Called and Caffeinated

ANNOUNCING THE JAN 2022 GOD'S ADVENTURE AWAITS PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND! Join me and fellow pilgrims to walk in the places where Jesus walked, discern your God-given mission and purpose, and experience the food and culture of Israel. Celebrate mass afloat on the Sea of Galilee and see Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Mt. Tabor, the Mount of the Beatitudes, and much more!  “God doesn’t just give...

I was super nervous before my wedding night about sex. I didn’t know how to go about finding the right NFP method, and approaching married people with personal questions was embarrassing. The whole deal felt kinda… gross. John and I were promised a “honeymoon every month” in our marriage prep class, but living the reality was extremely hard. We felt disillusioned and bitter. Anyone else out there?...

One million children experience their parents’ divorce each year. Two-thirds of them who were regularly attending a Church or synagogue at the time report that no one reached out to them at that time. Parents’ divorce increases their children’s chance of divorce by 40%. And barely any Catholic dioceses have an outreach for it. My friend Sarah Hart travels to speak at healing retreats and blogs wit...

WATCH ON YOUTUBE HERE   I admit; I envied other girls in high school terribly. (Hello, insecurity!) Unless I could have that girl’s hair, or that other girl’s confidence or whatever other quality I saw that I wanted, I wasn’t good enough. Ladies, been there? It didn’t occur to my immature teenage brain that I wasn’t supposed to be like anyone else. That there was something unique I had to do in th...

“If the bullets are going away from you, you’re going the wrong way!”  WATCH ON YOUTUBE HERE I'm fascinated by the life of Sr. Dede Byrne, today's guest. I first encountered her speaking at the Republican National Convention where she literally held up her rosary and called it her 'weapon of love.' Sr. Dede served as a Colonel in the Army for years before entering the community of the Little Worke...

Gulp. Politics. Not gonna lie, folks; I’ve been terrified to podcast about voting. Many issues are highly incendiary and in our cancel culture it’s daunting. I know I'm not alone as I wrestle with answers to the hard questions. But as I read Clear Conscience, A Catholic Guide to Voting by Matthew Pinto, CEO and founder of Ascension Press, I gained hope knowing that in this confusing world there ca...

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” -C.S. Lewis Called and Caffeinated...

FREE Virtual Summit July 31-Aug 2 2020! A dream event about discerning ALL vocations featuring 40+ of your favorite speakers: Sr. Bethany Madonna, Jackie and Bobby Angel, Jason Evert, Sr. Helena Burns, Fr. Mark Goring, Joe Melendrez, Mary Lenaburg, Fr. Timothy Gallagher, Cameron Fradd, Meg Hunter-Kilmer, Matt and Erin Ingold, Katie Prejean McGrady, and MANY more! Also featuring the world's first v...

“Maybe you should start putting your life into two categories: a no or a hell yes.” Many times I've wondered, "When do things stop changing? When do I get to stop re-adjusting and just be?" The answer is, never. Kathryn Whitaker, mom of six and author of Live Big, Love Bigger, has incredible perspective on coping when plans change. As a mom of six children, one of whom has dealt with ongoing healt...

“All around us we see an impersonal lifestyle trying to invade the family and take away its richness, its culture, its ability to reflect the Trinity in its communion of persons. You’re not alone: you CAN find heaven in your home. It’s not just home base, a place to put your stuff, an entertainment center, or bricks and mortar. It’s a domestic church- a Trinity house!” Catholicism and coffee are a...

"I’d encourage you to just enjoy messaging and talking to them and be grateful for every interaction- it’s good to be interacting with other brothers and sisters in Christ. And only good things will come from it if you approach it that way." Watch on YouTube here!   Are you considering online dating but are a bit weirded out by it? John and I were too, but we ended up finding each other through a...

“You don’t have to ‘pray.’ Just sit and let Jesus love your heart.”  WATCH SHOW ON YOUTUBE   Apologies, tears, unfiltered opinions...all here. After all, we were on a reality show together....;) It's the FIRST EVER cast reunion of "The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns!" Christie Porter (Young,) Claire Halbur, Eseni Ellington, Francesca DiPaola, and Stacey Sumereau (Jackson) have had a lot going on in the...

