As a cradle Catholic, I developed a pro-life belief system from a very early age. As a young adult, I prayed outside abortion clinics and debated the evils of euthanasia among my college peers. I knew with conviction that life begins at conception and should be protected until its natural end. But at 40 years old, I heard the words that every pregnant woman fears most, “I’m sorry, there is no heartbeat,” and my life was forever changed. Immersed in the intense grief that followed my first miscarriage, I realized that I had no idea how to care for my own 10-week-old baby who had passed away. Through marriage prep and Natural Family Planning (NFP) classes and many years as a mother, the topic had simply never been raised. Amidst all the pro-life talks and presentations, miscarriage care had never been brought up.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Kristina Schoh, Catholic author, via phone and email on November 14th, 2025. Some of the questions/answers have been rearranged, edited, and paraphrased to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
Your book was inspired by noticing what your kids needed in their own faith formation. What moment first made you think, “I need to create a Catholic seek-and-find book”?
I found myself realizing that the only thing that kept my two-year old at the time quiet in Mass was a seek-and-find book. It was princess themed and I was searching for a Catholic version of it.
It is a project that took 8 years to reap that harvest. So my oldest child was 10 by the time I finished this book.
This is one of the favorite parts of my journey. I had many mentors who helped me. But when I couldn’t find a book publisher I took to Facebook. A couple people have commented about Voyage Comics and Michael. I found out that Michael is my 6th grade teacher’s son-in-law. And this teacher was one of my all-time favorites growing up so it was just incredible to have this connection to Michael.
I had felt defeated time and time again when I was rejected from various publishing companies. It was difficult with family life, but I trusted in God’s plan that it was meant to be. Around when my third child was born one of my mentors, Sister Bridget Donaldson, had passed away and she knew that I was called to make this book. So that’s when I really buckled down to finish this project. Michael and I met for coffee in 2023 and talked to him about being an illustrator and having this publishing company, Voyage Comics.
Editor’s Note: Every once in a while, the memories you make with your kids are too good not to preserve in writing. What follows is a playful, over-the-top ESPN-style recap of an 8-team Tecmo Bowl the Board Game tournament my son and I played at our kitchen table.
It was one of those nights that reminded me how something as simple as a board game can become a snapshot of childhood, laughter, and the kind of moments you hope your kids remember long after the final score is forgotten.
By Matt Chicoine, ESPN Family Desk
The dynasty was born somewhere between a bowl of Goldfish crackers and a bent corner of the kitchen-table playmat.
Eight teams entered. One left as champion. In the process, Tecmo Bowl the Board Game delivered a tournament that felt less like cardboard and dice and more like January football glory.
FIRST ROUND: DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS… UNTIL IT DOESN’T
The left side of the bracket opened with Minnesota edging Los Angeles, 10–7, in a game that felt like a vintage slugfest. Minnesota leaned hard into its scouting report of big passing offense and tough run defense, and it showed. Los Angeles was hard to tackle but could not shake loose when it mattered.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis blanked Chicago 7–0, bludgeoning its way through with power football that neutralized Chicago’s supposed advantages of great receivers and a brick-wall defense.
The championship game of our Tecmo Bowl the Board Game tournament came down to a moment that still makes my stomach twist a little when I replay it in my head.
For those unfamiliar, Tecmo Bowl the Board Game is a tabletop version of the classic NES football game. Instead of controllers, you use play cards, dice, and team abilities to simulate drives, turnovers, and big plays. It feels part chess, part nostalgia, and part living-room Super Bowl. It is also shockingly intense for something made of cardboard.
In the final, I was playing as Dallas and my son was playing as Indianapolis. These are generic versions of the classic NFL teams, so there are no mascots or logos involved, just colors, stats, and a lot of competitive pride.
Dallas had the ball at the five-yard line. Four chances to punch it in. Four chances to ice the game.
They went nowhere on first down. Nothing on second. Stopped cold on third.
Then we made a call that felt heroic and foolish at the same time. We went for it on fourth down.
There’s something about the rhythm of a day that either drags us down or draws us closer to heaven.
Morning rush, midday crash, evening blur, bedtime chaos… then late-night scrolling. Then we wake up and do it all again.
But what if our messy, snack-filled, Lego-strewn, kid-powered day could become prayer?
That’s the gift of the Liturgy of the Hours—also called the Divine Office. It’s the Church’s invitation to sanctify time. Not just Sundays. Not just in silence. All of it.
So this week, we decided to dive in as a family and pray Night Prayer. Just one night. That was the goal.
We made it four days in a row.
That’s a miracle.
And not the “sun-dancing-Fatima” type. More like the “everyone was in the living room and no one was bleeding or eating marshmallows under the couch while we prayed” kind of miracle. #parentingwin
Daily prayer is like the roots of the spiritual life.
