Girlfriends (A Podcast for Catholic Women)

This week we are getting back to basics. We always talk about how we can find peace, balance, and joy in family living, so here are six basic things to do every day to get there. Snippet from the Show There are times in your life when you don’t feel like you can go to God…If that’s you, know that you’re in my heart and in my prayers. I understand that struggle. But don’t let yourself stay there. S...

Preparing for Christmas during advent shouldn't be that different from preparing for the arrival of a new baby. In today's episode, I reflect on the ways that our Advent waiting mirrors the kind of waiting we do while pregnant and expecting. Here are three simple ways we can focus on preparing for Jesus this Advent season. Clean. When we “nest” while pregnant, we prepare our homes and living space...

Happy Advent! Are you feeling too busy and overwhelmed? Here’s help! This week, I am sharing some easy Advent ideas that are practical and do-able for even the busiest of moms. Paper Chain of Prayer Make a paper chain with a link for each day until Christmas. Write a different prayer intention or fun activity on each link and then every day take off a link, read it, and pray for that intention or...

My guest this week is Elizabeth Foss, wife, mother, author, and founder of the women’s ministry Take Up and Read. Join us as we talk about how to immerse ourselves in the Word of God this Advent. Elizabeth also shares about the newest journal available from Take Up and Read, O Radiant Dawn: An Advent and Christmas Journal, which focuses on daily Scripture study through the seasons of Advent and Ch...

It’s Thanksgiving week! Are you practicing an attitude of gratitude? Even though this is a special time for us to remember the importance of gratitude, being grateful in the everyday is something we can all work on improving. This week, I’m sharing 6 tips on how to be more grateful every day. Snippet from the Show 1. Write it and speak it. You might consider keeping a gratitude journal or using an...

Melissa Girard joins us on Girlfriends to talk about the power of sacred art to reveal universal truths about humanity, the sacred, and man’s relationship with God. **_Snippet from the Show: _ Works of sacred art don’t simply draw you into themselves—they draw you into the greatness of God. We discuss the book, Looking at a Masterpiece by Madelynn Stebbins, a collection of reflections that explore...

I was inspired to take on this topic by my recent reading of Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins. (I did not finish reading because of the insane levels of foul language, so I do not necessarily recommend it!). In it, the author tells his life story of overcoming many obstacles and accomplishing great things. In my reading, I found myself agreeing that many of us can...

It’s easy to downplay the art of homemaking as home decor, but it’s so much more. In fact, one of the greatest capabilities of the feminine genius is the ability to make a place feel like home. Today I’m sitting down with Dr. Carrie Gress, author of Theology of Home: Finding the Eternal in the Everyday to discuss the power of creating a home both physically and spiritually and how we can more full...

After our recent episode on "Toddler Hacks for Weary Moms," I heard from listener Cathy in the Girlfriends facebook group (join the group here ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/1139431999546566/ )!). Cathy writes: “Danielle - I just listened to the podcast on Toddler Hacks. You had a lot of good suggestions. I used to do the reading and the quiet time with my kids. We read about 30-45 min twice a...

It can be so hard to pray for something very good and very specific and then feel like God is letting your prayers go unanswered. Or worse, like he is ignoring our prayers altogether. How can we handle feelings of discouragement and frustration when this happens? Was Jesus lying when he told us, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew...

This week my guest is Chloe Langr, mom, wife, author, and podcaster. Chloe is author of the recently published journal for Catholic brides, Created For Love: Reflections for the Catholic Bride-to-Be. ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1681923777?pf_rd_p=183f5289-9dc0-416f-942e-e8f213ef368b&pf_rd_r=6VPSBDM6152JDG7G6M45 ) Chloe shares her own experiences as a young bride preparing for her weddi...

This week my guest is Kathryn Jean Lopez, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and author of many books, including her most recent, [A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living]( https://www.amazon.com/Year-Mystics-Visionary-Wisdom-Living/dp/1505109043/ref=sr11?keywords=a+year+with+the+mystics&qid=1569515744&sr=8-1 ). Kathryn shares how she came to write this ins...

