Fireside Talk Radio

Ever feel like blaming God? Of course. Paula Patton Quinn joins Cathy to talk about how we all sometimes feel forgotten by God. But behind the blame is a false assumption, according to Paula, author of The Questions God Asks. “God is withholding from me,” is the thought behind our feelings of abandonment, she says. How do we help ourselves and those we love when we feel like God is withholding? Ea...

Paula Quinn joins Cathy to talk about the tender questions God asks us. Ever wonder what an intimate conversation would be like with a God? The God who seeks companionship with us? Paula explores the tender way God deals with those He loves. Paula wrote one of Cathy's all-time favorite books. With a background in the justice system, Paula knows a ton about mercy, compassion, and companionship even...

Wonder how your husband can miss what you just said? Bethlehem Books’ Jack Sharpe returns to talk with Cathy about cherishing marriage by seeking out the glory hidden in each other. This expert on community connects concepts with lightening precision. You can tell Cathy’s processing new info because she gets really quiet! “I was absolutely terrified,” Jack says about trusting God to sell their hom...

With our nation sharply divided, is there any hope of unity? Bethlehem Books’ Community Expert Jack Sharpe joins Cathy to talk about values that unite. Plus, Cathy ask him about their rescue mission for...drum roll...classic books! Jack and his beautiful wife, Jean, spent their sabbatical during Texas’s worst snowstorm in a hundred years in the Krafves’ cabin. Normally, the Sharpes live in a commu...

Life throws lots of surprises at us. Frigid temps and snow? Check. Silly mistakes of our youth? Check. But, a faith that is tried by fire is a faith that can be trusted, according to Robin Luftig.  Robin joins Cathy to talk about what she learned about faith in her near-death encounter with a brain tumor.  Cathy has questions. Lots of questions. How do we stay calm in a crisis with all the challen...

What would you do if you only had ten days left to live? Robin Luftig joins Cathy to share she learned about communication by way of a brain tumor. How would you respond if you found out they were about peel a tumor the size of your doctor’s fist off your brain? Maybe you haven’t had a brain tumor. Robin knows shocking pain is not one size fits all. Life changes in a heartbeat. Confusion? Facing o...

Sparking Wholeness’s Erin Kerry joins Cathy to talk about how to restore balance in our lives. Throughout life, stress and mental illness affects us all. Is your boss a bully? Is your child acting out? Does your spouse fail to listen to you? All can produce stress and anxiety. Celiac Disease and thyroid issues? What about the stress of hormonal teenagers, postpartum, or aging parents? What's a wom...

In this episode, Cathy interviews Sparking Wholeness's Erin Kerry to find out how we can overcome the rampant mental health issues facing families these days. Erin shares her own personal battle with bipolar disorder following a childhood trauma. You’ll love Erin’s down-to-earth attitude and her practical ideas for achieving mental health and wholeness. With authority born out of experience and tr...

Anna joins Cathy to talk about one of the huge blessings to come out of probably the weirdest years ever! The silver lining of 2020? The way families got more time together. Last year forced us to rediscover the glory of education. How can we use our kids’ natural curiosity to our advantage this coming year? Your children’s natural curiosity is their ticket to self-learning. Education is glorious....

Anna joins Cathy with great ideas for how gratitude sparks more devotion in our families. Wondering if the holidays will be fun or furious? Cathy confesses to grumpiness this time of year. Together this mother-daughter duo laugh about family fails. Anna shares personal stories about grandparents' faith. Why is the Can-Can Song a family favorite? Cathy tells about unexpected, crazy answers to praye...

In this episode, Ellen interviews her mom! And they laugh pretty hard about some silly, personal stuff. Plus, Cathy confesses she feels really nervous. Ellen asks great questions to prompt her mom to share the nitty-gritty, personal stories about her relationship with both her mom and her dad (Ellen's grandparents). Tune in for a very authentic, spontaneous conversation about how having a few stra...

Therapist Sarah Van Hook joins Cathy to talk about rebuilding relationships after sexual abuse implodes a family. Most of her work experience has been intervention with patients in acute crisis. But Sarah knows first-hand how the long-term consequences devastate families. How can a mom respond in healthy ways? What if you spend years in foster care as a kid? What if your daughter won’t reconnect w...

Therapist Sarah Van Hook joins Cathy to talk about life after sexual abuse. The beauty of this courageous woman is in what she’s done with her experiences, some of them very traumatic. When you’ve experienced sexual abuse, how do you claim victory? Sarah is in a very unique spot to give great counsel. Once the victim of an abuser herself, she grew up to be a trained counselor. She is now a champio...