Day One: We Begin
We opened with:
“God, come to my assistance.” — “Lord, make haste to help me.”
The dog started barking. Not sure if it was a leaf, a squirrel, or some minor demon. One kid began reading a bedtime story aloud. Another hung upside down on the couch like a bat.
Then came the sound of wheels on tile.
Our youngest daughter had gone rogue. She retrieved her pedal-less bike from the garage and was now circling the kitchen island like she was warming up for the toddler Indy 500.
My wife and I gave each other a look. The “is-this-worth-it?” look. We decided: let her ride. She wasn’t distracting the others, and honestly, her joy was kind of contagious.
Somewhere during the Psalm, one kid disappeared downstairs and came back with a snack. Again. Another resumed fiddling with a Rubik’s Cube. A third attempted to recite the Gospel Canticle in a British accent (no idea why).
We picked up toys already—eleven times that day. And here they were again, littered across the floor like sacred breadcrumbs leading us to sanctification.
And still… We prayed.
The Divine Office, Lived Loudly
You see, the Liturgy of the Hours isn’t just for monks in cloisters or clergy in collars. It’s for families like ours—with ADHD, barking dogs, tired parents, and snack heists.
It’s the Church’s ancient prayer that baptizes time itself. A liturgical rhythm flowing around the Mass. A pattern of praise that runs through the cracks of ordinary life like gold in kintsugi pottery.
Each Hour of the Divine Office gives shape to the day:
Morning Prayer: praise and purpose
Evening Prayer: surrender and thanksgiving
Night Prayer: rest and trust
(Plus those middle ones if you’re especially caffeinated)
At the heart of each Hour? The Psalms.
As Fr. Timothy Gallagher says:
“Jesus not only prayed the Psalms; He fulfilled them.”
When we recite these prayers, we don’t just imitate Christ—we enter His prayer. We join a chorus echoing through centuries and continents.
Even when that chorus includes a 6-year-old spinning in circles during the Responsory.
Real Reverence Can Have Wiggles
By the fourth night, something shifted. Not externally—we still had interruptions. The dog barked. Someone spilled water. The pedal-less bike made its triumphant reappearance.
But the kids knew the words. They settled in quicker. They anticipated the prayers. One of them even whispered, “Is this where we say ‘Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit’?”
Yes. Yes it is.
That moment—the soft reverence of a tired child remembering the psalm by heart—was holier than any candle-lit retreat. It was grace in the moment.
If you aren’t able to pray Evening Prayer from Liturgy of the Hours, here’s a short and simple one to start with.
Final Blessing
We closed with:
“May the all-powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death.” — Amen.
Then they each climbed into bed. It still takes many minutes to get to bed after prayer. Someone always forgets a drink of water or a stuffed animal. But there’s a beginning of a calmness (at least by a few degrees to start off). They really prayed. With their bodies, their voices, their interruptions… and their hearts. And we prayed together as a family (and in communion with the Church).
So we’ll keep at it. Because God doesn’t just want our polished, filtered, idealized versions. He wants our real days. Our noisy homes. Our ordinary hours.
He wants this hour—even if it comes with Rubik’s Cubes, kitchen bike laps, and the occasional trail mix theft.
After all, as St. Ambrose said:
“The Psalms soothe the temper, lighten sorrow, offer security at night, and stir up holiness by day.”
Turns out, holiness sometimes looks like picking up toys for the twelfth time… and then praying anyway.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Jocelyn Abyad via phone call on June 26th, 2025. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
What inspired you to start We Carry You Still, and how did your personal experience shape its mission?
In 2020 and 2021 my husband and I lost three babies due to miscarriage (at 10 weeks, 6 weeks, and 15 weeks). We were blindsided and found there were not a lot of existing resources that were compatible with our faith.
My husband and I did some research on this and found our own journey of healing. I found a local grief support group called Forget Me Not (they later merged with Owl Love You Forever).
From the work we saw with Forget Me Not, we were inspired to create more Catholic resources for those experiencing loss. My mom, myself and a couple friends started We Carry You Still as a non-profit in 2024.
How does your Catholic faith—and the richness of the Eastern tradition—inform the way your organization accompanies grieving families?
I am an Eastern Catholic and my mom is a Roman Catholic, so we had the East and West represented. As we brought my friends on board, they are actually Orthodox, our mission expanded. The Orthodox similarly are not providing enough support on the miscarriage issue. Our faith is an Incarnate one. When you lose a child due to miscarriage it feels like this invisible weight that people are carrying on their own. One of the beauties of our faith is that we have a physical faith. We have our Mother in Heaven. She knows how it feels to bury Her child.
You mention that miscarriage affects not just the parents, but the entire Body of Christ. What does that communal aspect of grief and healing look like in practice?
