Mary Beth Giltner

Catholic, wife, mom of littles, freelance editor and book coach, occasional writer, lover of meaningful conversations. Substack @fiatheart

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

We have to stop talking about declining numbers in our Church the way we discuss declining club memberships or loss of subscribers or customers or followers. The Church isn’t a club that needs members (and their dues) to survive. Yes, there are institutional realities to… 1/1

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

I don’t know what other perfectionist moms need to hear this, but your list of 50 things to make Christmas perfect isn’t feasible. You can let it go. Your family will thank you, and they’ll enjoy Christmas a lot more if you’re not freaking out and stressed. Ripping up my list now

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@MegHunterKilmer I’m laughing so hard I’m crying.

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

Please pray for a dear friend from college who is in her final hours after a year-long fight with cancer. She leaves behind a husband and three young children. May Jesus and Mary carry her swiftly home.

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@TheAnchoress Beautiful!

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

Life with boys: they demanded to play with some small skeletons I bought as Halloween decor (at their request), and I came in a little while later to find them completely dismembered. 🙄💀🎃

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@FrGoyo Ooooh yes. In his better moods, my dad would say, "Don't look at me in that tone of voice."

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@ZOrtiz99 13! And I've lived in three of them.

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@TheAnchoress @nypost As my dad would say: never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Or headline.

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@Joannie_Watson Thank you! Not that I’m aware of, but they’ve just been to Lourdes, so Our Lady of Lourdes would be a wonderful intercessor!

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

Please storm heaven for an old college friend of mine who is very ill. We’re praying for a miracle for her and her family.

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@MerriamWebster It’s a place: Staunton

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

It happens every year. As soon as the weather starts to cool and the leaves begin to turn, I just want to crochet. What should I make next? Any good homemade Christmas gift ideas?

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

I just ordered posable skeletons for our lawn because the 4-year-old begged for Halloween decorations, and these are the things we do for love. This is going to be an epic “Memento mori” display. If you had told me pre-kids that I’d be doing this, I’d have laughed in your face.

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@Matt_Pinner Pumpkin Mac!

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@Matt_Pinner Yep. 1000%.

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@Matt_Pinner Just 6!

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

We bought five little pumpkins for the front porch over the weekend, and my son has named them and insists on lining them up for school whenever we go outside. I've never loved pumpkin season so much.🎃

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

It's been a rough and humbling day in the trenches, and I needed this reminder (quoted in a book I'm editing):

“You are powerful enough, O my God, to make a saint of me, in spite of my faults and weaknesses. I believe this, because Your mercy is Infinite.” (Bl. Columba Marmion)

[Meg Hunter-Kilmer @MegHunterKilmer]

Look what I came home to tonight!!

[Mary Beth Giltner @m_b_baker]

@eliz_herreid This wins the internet today. Amazing. I still have my first poetic attempt memorized (why? Who knows!). “My fox has a pair of socks, / he wears them on his ears. / He gets a lot of jeers / from the kids at school. / Boy, my fox is really cool!” Clearly, I missed my calling. 😎