Gretchen Crowder

Gretchen Crowder has served as a campus minister and Ignatian educator for the Jesuit Dallas community for the last 15 years. She is also a freelance writer and speaker and is the host of Loved As You Are: An Ignatian Podcast. She has a B.S. in mathematics and a M.Ed. from the University of Notre Dame as well as an M.T.S. from the University of Dallas. She resides in Dallas, TX, with her husband, three boys, and an ever-growing number of pets.

God as Gardener

I despise gardening! It’s not gardening’s fault, really. It’s mine. I do occasionally try to garden, but every time, it fails miserably. Usually my foray into gardening begins with the sudden...

Prayer for Sitting Watch with Christ

Every time I have needed Christ, I have found him waiting patiently for me in a school chapel. The first school chapel I visited regularly to seek Christ’s presence...

Three Tools for One Step Forward

During a particularly difficult moment recently, I found myself sitting, head in my hands, at a complete loss. I was faced with an unexpected situation, and I didn’t know...

God Gives Us an A

A couple of years ago, I had a student who spent quite a few free periods hanging out in my office. One day, he looked at me and said,...

Showing Up Messy

One afternoon right before the end of the fall semester, a smiling child came rushing down the school hallway shouting, “Mom, I just have to tell you something!” The sight...

Sharing the Wisdom: What I Learned from My Grandfather About Art and Dreams

“Boys, stop throwing that ball in this room! I have one room of nice things. One. Go play somewhere else!” I screamed as I caught a ball just as...