Well the name of our ministry reflects that vision. We address this on several levels. First, we know that the parents and immediate family carry the baby that was lost in their hearts, even for years to come.. We offer free Memory Boxes for the women who experience the miscarriage to help them remember their child and process their grief..
Similarly, we are empowering the community to show up for the grieving family with this gift box. Sometimes the community wants to help and show up but they don’t know how. This gives them a way to do that. Everybody together is carrying each other in their grief. Mothers, fathers, living children and even parents who had miscarriages decades ago. And helping the community around them support those in grieving their loss.
What kind of spiritual and practical support does We Carry You Still offer for couples navigating miscarriage or infant loss?
We also offer healing retreats (no matter how long it has been since you lost a baby).
Our retreats are offered to women and couples. We are in the unique position that my husband is serving as a priest and father who knows the loss of a child personally.
Our box packing events are an opportunity for people to help pay if forward and put their grief to work. While we do have some people who haven’t experienced this type of loss helping with the grief boxes, it is predominantly those couples who have experienced loss themselves with miscarriages helping to prepare these boxes for those couples who are currently going through the grief of losing a child.
Many Catholic parents struggle with how to talk to their other children about miscarriage. Do you have any advice for families walking through that?
First off, on our website, we offer informational guides and resources. We have a guide for anyone who is touched by these losses. We have guides in both English and Spanish. On our resources page we have book recommendations for both adults and children. Everything we recommend is in line with official Church teaching.
Typically, for children it is helpful to keep them informed about the miscarriage, bring them to the funeral, visit the graves of their siblings, and invite them in prayers.
There’s this context by which the children can experience such loss through the lense of faith. There’s a hope in the Resurrection and seeing our babies (and their siblings) in Heaven.
I think that while my children were very sad at the moment, having them be a part of the grieving process in light of our Catholic faith has been impactful in the healing process.
How can parishes, priests, and Catholic communities be more supportive to families facing this kind of loss?
I think number one if I speak broadly, this is the forgotten front of the pro-life movement. We do a good job of praying outside abortion clinics and pray to end abortion and euthanasia. And yet we leave faithful couples in the pew who have experienced miscarriage with little to no support.
Burying the dead is a corporal work of mercy. If women are prepared to bury their babies; if people were given these resources they would be more prepared to deal with these crises when they happen.
I think we can be more sensitive on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Use more inclusive language that acknowledges that there is a range of experiences of motherhood and fatherhood.
Providing information is a key way. In the Diocese of Phoenix, we will be participating in the annual NFP training and giving couples resources if and when they may need it. To at least give them resources in the back of their mind should they experience a miscarriage.
For those who want to help but aren’t sure how, what’s the best way Catholics can support someone who’s grieving the loss of a child?
I would point back to the guides we have on our website. Don’t be afraid to mention the child. The parents will not forget about their child. If you can remember the child by name it can be very empowering.
I try to ask open-ended questions to see how they are feeling. And I also ask people to tell me about your family instead of how many kids you have.
Where can my audience learn more about your work?
Visit us at We Carry You Still and take a visual tour to learn more. You can also follow us on: Facebook and Instagram @wecarryyoustill . There are two other excellent ministries in this line of work. One is Redbird which supports child loss of any age and the other is Springs in the Desert, who supports Catholics experiencing infertility.
About Jocelyn:
Jocelyn Abyad is the wife of Fr. Zyad Abyad and mother of 7 daughters on earth and 3 babies in Heaven. She holds a degree in psychology from Arizona State University and worked as a finance banker for over a decade before choosing to stay home to homeschool her children. Alongside her husband, she serves at St. John of the Desert Melkite Catholic Church in Phoenix, Arizona.Jocelyn shares insights on homeschooling and liturgical living across multiple platforms as Melkite Momma and is a regular contributor to Byzikids Magazine. Throughout her work and personal experiences, Jocelyn seeks to foster faith, family, and community.
Sponsored: This article is made possible by Pockets of Heaven, supporting quality and engaging Catholic content.
Evangelizing children isn’t always about complex theological lessons or far-off mission trips. Sometimes, the most powerful encounters with God happen right in your own backyard or even your living room. Just as adults benefit from pilgrimages that draw them closer to God, children can encounter Christ through small, intentional “journeys” of faith that fit within everyday life.
Let’s explore how these small pilgrimages can help pass on the faith to your kids while strengthening your domestic church.
The Domestic Church: Where Evangelization Begins
The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us of the parents’ vital role:
“Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule… Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children” (CCC 2223).
In many ways, the home itself becomes a sort of permanent pilgrimage site, a sacred place where children encounter God daily through prayer, forgiveness, service, and love.
