Danielle Bean

Catholic Writer and Speaker

Why God Waits

by Filed Under: Girlfriends Podcast 3 Comments

This had special meaning for me and a friend, as read in Magnificat this month:

“The purpose of prayer is perhaps less to obtain what we ask than to become someone else. We should go further and say that asking something from God transforms us, little by little, into people capable of sometimes doing without what they ask for. …

Now we understand why God seems to delay: not in order to test us arbitrarily, but to compel our desire to become more intense and to become truly like his. …

If God takes his time, he does so for our sake. Because of the unusually delicate nature of his love, he does not want to effect our happiness without us, but wants to produce it from within, to make us work at it and give it to us only after exhausting the possibilities of our waiting. …

The purpose of prayer is to bring this desire, which leaves a man restless and disturbed, to become a feeling of hope, guaranteed … but by an infinite effectiveness since it comes form God himself.”

~ Father Bernard Bro, OP

40

by Filed Under: Girlfriends Podcast 17 Comments

Yup, it’s true. Today I turn 40. It’s supposed to be a milestone, I guess, but I’ve been thinking of myself as a “grown up” for so long now that this new old age fails to impress me.

I distinctly remember turning 30, though, and how the largeness of that number burdened me. I could not be 30. Inside, I still felt 23. And now that I am 40, I still feel 23.

Well, I don’t quite feel the same physically. 23-year-old me wore her favorite (verysmallsize) jeans home from the maternity ward with a day-old baby in tow. At 40, I need to eat a lot of salad and do a lot of Kenpo Karate to maintain a healthy body size.

But it’s not so bad. I like salad. And I like Kenpo Karate.

me, many birthdays ago


And I certainly don’t feel the same emotionally. 23-year-old me hemmed and hawed, weighed the consequences, and took a poll before she changed a baby’s diaper. At 40, I have learned so much about myself, marriage, parenthood, and human relationships that I make many important decisions with confidence. I have learned to trust myself and my instincts, especially as a mom, but also as a wife, daughter, sister, and friend. Instincts, especially when they’ve been prayerfully and sometimes painfully developed through real-life experience, are a gift from God. There’s just no way of knowing that at 23.

I have been blessed to do much of my grown-up “growing up” in a marriage to a strong, faith-filled man while surrounded by the blessings of our family. I am blessed to have family and friends who know me. They know me well because they have been right here by my side me, even while I was getting to know myself. I am known, and loved despite the knowing. That’s something I couldn’t have had at 23.

So now that I think of it, I guess I don’t feel very 23 after all.

I once heard the joke that the key to aging gracefully is to pick an age you like and stick with it, and 23 might still be tempting in its own wrinkle-free way.

But today? Today I pick 40.

New England Catholic Homeschool Conference

by Filed Under: Girlfriends Podcast 1 Comment

Will you be there? I will! I will be sharing “What Happy Homeschoolers Know” and there will be other terrific speakers as well. There are also vendors and hundreds of amazing families just like yours. Come! Spend the day! Bring a friend or meet some new ones!

Here are the details:

New England Catholic Homeschool Conference

Date: May 19, 2012
Time: 9:30 am to 3:30 pm
Location: St. Monica Parish, 212 Lawrence Street, Methuen, Massachusetts 01844

You can register online. See you there!

Knows His Mom

by Filed Under: Girlfriends Podcast 4 Comments

I took the younger kids on a hike in the woods this afternoon. A few minutes in, the trail got a little rough and wet. At one particularly messy spot, 10-year-old Stephen, our fearless leader, paused and looked back.

“Hold on just a minute, everyone,” he said with concern. “Mama, are you wearing heels?”

Contact Danielle

Questions? Comments? Speaking inquiries? We would love to hear from you!