by Barbara Lishko | Mar 24, 2025
All we wanted to do was to get the three kids in the car and arrive at the appointed time. The bottle was filled, and extra formula and diapers were checked. Snacks? Are there enough snacks for the fifteen-minute round trip? Potty, did everyone go potty? "I don't have...
by Barbara Lishko | Mar 3, 2025
Excitedly, she handed me a book entitled Five Little Monkeys to read out loud. Our three-year-old granddaughter then crawled into my lap. As I started reading, I realized I had never seen in print this familiar childhood tune about the monkeys who fell out of bed....
by Barbara Lishko | Feb 17, 2025
Welcome to my first newsletter where we get to connect on what's new and tap into your brilliant minds to see what direction to focus my memoir. A quick update from me-- Book sales are moving along. I will be at the Christopher West event sponsored by the Theology of...
by Barbara Lishko | Feb 9, 2025
Last year, as a new parishioner and recently retired, I felt God's gentle prompting to host a marriage retreat. This meant asking the Pastor, who didn't know me well, to take a chance and give me his permission to go forward. I appreciated his trust and vote of...
by Barbara Lishko | Jan 17, 2025
Getting old is happening faster than I imagined. I knew we would; it's what's supposed to happen in life if all goes well. I'm not suggesting I'm shocked every morning at the wrinkled old lady who greets me in the mirror. But I am. Oil of Olay, you lied to us. As a...
by Barbara Lishko | Jan 6, 2025
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” (Matt 2:2) These magi knew what they were about. They made all the necessary preparations and traveled the long journey to Jerusalem for a singular purpose, to find...
by Barbara Lishko | Dec 30, 2024
The day after Christmas, the readings at Mass took a wild turn. Airwaves wrapped up their nominal tribute to Christmas by continuing to divert our attention with the remnants of Santa Baby and fa la la. The Scripture readings instead douse us with the icy water of...
by Barbara Lishko | Dec 21, 2024
"Unplanned" is often used as a scapegoat and reason to justify the unthinkable. This is not what I planned... fill in the blank. Most of my life was not what I planned. Yet as I look back there is evidence of God doing something good in all those unplanned moments. I...
by Barbara Lishko | Dec 12, 2024
On this Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I pray for our country and all peoples of the Americas. Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen. Forty-five years have passed in what feels like an instant. Unforgettable are the wild...
by Barbara Lishko | Dec 2, 2024
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that humans, starting at a very young age, tend to gather stuff. I observed this firsthand with my grandkids and any child I’ve had the good fortune to spend time with. “Mine,” shouts the toddler, and thus begins the desire to...
by Barbara Lishko | Oct 27, 2024
Is anything more frustrating than a tree that will not produce the fruit it was designed to deliver? After purchasing a lemon tree and following all the prescribed directions for it to flourish, we rightfully expected to find lemons. Instead, we got a dead tree that...
by Barbara | Oct 20, 2024
I know what it feels like to lose a baby through a miscarriage. Not once, but twice. I understand the crushing pain of infertility for years. I, too, have grandbabies that I hope to someday meet in Heaven, who were also miscarried. Even though I never met my own...
by Barbara | Oct 13, 2024
Have you ever wished you could talk to your younger self and share more ingenious ways of doing things? I've been thinking about this as I age. I've grown wiser. I fought with my neighbor when I was in sixth grade. We decided we should duke it out after school....
by Barbara Lishko | Sep 29, 2024
As a teenager, I dreamed of becoming a nurse and moved toward that goal in college. I worked at the local hospital, so I knew what I was getting into- and then I met my husband, who whisked me off to beautiful South Korea for the first year of our marriage. As my...
by Barbara Lishko | Sep 16, 2024
It's my least favorite time of the year when antagonistic, badly-behaved politicians claim to have what America needs by bombarding the airwaves, commercials, and billboards. Rather than bringing peace and assurance that we are in good hands, I cringe. As a veteran...
by Barbara Lishko | Sep 2, 2024
Over the years, I have opened my heart and shared many stories about my spiritual journey as a Catholic Christian and how God has allowed me to play a tiny part in His plans. I have given the reader an inside peek at our ever-evolving family and some goofy situations...
by Barbara Lishko | Aug 25, 2024
Retirement has allowed us the freedom to bounce back and forth between locations inhabited by our children and grandchildren. Sometimes, we fly; other times, we take the long, primarily gorgeous route. We're talking about eight delightful hours, just a scant twelve...
by Barbara Lishko | Aug 14, 2024
When asked about our recent vacation in Kauai, I enthusiastically replied, "It was really nice." That same daughter later inquired about a dessert she had made: "That's nice; I like it." Maahmum!!! Quit saying nice! Use other words. She overheard me using that...
by Barbara Lishko | Aug 4, 2024
Each time we sneak away this summer, we come to the mountains. As beautiful as the desert is in the summer, having your flip-flops melt on the pavement gets expensive. While a sauna is fabulous at the spa, my personal sauna on wheels has turned my car into a sweatbox....
by Barbara Lishko | Jul 28, 2024
In our germ-a-phobic, post-pandemic world, it’s hard to imagine why Christ would request that the remaining fragments from feeding five thousand be gathered up. For what? Ewww, somebody else touched it, and I won’t eat it. Clearly, we have never gone hungry. Sadly,...
by Barbara | Jul 14, 2024
St. Paul was elated due to an abundance of revelations from Christ. The Lord allowed a thorn in his flesh, an agent of Satan to beat him. (2Cor 12:7)To be elated is to be ecstatically happy. That's the kind of joy that requires beatings to lessen. I think I want that...