A professional writer and editor with more than 15 years in religious publishing, Heidi is also a wife and mother of two young children who were foster-adopted in 2005.

Editor of "Canticle" magazine (for faith-filled Catholic women, www.canticlemagazine.com), columnist for CatholicExchange.com, and adoptive parent columnist for CatholicMom.com, Heidi has also written or ghosted eight books for the religious trade including "With Mary in Prayer" (Loyola) and "Touched by Kindness" (Vine Books, co-authored with Kim Boyce).

Heidi writes passionately, yet thoughtfully, about a variety of issues pertaining to women and family life. In the past year she has published articles about domestic violence, PADS (Post-Adoptive Depression Syndrome), and the HPV vaccine. She holds degrees in Missions and Theology as well as International Studies and Communications. She has also pursued graduate studies in Catholic systematic theology.

Heidi and her husband Craig are world travelers, and enjoy ballroom dancing and classic movies. She is working on a novel based on the year she spent teaching ESL in Senegal, West Africa.

My passion is ...

finding the perfect creme brulee.

I know too much about ...

lower back pain. And migraines.

My parents always told me ...

I'd marry a foreigner.

My childhood ambition ...

to travel around the world (I'm still working on that one, in increments).

My favorite memory ...

summers at Lake Mohawk.

Why I write ...

it's cheaper than therapy.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

my husband is watching "Pirates of the Caribbean." I'm typing.

My first job ...

church organist and choir director (age 12).

My best moment ...

meeting Pope John Paul II on my honeymoon.

My inspiration ...

"the girls": Sts. Scholastica, Edith Stein, and Teresa of Avila.

Religion & Spirituality > Catholicism Mary, mother of Jesus, as the model of faith

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I grew up thinking of Mary as the sweet young teenager who appeared once a year in the Christmas creche. Then I became Catholic, and suddenly "Mother Mary" took on a whole new meaning!

Actually, it didn't happen right away. In fact, I had been Catholic a couple of years before I learned to pray a rosary properly. And yet there was something about her ... seeing her serene face every Sunday, smiling down at me from the entranceway of the church. I couldn't help myself ... I began to think about her more and more. Just who was this woman, and why did she matter to me?

Finally, as an ado...

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