Letters to Women - Exploring the Feminine Genius

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Emily Frase and we’re talking about how to discern staying at home with your kids, being a stay-at-home mom in a world that values productivity, and what self-care looks like when you’re home with littles. I’ve loved getting to know Emily more as a friend in this conversation and it was so much fun to sit down and talk to her about this topic of being a st...

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Adele Collins and we’re talking about how to discern a relationship with someone who isn’t Catholic, her marriage with her husband, Ben, and how she lives out the feminine genius as a Catholic wife and mother to seven kids (six daughters and one son!) This conversation with Adele was over a year in the making, and it was such a joy to get to know her bette...

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Nicole Caruso and we’re talking about the origin of Nicole's #WorthyofWearing challenges on Instagram, why self-confidence is contagious, and how to have a balanced approach to self-care as a Catholic woman today. I loved this conversation with Nicole and I can’t wait to share her incredible insight into our closets and confidence as Catholic women. I lear...

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Amanda Weeder and we’re talking about Amanda’s passion for helping tell the story of a home, her tried and true decorating tips (ones that I’d never heard before our conversation together), and why you don’t have to feel guilty as a Catholic woman if you’re wanting a beautiful home to retreat to. I loved this conversation with Amanda and I can’t wait to sh...

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Maribel Laguna and we’re talking about the beauty of healing from wounds and Maribel’s work with In His Image Counseling Center down in Texas. In my story, there have been several seasons where I’ve seen a Catholic counselor - to work through grief and trauma, and to invest in my marriage. I really enjoyed this conversation with Maribel and I can’t wait to...

In this episode, Chloe sits down with Kiki Rocha to discuss her story as a sexual abuse survivor. Together, they talk about how this abuse impacted Kiki's relationship with God, what healing looks like in her life, and how we can better support sexual abuse survivors. If you’re longing for healing after surviving sexual abuse, but you feel alone or abandoned, sister, this letter is for you.

We all know the stereotypes around friendship with other women - gossip, catty remarks, back stabbing, vicious comments. But you know what? I think that friendship - and I’m talking wholesome, holy, authentic, healthy friendship - with other women is something that is NECESSARY in our lives as women. Friendship with other women isn’t something that’s good for some, not for all, or not worth the ef...

I don’t know about you, but Coronavirus is setting the discernment stage for me. So much of what I considered “normal” is being called into question, and I’m striving for a healthy discernment of what this “new normal” will look like for my family and myself. I’m so excited to share this conversation with Samantha Povlock, founder and director of FemCatholic. She shares about a brand new digital c...

When I was experiencing secondary infertility after losing our son to miscarriage, there was one line at every Catholic wedding that would leave me feeling empty and broken: “Be fruitful and multiply.” It felt like a knife twisting in my heart, and it left me wondering if my infertility meant that my marriage couldn’t be fruitful. If you’ve felt the sting that comes with hearing those words as a w...

An empty nest seems so far off right now - but I know that I’ll blink and we’ll be parents to a teenager. What happens to our hearts as women as our children grow up and begin to lead their own lives? How can we absorb the mixed emotions of anxiety and excitement, grief and hope? Whether you’re a mother who is watching her nest empty, or you’re in the trenches with littles and an empty nest seems...

I first encountered Kate Capato’s art through her painting called The Woman. It depicts Eve and Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s beauty was (and still is!) captivating. It’s an image that I have thought of and taken to prayer many times. Beauty is restorative - and it points us back to the ultimate beauty of God. In today’s conversation, you’ll learn about the power of beauty in your ordinary, daily li...

Do you long for freedom in your life? Have you wrestled against the knots of sin and shame? It’s easy to believe the lies from the devil that are haunting our hearts as women. The lies that we are too much, or not enough. The lies that everyone sees our brokenness and doesn’t care, or that people would run away if they knew the pain on our heart. But Christ sings truth over our stories. And he inv...