As I’ve written before, even small actions like having holy images in your home, praying before meals, answering questions during Mass, or visiting a local Catholic bookstore create micro-moments of evangelization. One of my daughters, for example, loves flipping through pamphlets about the Eucharist. That small curiosity leads to natural conversations about the Real Presence. These little moments plant seeds that the Holy Spirit can grow over time.
Adding sacramentals and liturgical resources to your home can also help foster these everyday encounters. Catholic businesses like Pockets of Heaven provide beautiful, handcrafted tools that help families create prayer spaces, celebrate feast days, and make the liturgical year come alive for kids in simple but meaningful ways.
You don’t need a master’s degree in theology to evangelize your kids. What matters most is creating a loving environment where faith is part of daily life, where Christ is present in both words and actions.
Pilgrimages Teach Kids That Life is a Journey Toward God
Father Dave Pivonka wisely reminds us that “Every single one of us is a pilgrim on a journey. For us Christians, as Pope St. John Paul II said, this journey should ultimately lead us to the heart of the Father.”
Pilgrimages, whether big or small, teach kids that faith is not static. It’s a living, breathing adventure toward God’s heart. And this journey doesn’t require international travel. While trips to Lourdes, Fatima, or Rome are beautiful, they’re not necessary to experience the graces of pilgrimage.
Small pilgrimages could include:
Visiting your diocesan cathedral for Mass.
Spending an hour in adoration at a nearby chapel.
Walking as a family to a local Marian shrine.
Going on a nature walk while praying the Rosary.
Visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead on All Souls’ Day.
These intentional acts pull kids out of their daily routines and help them encounter God anew. As Fr. Pivonka puts it, “Do something intentional that takes you out of your ordinary routine. Seek to encounter Jesus. You will be amazed what God can do in your heart.”
The Sacraments: Theological Rest Stops Along the Journey
Life is exhausting. I’ve written before how my own fatigue nearly led me to despair. Yet, in that weakness, I was reminded of Bishop Paul Swain’s beautiful words:
“Sacraments are not the end or graduation of the Catholic life, rather sacraments act as theological rest stops to give us strength.”
Confession, for example, is like a pit stop where we release burdens and receive grace to keep walking. As the Catechism explains, “The sacrament of Penance repairs or restores [fraternal communion]” (CCC 1469).
The Eucharist provides nourishment for the journey ahead — our manna in the desert:
“The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus… Life in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic banquet” (CCC 1391).
And marriage? It’s not simply a contract but a covenant of mutual sacrifice. As I’ve joked before, marriage often feels like a holy war against pride, impatience, and selfishness. But it’s also a place of peace, where we strategize, rest, and receive grace for the road ahead.
When we bring our children into these sacramental rest stops by taking them to Confession, preparing them for First Holy Communion, and witnessing the beauty of a sacramental marriage, we’re showing them how to draw strength for their own pilgrim journey.
Penance, Solidarity, and Thanksgiving — Lessons Even Kids Can Learn
Pilgrimage isn’t always comfortable. Fr. Pivonka shares stories of pilgrims enduring blistering heat, unexpected thunderstorms, and travel mishaps. Yet these struggles become opportunities for offering penance, teaching kids a profound lesson: suffering can be united to prayer.
On a small pilgrimage to a local shrine, a child might get tired or frustrated. That’s a chance to gently explain:
“You can offer this tiredness for Grandma who’s sick, or for a friend who’s struggling.”
Solidarity is another beautiful fruit of pilgrimage. Whether walking together as a family or participating in parish events, kids learn that they’re not alone in their faith. They belong to the wider Body of Christ — a Church filled with fellow pilgrims, saints, and sinners all journeying home.
Finally, pilgrimages naturally lead to thanksgiving. As Fr. Pivonka writes about his own Camino de Santiago:
“Going on pilgrimage does something to our hearts and to how we see the world… We begin to see [God] in places where we didn’t before.”
When kids see the beauty of God in creation, family, sacraments, and community, gratitude becomes a habit that sustains their faith long after the pilgrimage ends. Even creating little “pockets of heaven” in our homes — through prayer corners, seasonal decor, or feast day celebrations — can help foster that spirit of gratitude.
Evangelizing our kids doesn’t require perfect words or elaborate plans. It begins with small acts of intentionality, small pilgrimages of the heart, the home, and even the neighborhood.
As parents, our job is to guide our children toward Christ through daily witness, sacramental life, and occasional small pilgrimages that draw them deeper into God’s presence. With each little step, they’ll discover that their whole life is a beautiful, lifelong journey toward the Father.
As Proverbs 16:3 reminds us:
“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
Buen Camino.
Thanks again to today’s article sponsor! Visit Pockets of Heaven where you’ll find resources to help your children journey with Jesus, Mary, and the Saints in the pockets of everyday life.