Are you a mom of a toddler? Are you exhausted? I recently asked for people to send me questions on Instagram, and more than one listener requested that I do a show about surviving the toddler years. So I spent some time thinking about what things I would share that helped me the most when my kids were small and ended up with six hacks that can help! "God made you the parent of your child on purpos...

This is a scary topic for many parents—how can we manage our teens on social media? I am here to offer some help and encouragement, first of all that you can be of help to your kids with regard to social media, and second of all, it is your right and your responsibility to do so as their parents. I also share feedback from listener Marisa who found the confidence she needed to make a lifestyle cha...

My guest this week is Jackie Angel, singer/songwriter, wife, mother, worship leader, and now co-author of Pray, Decide, and Don’t Worry: 5 Steps to Discerning God’s Will ( https://ascensionpress.com/products/pray-decide-and-don-t-worry-five-steps-to-discerning-god-s-will?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=discernment&utm_content=gfangel ). This book is available for pre-o...

My guest this week helps us take on an important topic that many of us avoid—personal finances. Victoria Sechrist is a financial trainer and a newly-married Catholic (she and her husband met on CatholicMatch!). She and I discuss planning for retirement, managing debt, making investments, and talking about money in marriage. Victoria’s website is ConsumerCatholic, and she also recommends many of th...

Do you struggle to make family prayer time happen in your home? Is it a goal of yours to pray together as a family, and yet you find yourself failing to make it happen? This week, I answer a question from listener Amy who is struggling to make family time happen, especially with a change in schedules as the kids have gone back to school. I also respond to listener feedback about getting started wi...

Author Lindsay Schlegel joins us this week for a show where we discuss how parenting can help us grow closer to God. That is the theme of Lindsay’s book, [Don’t Forget to Say Thank You: And Other Parenting Lessons That Brought Me Closer to God]( https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Forget-Say-Thank-CatholicMom-com/dp/1594718091/ref=sr11?crid=3QCGKARKIO9VS&keywords=don%27t+forget+to+say+thank+you&qi...

This week we are talking about seasons of change in motherhood, and how we can best cope with them. Whether you are sending a child off to college or to kindergarten, moving into a new neighborhood or starting a new job, change can be a challenging thing to cope with. Snippet from the Show “A change may be hard, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. The more we focus on our gratitude, the more w...

This week’s guest is my friend Kathryn Whitaker, author of Live Big, Love Bigger: Getting Real with BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus ( https://www.amazon.com/Live-Big-Love-Bigger-Getting/dp/1594719144/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=live+big+love+bigger&qid=1565106842&s=gateway&sr=8-1 ). Kathryn shares beautifully about how this book came to be, and also about her struggles with faith, marr...

Do you struggle with confidence? I think many of us feel alone in our anxieties and insecurities, but it’s very common to lack confidence sometimes. Whether you are starting a new work project, or building a friendship, or growing in your marriage or spiritual life, or setting health goals, many of us worry that we will fail and struggle to feel like we are in control of our circumstances. Snippet...

Are you working on organization this summer? Or thinking about ways to approach the fall season with a fresh, new, de-cluttered home or workplace? Today’s guest is here to help. Without guilt or any measure of negativity, Lisa Lawmaster Hess gives you the tools you need to get organized at last. Lisa’s new book is Know Thyself: The Imperfectionist’s Guide to Sorting Your Stuff ( https://www.amazon...

I can’t wait for you to meet Olivia Colombo! She is going to encourage you! Olivia is a young adult podcaster, speaker, and activist who is making changes and encouraging others with her positive energy in the Church and in her community. She and I chat about young adults in the Church, being a pro-life witness on college campuses, and the importance of striving for holiness, no matter what your a...

Who among us doesn’t want to influence our significant other? And this is not always a bad thing! We want good things for our husbands and we want them to become all that God has planned for them to be, and so we … nudge, nag, suggest, and criticize. But these are not great ways to communicate. Let’s talk about some ways you can work with your husband to unite you both in common goals, instead of...

Should you homeschool, or send your kids to public school, private school, online school, charter school, or some combination of these things? These are hard decisions we have to make as parents, and at the end of this school year is an opportune time to think about how you will educate your children in the coming year. Listener Carol recently asked if I would share the reasons why we chose to hom...