You know how you’re sometimes drawn to another person because there’s just something about him or her when you first meet? For me, Mary Lou Swanberg is one of those people. We first met about four years ago, and her faith and inner peace just radiated. At that point, Mary Lou was in a leadership role in a Catholic home schooling endeavor, and during that time she and her son hosted more than 125 conferences across the country to provide professional training and encouragement to home schoolers.
Since then, she’s married the love of her life and has joined him at Life Line Counseling Center, which offices in Fairfax and Warrenton, VA. 
Recently, Mary Lou and her husband have discerned a call to increase awareness in our area of the opioid crisis, including organizing a great conference on short notice. Here’s what she wrote friends, including me: “Since addiction is so shame-based, people stay isolated. We want to reach out and be there with them, give them a forum to share their stories, and to provide hope and love.”
Mary Lou’s willingness to answer the Lord’s call… along with her love of fun, as this photo shows… inspires me to act more and navel gaze less.
