From Our Table to Yours: Lydia Borja

Photo courtesy of Deanna Bartalini. Modified in Canva.

Tell us about yourself and your family:

I grew up as a Southern belle and claim the enchanting Savannah, Georgia, as my hometown {shout out to my fellow Southerners!} My family and I now live near the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia, but the beach will always be my first love.

When I was 11, my family converted to Catholicism, and it has been the greatest joy of my life! I've been happily wed to a wonderful man for almost seven years, and I spend most of my days building our domestic church and raising our three adorably crazy little people. We're excited to have one more due in June 2016!

Share your family's favorite recipe:

We love to eat! The kids and I have some allergies and sensitivities, so we do have to forgo a lot of the comfort-food favorites that I grew up on. But we still aim for tasty and satisfying! One of our favorite desserts is this chocolate cupcake recipe from Holistically Engineered. We make these for birthdays, feast days, and sometimes just for fun. The kids love them and I'm happy to give them something so yummy and so healthy!

How does your blog help "feed" people spiritually?

After the births of my first two babies, I went through some very difficult months of postpartum depression. It was a time of darkness and loneliness for me and it took a lot of hard work to get past it and heal.

Once I did, God really placed it on my heart to reach out to other moms who are going through the same struggles. At this season in my life, the way I can best do this is through my website and blog, Flourish in Hope.  

If I could, I’d welcome each and every struggling mama into my living room to share a hot mug of strong coffee, and I’d offer her a hug and some dark chocolate, and I’d do my best to speak something affirming and beautiful and life-giving to her heart.

But since that isn’t really possible, I blog instead. :)

Flourish in Hope is a ministry of solidarity, encouragement, and support for women, with particular focus on walking with moms as they overcome the darkness of postpartum depression. Flourish is only a few months old, and I'm still working on it -- but I really pray that readers have felt a virtual hug from me, along with the reassurance that they aren't alone!

I was recently privileged to speak at the Faces of Mercy Catholic Conference for Moms, where I was able to share my passion for ministering to weary mamas. Read a transcript of the talk here -- and share it with the mamas you know who might need some encouragement!

Share a Fun Fact about yourself or your family:

My husband is a Filipino, which means that my kids look nothing like me. At all. {And I'm ok with that!}

It also means that we eat a lot of rice. In the Philippines, children learn to eat rice with their hands, by packing it firmly together and using the fingers like a little bowl. I'm still trying to let go of my fork-loving ways, but my kids love to scoop rice with their hands!

Share your family's favorite grace before meals prayer:

Because we've got a table full of little people, we usually stick to the short and sweet Bless us O Lord... During Lent, we pray the Stations of the Cross after dinner together, before leaving the table.

Complete the sentence: When you join us at our dinner table, ...

...things are guaranteed to be loud, messy, and a little chaotic -- but we welcome y'all to our meal!

Copyright 2016 Lydia Borja