"What if fear is along for the ride, but doesn't get to sit in the driver's seat?"  CALLED AND CAFFEINATED IS NOW ALSO ON YOUTUBE! WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/tyEc3PVnUoI The coronavirus pandemic is hugely limiting our access to in-person events, but ministry is still happening. Today I'm having coffee with three other innovators who heard the Holy Spirit's call as the world seemed to fall apart...

Nothing is normal, including this Spirit-led Conference I'm launching Friday 3.20.2020. BE NOT AFRAID is a wild idea Holy Spirit put in my head last Sunday (yes, that's 3 days ago,) to launch this Friday (yes that's FIVE DAYS to launch an entire conference!!!!) You can get all signed up here.  Today is Wednesday, 3 days after I started reaching out to speakers and 2 days after marketing began. 3,1...

“If he’s calling us to something, we don’t have to worry about what we lose in answering that call.”  A working theory of mine about discernment is that it leads you to what you really want. Yup, you read that right. You get what YOU really want. I believe this because I believe that when God designed us, he planted desire for his plans deep in our hearts. Our deepest desire and his desire are the...

"The woman at the well and Jesus- what did they have in common? A love of cold water on a hot day. Our Lord, in his very tender willingness to come to our level, finds what we have in common and that’s the beginning of the conversation." I have so many questions about being a Catholic in the USA today. What should guide our decision when choosing a movie? How do we evangelize and communicate effec...

“God’s primary calls come to you through a combination of opportunity, interest, and talent.”  Have you ever felt as though you're too young, too old, unqualified, overqualified, or in some other way inadequate? The devil LOVES to make us believe that we have to be something other than we are to successfully start tackling God's callings. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God uses every sin...

"Don't persevere in something that's wrong just for the sake of looking like you know where you're going." What's the physical aspect of a Catholic marriage really like? What does that woman you want to ask out really want? Should you go on a date with that guy you only like as a friend?  Paul J. Kim is one of the most sought-after speakers today and I had the privilege of sitting down with him to...

“We fear rejection, but living in the mediocrity of being used is painful in a different way because of its emptiness. The Lord wants to free us from that so we can live in authentic joy.” Walking down a busy New York City street in a flowing blue and white habit and veil would force you to really think about your, your motivations, and what you stand for, eh? I got to sit down in person with Sr....

“There is such a great joy of missing out. When we say no to something, we’re saying yes to something greater.” Funny story: I recorded this episode two days before posting my foot-washing post that went viral (over 17.6 million Facebook views so far!) After recording this episode I took a project I wanted to do to prayer and discerned that I'm called to prioritize my marriage, first and foremost....

“When you truly know yourself, then you truly don’t care what anyone thinks of you.” This episode was originally supposed to be called “How Should You Spend Your Teen Years?” However, my conversation with Mike Tenney covers issues that extend far beyond our teen years for many of us: insecurity, comparison, self-image problems, fear of commitment, pressure to perform/pick a public image, negotiati...

“I might not know the meaning of this moment, but if I am convinced that there is a God who loves me then I know that this moment has meaning.” The man, the myth, the legend: It's Fr. Mike Schmitz!!! If you’ve ever wanted to know his coffee order, you’ll hear ALL the details right down to his favorite roast here. Also, he shares that he might be Superman. He just might be. And you’ll also hear a f...

"It’s easy to be hyper-focused on the intention, and to be less focused on what God may want in our life. So we need to make that the right priority in our prayers." How often have you asked "God, just show me what you want me to do and I'll do it?" Or said, "God, WHY WON'T YOU SHOW ME?" I know I said that to God daily during my discernment of religious life. Today's guest, Annie Deddens, is the f...

Every day, every moment, is a building block of God’s plan. Nothing is ever wasted. It's Called and Caffeinated's first father-daughter interview! Ever have a dream but think, nobody's going to pay me to do that? Ever wonder how to turn the thing you love to do into the thing you get to do all the time? Want to inspire others with your passion for your Faith? You might tell yourself the market is...

Orthodoxy. Pro-life. Mass on Sunday. Rosary. Doing allllll the Catholic things. Not enough. “The Lord really wants me to make him not just a part of my life, but the center.” In school we learn in a classroom, taking notes and regurgitating information on tests. But that’s not how people learned in Jesus’s day. Apprentices learned by living with their teacher- imitating not just what he did but ho...