Hill of Beans

Valerie Schultz is the author of two previous books: Overdue: A Dewey Decimal System of Grace and Closer: Musings on Intimacy, Marriage, and God. Her work has also appeared in Give Us This Day, America magazine, and in her regular column for The Bakersfield Californian. She and her husband Randy have four children and three grands.

"In A Hill of Beans: The Grace of Everyday Troubles, Valerie Schultz offers a rich feast of hard-earned insights born from an honest, searching life of faith. Along the way, she invites readers to discover how God’s grace is found both within and beyond the sacramental life of the church: in the joys and struggles of ever-changing family dynamics, in lean times of recession and career detours, in empty nesting and church disaffiliation, in caring for a loved one with addiction, and even in experiences of tragic suffering. With an uncanny ability to look at and write about life unblinkingly, Schultz inspires us to look at the whole of our own lives with her same openness. It’s a calling to become 'the saints of the everyday,' and that’s a calling our church, and our world, is desperate to hear."Michael J. Sanem, is the author of Your Church Wants to Hear from You: What Is the Synod on Synodality? and writes regularly at incarnationiseverywhere.com

• ContentsIntroduction 11NOT BELONGING/ALIENATIONThe Message in the Machine (2012) 15Daughter of Doubt (2002) 17My Burden Is Light (2014) 20Nevertheless, She Persisted (2017) 22FAMILY STRIFEWhat Makes a Family? (2020) 26Jaime and His Not-So-Sacred Life (2005) 28The Prodigal Daughter (2019) 32ILLNESS, PHYSICAL AND MENTALThe Pain and Point of Suffering (2014) 35Mental Health Challenges (2004) 37Panic (2021) 42CAREERS/MONEYFailure High: My First and Last Year of Teaching (2006–2007) 45The Thinner Wallet (2009) 65A Living Wage (2017) 67ADDICTIONGood Morning, My Beautiful Child (2020) 71The Other Deadly Plague (2020) 74CRISES OF FAITHSunday Crybaby (2017) 77 Emangelization, or the Stone Age of Spirituality (2015) 80The Theme of Change Remains the Same (2015) 82A Dry Spell (2019) 84Fall Down; Lift Up; Repeat (2019) 87ROMANCE/MIXED-FAITH MARRIAGEMaking Other Plans (2004) 8940 Shades of Gray (2020) 92The Marriage Couple (2021) 95RAISING CHILDRENSugar and Spice and Everything Pierced (2003) 97The Nest, Empty (2010) 99WWJD (2009) 101Child of Mine (2021) 103CLIMATE CRISISThe Eighth Work of Mercy (2016) 107Vegetarians for God (2011) 109INJUSTICE IN THE SYSTEM/VIOLENCETo Life! (2000) 116Ashes in Parkland (2018) 119System of Injustice (2017) 122The Privilege of Skin (2021) 129AGINGEvil to Graceful in 60 Seconds (2005) 133It Takes a Village (2013) 136A Thankless Child (2015) 140 MORTALITY/DEATHDeath’s Small Gift (2009) 143A Labor of Love and Loss (2019) 145Shopping with the Dead (2018) 148Postscript 151