E-mail me to schedule an event.
I enjoy speaking to groups, especially women’s groups on a variety of subjects ranging from writing to parenting to prayer. In the last five years I have spoken at family retreats, women’s events, marriage seminars and have been part of a lay preaching team in my church congregation.
I also enjoy speaking and presenting workshops on writing at schools. Click here for school presentations and workshops.
My strength is a down-to-earth, practical approach that meets people where they are and gives them something concrete to take home with them. I am available for short presentations, half-day workshops or longer conferences or retreats. I am more than happy to work with you to tailor a program that will meet your specific needs and interests.
My most recent presentations:
July 2006: Catholic Family Camp: My husband and I presented on: Celebrating Faith in the Family and Family Communication.
July 2006: Washington State Knights of Columbus Officer Training in Wenatchee, WA. Presentation to the wives of the Knights.
Dec. 2005: "The Vocation of the Catholic Family" at the Serra Club December Luncheon in Spokane.
Some of the topics I’ve presented before include:
Nurturing Our Children Through the Five Stages of Faith
Faith is a dynamic process. It is an exciting journey of growth and discovery. This workshop breaks that process down into five simple stages, and will help parents identify the needs of their children in each stage as well as practical ways to support our children as they grow in faith.
How to Interest Your Children in the Eucharist
Sunday Eucharist anchors our faith, but often presents challenges, too.
- How do we help our children sit quietly and pay attention?
- What do we do when our teens don’t want to go?
- How do we explain Eucharist in a way our kids can understand?
- Does Sunday Eucharist really make a difference in our lives the rest of the week?
If you are asking any of these questions, this workshop is for you.
The Power of Story
Stories have the power to heal and to build and strengthen connections. Through storytelling we learn, understand, explore, grow and pass on tradition and faith. The power of story in our lives is endless. How can we capture that potential energy and put it to work in our families?
Mother to Daughter: Passing on the Faith
This workshop is most suitable for mothers of young girls, birth to 12-years, and presents practical help in passing on the Christian faith through story and practice. In a time when our daughters are faced with an increasing barrage of unhealthy attitudes from the secular media, how can we help them to grow into confident faith-filled young women? We’ll look at the importance of women’s stories, family practices and rituals that support faith, as well as challenges mothers face in today’s world. This two-hour workshop includes a presentation filled with real-life anecdotes, small group sharing, resources and practical information. It is intended to inspire and encourage as well as offer simple, yet powerful ideas to aid in passing on the Christian faith to our daughters.
In our culture, just when daughters need their mothers the most, they are socialized to break away. One of the most insulting things you could say to many young women today is "You are just like your mother." Daughters need their mother’s wisdom and the insight of the many strong and faithful women who have gone before. Here’s help in strengthening mother/daughter connections.
Living Eucharist in Family Life
Eucharist is more than just a Sunday sacrament. Breaking bread and sharing the cup offers a model for transforming family life throughout the week. Here’s practical encouragement for parents struggling to help their children understand and participate fully in the Mass.
Simple Living: A Choice for Justice and Compassion
Simplicity—it’s more than the latest lifestyle fad. Choosing to slow down, cut back, spend less and share more can be an act of faith. Here’s practical ideas for simplifying your life, standing in solidarity with the poor and celebrating the abundant riches found in creativity, spirituality and community.
Prayer: Becoming Fully Alive
For many centuries prayer was defined as "A lifting up of the mind and heart to God." Many people do not experience God as being "up there" but rather right here in the midst of their everyday life on earth. They do not experience prayer as being just of the mind and heart, but rather a process of the whole body, or their whole being.
This workshop explores different ways to pray, and includes looking at scripture to see how Jesus prayed. For Jesus prayer was a root response to God’s love, God’s creation, and the demands of justice and mercy.
The Holy Spirit as Feminine Face of God
This talk focuses on feminine images of God in scripture, and on the work of the Spirit in the world. Looks at the "womanly" arts of creating, healing, cleaning up, and putting the broken back together.
Prayerful Women: Learning from St. Claire and St. Teresa
Looking at St. Claire as "Joyful Lover" and St. Teresa of Avila as "Late Bloomer" what can these saints of long ago teach women of today?
Ita Ford: Living with Greater Purpose
Ita Ford was one of four American churchwomen brutally killed in El Salvador December 2nd 1980. Though she knew her life was in danger, Ford refused to shy away from her work with the poor and suffering. A modern-day martyr, her story has inspired people around the world to live with greater purpose.