I once heard a cross described as something in your life that you don’t want, you didn’t choose, and you don’t like. And I don’t know what cross you’re carrying in your ordinary life as a Catholic woman, but I know you’re carrying one, sister. So as we get ready to enter into Lent, I hope this episode with Therese Williams inspires you to not just resign yourself to your cross, but to lean into it...

Innocent. Guilty. Good. Bad. Isn’t it interesting that we describe our food that way? “Good” and “Bad” are also words that I’ve heard used to describe the shape of our bodies as women - even though we know that God looks at our bodies and sees that He made them good - always. In today’s episode, Elizabeth Varga (The Plant Based Catholic) and I are diving deep into the way that we as women talk abo...

One of my favorite podcasts that I listened to in the early hours of the morning during feedings with tiny baby Maeve was “Coffee and Crumbs” – it was honest, raw, and I found myself stifling laughter as the women on the show shared their stories of marriage and motherhood. A phrase I will never forget from one of their episodes is this one: “Postpartum is forever.” It struck me, as I sat there cr...

How can we get better at self care? The answer may be unexpected, but in today's episode, I sit down with Bridget Busacker to talk about why fertility awareness is one of the best self-care habits women can form - and a solution I can personally attest to myself. We’re also talking about the science and theology behind fertility awareness, why it’s good to know how your body works, and why your fe...

Home is where we live. But the word ‘home’ means a lot more than just the four walls that we call ours. This past summer, Joseph and I bought our first home and sometimes the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the word “home” is now, how every broken toilet, leaking laundry room, poorly insulated door, roach infested stove, and sinkhole in the backyard is ours to take care of and fix....

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you’re not doing enough. Maybe you worry you’re not spending enough time with your kids, especially during the holiday season. Maybe you worry you’re not mom enough. I know I have. That’s why I’m excited to dig into perfectionism and motherhood today with you. At first glance, this may seem like a podcast episode just for mothers of children, grown or gr...

As you may be able to tell from the title of this podcast, John Paul II’s “Letter to Women” that he penned in 1995 is one of my favorite things that he wrote during his papacy. But he also wrote another letter that we’re diving into in this episode. It’s called the Letter to Artists. There are so many quotes I could pull from this letter that I love, but one in particular struck me: “All artists e...

There are a lot of myths about the Catholic Church floating around out there, but two that I hear quite a bit are first, the Catholic Church hates women, and second that a life of prayer and holiness is something that you’re not going to be able to attain unless your a big shot like John of the Cross, Edith Stein, or Catherine of Siena. This week on Letters to Women, Kathyrn Jean Lopez and I dive...

When you open up your bank statement or your credit card bill, do you cringe? You’re not alone if you’d rather avoid looking at the balance of your checking account. After all, a majority of us are sifting through things like student loan debt and credit card debt. You may even be realizing that your money worries are acting like a barrier between you and God when it comes to trusting him. But it...

How do we serve those who suffer? In today's episode, Jacque Anderson and I discuss what it looks like to see the face of Christ in those who are suffering around us, and how to not turn away. She shares about her work with Emmaus Ministries, who serve men in survival prostitution situations on teh streets of Chicago.

I don’t have any tattoos, but if I was to ever get one, I know exactly what it’d be – the words “Be not Afraid,” written in the handwriting of John Paul II. Those words are so dear to my heart that they’re engraved on the inside of both Joseph and I’s wedding band. John Paul II begin his amazing papacy with that brave cry. Throughout my story as a Catholic woman, his words encouraged me to let go...

Did you know that women criticize themselves an average of eight times a day? Eight times a day. We’re more likely to see beauty and goodness in the lives of those around us than we are to catch a glimpse of it in our own lives. If you’ve ever stood in front of the mirror and listed off the litany of things you see that you think are wrong, then you’re not alone. So how do start talking to ourselv...

“O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!” Do those words bring comfort, or do they make you squirm? If you’re like me (type A control freak here), those words can be a hard pill to swallow. But Christ calls us to surrender everything, to hold nothing back, and to trust him completely. But what about when he doesn’t fulfill the desires of your heart - even the desires he placed...