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Another Guest Post!! You'd almost think that this is a real blog! Our guest poster today is my oldest child, Lydia. So, away we go! My name is Lydia. I am Catherine’s oldest biological child; the college drop-out and wannabe cat whisperer. I’m also the genderqueer member of the gang and Mom asked me to write something for you all for Pride Month. So. Hi, Mom’s followers! Happy Pride! Of course, I say this as I start writing this on the 2nd-to-last day of Pride Month. It’ll probably be well into July before it gets posted. (Catherine here - I actually got it posted on the last day of June, so we just slipped in under the wire.) Oops. I, procrastinator-extraordinaire, proudly claim the label o

Today I went to my first Pride event, the Stevens Point Pride Fest! Patrick and I met Lydia for lunch and then met Jenna, Chris's fiancee at the event. There were a couple of people there that I knew, and Lydia introduced me to a few of her friends. And, I became an official "Mom hugger"! I got to officially give out "Mom hugs" or handshakes or high fives or fist bumps to anyone who wanted them. Here is a link to the Stevens Point Journal write-up of the event. It explains why, for such a liberal city, this is the first Pride event in Stevens Point for a number of years. Speaking of which, I got to meet Amy, the Central Wisconsin Equality Chairperson, who was the primary organizer of the eve

Here's an overview of what has been going on in my life in the last few months. Migraine Yep. I still have Chronic Migraine. In fact, I've been having more trouble with pain since before my hysterectomy in November. I was hesitant to do anything about it until I was recovered from surgery, which took longer than expected. Then, I had problems with my depression until we finally decided just to increase my amitriptyline back to where it was. After all that was done, my migraines were still bad, so I went back to my headache specialist and he did bilateral occipital nerve blocks (shots in the back of my head) and gave me a high dose steroid taper. I had a few side effects, but the gist of it a

Ya'll, I have a guest poster!! My blog is becoming a real blog. Jesi is dear friend, practically daughter. She lived with us for 6 months when she was five years old - she's now 24. I've known her for almost her entire life! I wanted her to share her story because it highlights what it is like for some people to grow up gay and to lose the support of their family. But, Jesi's story is ultimately happy, as you'll see. So, here she is . . . We all know it's pride month, by definition it's not exactly a secret. So for pride month, my friend Catherine asked me to write a blog about how being gay influenced my life as a christian, and later on if it influenced my decision to leave religion behind

I have been watching the situation at our southern border over the last few months with absolute horror. I want to run down there and take all of those children held in "prisons" and put them back with their parents where they belong! Instead, I'm up here in rural Wisconsin feeling incredibly useless. But, we live in a democracy and we aren't useless. Our government is for the people and by the people. We do have a say in what happens, even if the wheels of change move slowly. Our first course of action is always to call our elected representatives. You can call the White House at 202 456-1111 or go to www.whitehouse.gov and make your voice be heard there. Granted, I'm not sure that the Trum

"When you are somewhere, be there!" That was one of my dad's favorite sayings when I was growing up. And I needed to hear it. I'm a planner and anticipater (and worrier), so I try to live in the future. Right now, I'm thinking about and planning for going to camp tomorrow!! Our family has been going to Fort Wilderness Family Camp in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for the last 16 summers! When I was growing up down South, we sent the kids away to camp so the adults could have some chill time alone. But, up here, we all go to camp together. And we love it!! (Plus, when the kids were younger, we would send them for a week of kids or youth camp, too. Bonus if we could send them the same week!) I've

Another book review for Pride month! I came across Austen Hartke on a The Bible for Normal People podcast and I loved listening to him so I knew I had to read his book. Hartke is a transgender Christian and is the creator of the YouTube series Transgender and Christian. His education is from Luther Seminary's Master of Arts program in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible Studies. Transforming is his first book. Transforming is a compelling book exploring transgender identity through scripture. Austen Hartke uses his exhaustive knowledge of scripture from seminary along with anecdotes of other transgender individuals to guide the reader through an understanding of sexual diversity in the kingdom of God

I tried a couple of new recipes this week and thought I'd share them with you. Maybe I'm becoming a lifestyle blogger?! Keto Chia Seed Chocolate Pudding I have no idea why I thought that I should try such a thing, but I searched out a few recipes and finally ended up making my own. Here it is: 1 14.5oz. can full fat coconut milk 2 Tbsp cream, 1/2 and 1/2, or more coconut milk (optional) 1/3 cup cocoa 1/2 cup granulated erythritol 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1/2 cup chia seeds Whisk together the coconut milk, (cream or 1/2 and 1/2 if using), cocoa, erythritol, and vanilla in a bowl. Give it a taste and see if you need more cocoa or erythritol. Now add the chia seeds. Stir well. Divide equally among six

I generally do my book reviews over on GoodReads, but I'm doing a couple here on my blog for Pride Month, starting with Susan Cottrell's "Mom I'm Gay". This book is intended as the first book that an Evangelical parent reads after their kid comes out to them as LGBTQ. And, as that, it is excellent. Each chapter is short and intended to deal with one issue about "coming out". The chapter ends with a few questions to the parent about how they handled the situation, what they could do better, and how they can continue to pray through the situation. Part 1 is called "Coping with the shock" and spends a good bit of time dealing with the fact that the child's being gay is not the parents' fault an

Today's lectionary reading is from Galatians 5:16-25. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inher

Why have Gay Pride parades? After all, there are no Straight Pride parades (except for one that they're having in Boston as a response to the Gay Pride parade and I don't think that counts). I don't go around announcing to people that I'm straight. Except that I do. I wear a wedding ring. I talk about my amazing children all the time. And I don't worry about anyone hurting me because I'm straight. I'm accepted in mainstream society because I'm heterosexual. One of my children is bisexual. They could probably pass for straight if she dated men. But, they're also genderqueer and dresses androgynously most of the time. They're sexuality is not something that is completely hidden. Another of my

Our immigration system has problems. Right now, the big issue is our southern border with Mexico. We have an unprecedented number of people fleeing danger in their own Central American countries who are coming here to apply for asylum. Unfortunately, many women and children are showing up at our border and, for their trouble, they are being placed in family detention centers. What is family detention? According to Detention Watch Network, “Family detention is the inhumane and unjust policy of jailing immigrant mothers with their children – including babies. Upon arrival in the U.S., families are locked up in remote and punitive detention centers, with little access to legal and social servic