Connections Exert DeeDee joins Cathy to share wisdom on how to bolster the hearts of teenage girls. Conversation is the basis of all companionship, but how do we talk to our teenager daughters? If only we could capture our daughter’s heart? Not to mention her attention for more than thirty seconds! “Teenagers look weird, they smell weird, they sound weird, but they’re not!” laughs DeeDee. “They ar...

Connections Expert DeeDee Lake joins Cathy to talk about how do we keep our daughter’s hearts and souls safe in this crazy world. No matter how destructive our culture gets, there’s hope for parents, according to DeeDee. What’s next for teenage girls? How do we create the right conversations with our daughters? DeeDee’s passion is communication and connection. There’s a reason she has a heart for...

Cathy is not waiting for Thanksgiving to thank God for champion warrior women, like Rosie MaKinney. Rosie joined Cathy to talk about “porn-proofing” your kids. Hollywood seems to claim October for evil and destruction in the name of entertainment. Our culture throws all kinds of yucky stuff at families, especially at our most vulnerable children. Rosie shares the science behind why parents need to...

Rosie Makinney joins Cathy to talk seriously about what takes to free our families of all the problems associated with “porn addiction.” Cathy is so pleased to bring you the story and wisdom of a champion in the Fight For Love. “What I’d heard were these sort of scandalizing stories in the tabloids of celebrities doing, you know, deep and dark things. It all seemed a little sordid and scary," Rosi...

Ellen and Cathy celebrate blessings with heartfelt gratitude. Guess what? YOU are one of them! Also, BIG news. In 2020, Fireside Talk Radio podcasts downloaded over 3 million times. Wow! THREE Million. Huge! Most importantly, we are truly grateful for all YOU’ve done to help us catapult the messages of heroic people out into the universe. Please pray their tender stories keep comforting others. NE...

Cathy and her co-host, Anna Krafve Pierce, ALWAYS come from the place of keeping life easier for MOM! That’s right. Being Mom is hard enough without guilt trips. Are you groaning under the weight of textbooks and assignments? if so, you are NOT alone. With only one month down and eight more to go, how can you lighten your own load? Time travel. Quiet moments with your kids. DIY curriculum. Listen...

Spending time on social media today? Dr. Angie Ruark and Cathy talk about how to build a life around women praying powerfully. Want your own sisterhood of warrior women who pray? A wonderful sisterhood of spiritual warrior women exists to serve each other, especially by praying it forward. For instance, once you get your kids raised and out the door a marvelous thing happens. You suddenly have mor...

Angie Ruark has a knack for attracting spiritual warrior women into her life. Whether it’s her friends, her fellow-writers, or her daughters-in-law! She joins Cathy to talk about what happens when spiritual warrior women pray. There’s got to be an irony in here somewhere. How does the mother of three boys become an expert at attracting spiritual warrior women to pray? “God made it very clear to me...

Author Lindsey Bell returns to share tender insight about how we weather pain unbeaten. We can come out better for suffering. In the process, she shares stories of people who comforted her when she experienced four miscarriages back-to-back. What did Lindsey learn from the tender comfort offered by God through His people? If anyone you know is suffering, or if your heart is broken, you will want t...

Author and mom Lindsey Bell joins Cathy to talk about surviving wrenching pain unbeaten. When you marry your high school sweetheart, you don’t picture a future that includes miscarriage. Most people avoid pain. But what if you can’t? Today’s episode is dedicated to four beautiful kids in heaven, Eden, Jesse, Ella, and Jadon. Lindsey shares about how she faced down four miscarriages, honors the bab...

Cathy and Anna share one of the top secrets of truly successful homeschooling parents--getting our kids to enjoy learning for themselves. If you can get your children to teach themselves everyone wins! Teachers, parents, and best of all the kids themselves! Not only that, you equip your kids for success throughout life. Why? Because every truly successful leader is a natural self-learner. Most lea...

“I didn’t expect it would be so hard,” Brooke Frick says. Then she and Cathy break into giddy laughter. You can see why we love this author and mother of five. Motherhood is one thing. Motherhood times five? Oh, my! As Brooke shares, you may notice a pattern of encouragement. She loves to talk about how to depend on God's strength when we feel weak. If life is feeling like a drudge, Brooke's humor...