Playing Up

Our family has attended all 13 of the Mid-west Family Catholic Conferences in Wichita each August. With each succeeding year our attendance has segued from a nice-to-attend to an essential component of our annual spiritual sustenance. This year was no different with speakers that illuminated more ways to live authentically Catholic lives.

The gems of wisdom ran a gamut of topics. Chris Horn, former NFL player, guided us on ways to have healthier attitudes about money. Marcus Grodi broke the Beatitudes into understandable activities for the serious Catholic to employ. Steven Ray advanced strategies for living in a pagan culture. The people at the Covenant Eyes, Inc. vendor validated my personal concerns about the effects of the media and Internet on our kids with solid statistics and facts and promoted a sound solution to the problem. Dr. Peter and Chantal Howard advocated the value of creating a Catholic rule.

The conference attendance had grown this year by a third. I saw a few more local faces, but have always been puzzled why more people from Wichita didn’t attend. I now think I know why.

I left the weekend inspired, but also aware of many things in our spiritual life—our marriage and family, our parenting, and how we interact with the world that needs some work. I can feel pretty good about those things when I am surrounded by people who are even less in sync with their Catholic faith on all of those areas.

But when we put ourselves around those who have a stronger Catholic identity, what we are doing is playing up. You get better in tennis when you play with better players. Just like you become a stronger Catholic when you learn from those who are stronger than you.

So in the next several blogs I’ll share what I’ve learned from my Catholic brothers and sisters who are further down the path than I am.

Catholic Women’s Guide to Healthy Relationships Tip: Gravitate towards people and experiences that will challenge you to grow, not make you feel uncomfortable about where you are.