WINDOW SEAT WISDOM We went to Hobby Lobby. It just opened up, you see. Brand new store. Because back in August 2020, the old one was blown away in Hurricane Laura. And so for nearly two years we’ve waited, sometimes not so patiently, for the store with wooden signs with pithy phrases to reopen. Earlier, […]
Katie Prejean McGrady: Resolutions for today
WINDOW SEAT WISDOM I think New Year’s resolutions are silly. Under the guise of “get healthy” and “better yourself” we establish arbitrary (and often unrealistic) goals to eat less, move around more, spend less time on our phone, etc. One year, I resolved to use a paper planner to keep track of my to-do lists […]
Katie Prejean McGrady: In defense of hope
WINDOW SEAT WISDOM Our bedtime routine with our 3-year-old daughter is quite simple. Bath. Nighttime snack of strawberries and grapes. Read books. Brush teeth. Potty. Say our prayers. Tuck her under the covers. Kiss on the forehead. Lights out. It takes about 30 minutes, give or take the number of books she grabs off the […]
Katie Prejean McGrady: We need grace to succeed in our resolutions
WINDOW SEAT WISDOM I learned the Act of Contrition in second grade. Mrs. Tartamella would patiently practice with us every day. We’d go through the prayer line by line, and when we’d get to “I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to sin no more …” there’d be a huge emphasis on the […]
Katie Prejean McGrady: Jesus is coming
WINDOW SEAT WISDOM My younger sister and I used to fight over who would get to blow out the candles of the Advent wreath. We’d light the candles at dinner, and as soon as we were finished eating, the back and forth of “You did it last night, it’s my turn!” would start. My parents […]
Katie Prejean McGrady: Caught, not taught
WINDOW SEAT WISDOM “Mom, you too slow. I do it.” The almost 3-year-old began to say the Hail Mary, complete with a little head bow at the name Jesus and a profoundly loud “Amen!” at the end. I stood there in stunned silence, and as I pulled the sheets up around her and gave her […]
Katie Prejean McGrady: The inconveniently necessary Lent
WINDOW SEAT WISDOM I hate Lent. I don’t like the color. I’m much more a green and white than a purple and gray type of gal. I don’t like the music. Everything is in a minor key, somberly plodding along like we’re all walking to our grave. I don’t like the length of the season. […]