Catholic Vitamin W: Writing

Our guest on this show is the multi-talented Sarah Reinhard. Most of us in new media would think of her for her writing — which is why we asked her to join us on this show. But it isn’t just her writing: if you listen closely, you can find a fun and joyous heart and a wise woman not exactly locked inside of her.

Sarah’s website is found at www.snoringscholar.com. On her site, she says she finds herself constantly inspired by life on their farm. Sarah’s blog, just another day of Catholic pondering, has more tidbits of her life, including essays, ponderings on life, and general observations about the oddities of motherhood.

In addition to her blog, Sarah appears as a columnist on the Catholic Mom website… and she and Deacon Tom are weekly contributing members on Lisa Hendey’s Catholic Moments Podcast… Sarah also appears to have guest appearances on the Faith & Family Live podcast and we’ve heard her elsewhere. So she is definitely a woman of writing skills and talent. Scuttlebutt has it that she has a book or two underway — but we’ll have to wait on the announcement about that effort.

During our show interview, we spontaneously asked Sarah if she’d try to capture the words that describe what it’s like to be Sarah and about living on her Ohio farm. She graciously and quickly turned out a wonderful piece and we reproduce it here with our thanks to Sarah for the gift of her Catholic and other Writing.

The Gift of Country Living

By Sarah Reinhard for listeners to Catholic Vitamins

I look outside, my eyes still gluey from sleep, and see the delicate pinks and blues of the sunrise in the east.

Thank you, God, for loving me this much.

The day begins, coffee in hand and kids at full volume, and I notice the grass turning greener. The sheep are in the back pasture today, grazing and reminding me of Psalm 23.

Thank you, God, for loving me this much.

As I feel my sanity slip throughout the day, I find myself outside. The cats need food, the dog needs water, the chickens need rebedded. Oh, and the three-year-old needs to RUN!

I notice the blue above me, feel the sun touching my bones through the brisk wind, and see a distant tractor working ground in a field.

Thank you, God, for loving me this much.

Without buildings barring the horizons, I have expanses of field around me. As I prepare dinner, the baby wakes up, needs changed, forces me to stand by a window and feel myself humbled by the streaks of fire in the sky.

The sunset is so amazing I step outside and take a picture, texting it to my niece. I remind her, in the text, that her father, deceased suddenly last year, and her Father, the Heavenly One, both love her. This is her proof.

It’s mine, too.

Thank you, God, for loving me this much.

As the moon rises and the stars take over the inky sky, we begin the chaos known as bedtime. My husband’s late and I’m feeling frazzled. I let the kids watch a show while I pray, trying to feel God around me.

And then, after they’re all tucked in and I’m alone for a moment, I feel the silence. The dog, for once, isn’t barking at a skunk or a coon, and I can hear.

I remember the trash that needs taken out and, as I walk it to the end of the driveway, I see the moon above me, as perfect as a Christmas ornament.

Thank you, God, for loving me this much.

There is no better place for me. In my country life, I find God, sometimes in the most unlikely places. I am reminded of the dust to which I will return, and I find myself smiling at the thought.

Thank you, God, for loving me this much.

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