Author Archive: Theresa Thomas
Theresa A. Thomas is a happy Catholic, wife to David, and home-schooling mother of nine children, ages five to 22. She is a columnist (“Everyday Catholic”) for Today’s Catholic newspaper, and occasional freelance writer and speaker. Her work has appeared the National Catholic Register, Michiana Family Magazine, Catholic Exchange, Family Foundations, home school newsletters and other national and local publications. She was a story contributor to Amazing Grace for Mothers, Amazing Grace for Fathers, Amazing Grace for Families (Ascension Press) and is currently collaborating with Patti Maguire Armstrong on “Stories for the Homeschool Heart”, to be published by Bezalel Books in July, 2010.
Theresa grew up the oldest of 13 children in the Midwest, and graduated magna cum laude from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN with a BA in English. She is owner and administrator of 'Ora et Labora', Catholic home-education message board, and was appointed by Fort Wayne/South Bend Bishop John D’Arcy to serve as a member of St. Joseph High School Board of Education and Catholic identity sub-committee in 2003. She has been home schooling since 1996.
Catholic education and curriculum, fitness, healthy living, saints, homemaking, reading, and assisting her husband and children reach their goals are Theresa’s primary interests. She enjoys helping her husband raise chickens and grow organic vegetables…and kids.
Counting Them All
When people ask me how many children we have I answer nine. It’s true of course. My husband and I have nine living children. Well, some of my children are actually grown ups but you know what I mean- we have nine offspring walking the face of this earth. This is what these people want [...]
When Quantity Trumps
The Mister and I just had a romantic dinner in the basement, served by two little girls. The main course was Fisher Price peas and pizza, real water from a sturdy, plastic teapot and Cheez-Its. We were entertained by music playing on daddy’s cell phone and the evening ended with a rousing rendition of The [...]
Quenching a Thirst – God’s Surprise Gifts, Even in Lent
Our oldest son lives in southern California… so very far away from where we live. A benefit of this (particularly in February) is that from time to time we get to visit him and enjoy warm weather in the winter. Last week, my husband David had a business conference in Palm Desert, California just two [...]
The Generational Rosary
My father, now in his seventies, remembers coming downstairs in the morning as a child and seeing his mother in a chair, fingering her rosary beads and quietly praying. This example probably had a lot to do with Dad’s own devotion to the rosary as an adult. Children emulate what they see, and when what [...]
Simple Secrets for a Special Advent
“Slow down.” “Prepare.” How many times have you heard this advice in terms of Advent? And how many times have you thought of this advice while frantically checking the cyber Christmas sales while still in November, or while hurriedly pulling out boxes of Christmas lights from the basement just days after the Thanksgiving feast? Where [...]
Discover the Power of Yes and Share in a Journey “Along the Way”
“I was attending Mass with my family in early October 2005. The Mass had just begun and I felt very uneasy, a feeling that had started when I woke up that morning. I was as white as a sheet, sweating, trembling and (I) felt very anxious. My family thought I was having a heart attack [...]
Seven Family-Building Strategies for Nurturing Sibling Bonds
I was invited to talk to a mother’s group last week and the subject of brother and sister relationships came up. How do you get your children to get along? What do you do about building sibling bonds? Well…. No family is perfect. We all try, and sometimes fail and then simply get up and [...]
What Are You Prepared To Do For Religious Freedom?
Editor’s Note: This is a speech given by Integrated Catholic Life™ contributing writer Theresa Thomas on October 27th, 2012 at Religious Freedom Rally in South Bend, Indiana. You are here today because you care about our country, our children, our future. You gave up something in your normal everyday routine to be here- maybe it was a [...]
Dealing with Difficult People
We all have them in our lives – people we don’t like. People who rub us the wrong way, who push our buttons, and sometimes more seriously, people who are truly dangerous to our mental or physical health. What should we do? Annette cringed running into Mrs. B in the grocery store, which happened nearly every week. [...]
Trying and Trusting and Being So Good…
She came home in tears, my little ballerina. She wanted the part of Clara in the dance theater production of The Nutcracker. So did about 37 other girls. Only one got the part of course, and that year it was not my daughter. I don’t normally throw celebrity quotes at my children. Because, well, normally [...]
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