently writing her thesis for a Masters in Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
I first became a mother at the age of 38 when my husband and I became foster parents to three children under the age of five. Three frightened, angry, fragile kids who spent every waking minute – which, between them, constituted pretty much 24/7 that first year – thinking of creative ways to destroy the […]
For the past few months, the image followed me. At work, I shuddered as I came across it in one of our study workbooks. This week again at a TOB seminar, there it was in its full, blazing glory: Caravaggio’s depiction of “Doubting Thomas” sticking his probing finger into the glorified wound of the Risen […]
In this week’s Gospel, Mark paints a touching portrait that is familiar to most of us, of the Christ who loves all children: And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come […]
The Gospel reading this weekend has one verse in particular that always makes me consider very carefully my responsibility as a mother, and assess just how well I’m doing in my vocation. Jesus said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, It would be better for him if a […]
“They had been discussing among themselves . . . who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.’ “Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst, and putting his […]
It happens every year: after weeks and weeks of summer break, there are times when I just can’t take one more minute of family “togetherness.” The bickering. The teasing. The incessant need to be entertained. Sometimes I let the kids out of the car at the bottom of the 500-foot driveway and make them run […]
At this year’s Easter Vigil, I get to celebrate my 17th birthday as a Catholic Christian. Seventeen years ago I officially began my faith journey as a Catholic Christian, with the blessing of Cardinal Mahoney and my faith community at Holy Family Catholic Church in South Pasadena, California. So every year at this time, I […]
Last Wednesday was “Ash Wednesday,” when Catholics and other Christians receive ashes on their foreheads as a sign of penitence (Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent). I’d had over 700 hits on the 40-Day Challenge. It seems there are many women who think their marriage needs a “faith lift”! Several women left comments […]
This week I’ve been reading Servant of God Fulton Sheen’s Love, Marriage and Children, and was struck by how much this man – a celibate who died more than thirty years ago – understood about contemporary married life. (His profound understanding of the human condition is partly responsible for the fact that his nationally syndicated […]
The other day I opened the front door and found my two kids engrossed in play, drawing chalk pictures on the front stoop. Oblivious to my presence, their conversation became louder and more strident, until at last Sarah stood up and faced her brother, fists on hips. “How many times do I have to TELL […]
This week I’ve been reading Christopher West’s Heaven’s Song, an unforgettable reflection on marriage as a metaphor for the perfect union God longs to have with us. When I reached a section called “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Becoming ‘One Flesh,” I was so struck by the boldfaced truth of one passage, I had […]
This past weekend I had an opportunity to preview the upcoming “Family Movie Night” feature, A Change of Plans (FOX, January 8 at 8 p.m. EST). As I watched, I couldn’t help but compare this couple’s experiences with what my husband and I went through when we first received our children. Chris was 2-1/2, Sarah […]
