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...
by Barbara | Jul 2, 2024
Dutifully following my new husband, we slid into our circa 1960 Japanese right-hand drive automobile. It was the tiniest car I had ever ridden in besides Autotopia at Disneyland. Maneuvering through the streets of Seoul, S. Korea, felt like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. As we...
by Barbara Lishko | Jun 23, 2024
Back in the day, there was a well-known comedy sketch by Bill Cosby. The premise involved a conversation between God and Noah who was asked to build an ark. One of the key lines spoken by God in this humorous exchange is when Noah starts to push back and...
by Barbara Lishko | Jun 16, 2024
My father walked in angry and weary. Lifting up his pant leg he showed his young children the gauze wrapped ankle covered in blood. As a mailman, dogs often stood between him and delivering mail. Dad was the oldest of four children. His parents were of German descent...
by Barbara Lishko | Jun 9, 2024
How many times do we make excuses for our sins? “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” (Gen 3:13). Sadly, I am guilty. I’d go so far as to say evil doesn’t even have to lift a finger- I fall easily on my own. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned; it’s been...
by Barbara Lishko | Jun 3, 2024
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like a child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 18:3-4 My young life was a preparation for adulthood....
by Barbara Lishko | May 19, 2024
“If you don’t stop and wait for me, I’ll turn around and go home.” Those fateful words burst from my lips, as a new bride. I was in unfamiliar territory and being pulled downstream in a river of Koreans at Kimpo International Airport- Seoul, S. Korea. My husband was...
by Barbara Lishko | May 12, 2024
It’s Mother’s Day once again. I am blessed to have celebrated over forty Mother’s Days. Before we had kids, we were guilty of making “my kid will never…” statements. Words we soon learned to eat. I discovered a clever kitchen towel a few months ago that read, “As soon...
by Barbara Lishko | May 5, 2024
“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.” (Jn 15:16) Each time I’ve heard this passage over my lifetime, I assumed it referred...
by Barbara Lishko | Apr 28, 2024
Dawn was breaking as the young man stealthily crawled out of the front bedroom window of our neighbor’s home. Their daughter assisted him and waved goodbye. My friend and I were walking by at that moment decades ago. We knew her father was a single dad; rumor had it...
by Barbara | Apr 15, 2024
If I am not mistaken, these are the exact words shepherds use to call sheep. Or maybe not. The closest I've ever gotten to a sheep was on a dinner plate in France. "Can I get this cooked more, s’il vous plaît!" I've heard today's gospel (Jn 10:11-18) countless...
by Barbara Lishko | Mar 31, 2024
Easter morning, and it is pouring rain in Phoenix, which sounds like a mythical fairytale. Down here in the Southwest, we take it when we get it, even when the water balloon hunt I planned may never come to pass. I know you people in other parts of the country deal...
by Barbara Lishko | Mar 22, 2024
Identifying one of my persistent faults over time has exposed my habit of expectations. I place them on myself, other people, and even God-foolish me. Like you, I have had many pleasant and unfortunate unplanned events in my life. Over the years with various jobs,...
by Barbara Lishko | Mar 10, 2024
I can’t tell you how many times I heard the word help when the kids were growing up. Help! “He’s (insert any descriptor here, looking, laughing, touching, or staring) at me.” Help! “I don’t understand the math assignment.” You’re alone...
by Barbara | Mar 6, 2024
Jesus spoke to his disciples, saying, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” In fulfilling the law, Jesus is taking the external law and bringing it to completion in Himself and through his actions....
by Barbara | Mar 1, 2024
How is your Lent going? We have almost completed week two. Did you commit to giving up, taking up, and detaching? I started strong and then began to get busy and fizzled out a little bit. Not entirely, mind you, just step-by-step lazy and distracted. I am a continuous...