Mamas in Spirit

Rich Peluso was in a dark place in his early twenties--he was working a job that compromised his values and chisled away at who God created him to be. While Rich was avoiding time alone with God in prayer, he desperately desired to reconnect. One night as Rich laid in bed, he called out to God. And even though Rich was not ready to fully amend his life, God was faithful. Days later Rich unfolded a...

Elizabeth Blanke never could have imagined she'd be a young widow, on her own with three small children. Elizabeth's husband and high school sweetheart passed away unexpectedly from a sudden heart attack.   Hear how God guided Elizabeth one step at a time to face the unimaginable.   From planning the funeral to learning taxes to becoming the sole parent of their three children, Elizabeth leaned in...

Ismael Fierro and his wife Vanessa prepared for three years--and even learned French--to move from Mexico to Canada. However, when the time came to go, Ismael's company didn't offer him a job in Canada--they unexpectedly invited him to work in Nashville, Tennessee. Ismael learned to let go of his own plan and surrender to God's will. He prayed, "Let me be the person you dreamt of when you created...

Lorraine Hess was touring for her new album about glorifying God when she found out that her home had been severely damaged in a house fire.   After returning home she felt drawn to Adoration. While there, she heard God ask her, "Can you glorify me while you are carrying a cross?" In this Easter podcast, hear how Lorraine was committed to glorifying God throughout the 20 months her family was disp...

"I'm here for a change of heart." Don Weller spoke these words as he began the intake process for his heart transplant surgery. When Don woke up from the surgery, the doctor handed him a stethoscope and Don listened to his replacement heart's beat for the first time. A little while later, his wife Barb, their son and two daughters were able to do the same.   But Don wasn't the only one in the hosp...

There was silence in the delivery room when Jessica Cox was born—Jessica's parents and the doctors were stunned to see she was born without arms. As Jessica's father held her that morning, a stranger approached and said how special he and Jessica's mom must be to bless them with Jessica-- Jessica's parents not only remembered their faith that morning, but they shared it with Jessica.  Jessica, in...

Immaculée Ilibagiza followed her father's instructions and ran to her neighbor's house to hide at the start of the Rwandan genocide. She spent the next three months huddled in a tiny bathroom with seven other women, while extremist members of another tribe tried to find and kill them.   It was in this bathroom that Immaculée gave her heart to God and began to pray in a way she never had before—as...

On Holy Thursday Sister Gianna Junker, a Nashville Dominican, had a conversion of heart in which she learned to accept suffering and discovered what she grappled with most.   "I am my suffering. I am my biggest cross." While Sister Gianna, like all of us, found it easy to blame her suffering on other people and circumstances in her life, she realized that the person who most needed healing was her...

Tim Forbes scored a goal at his college lacrosse game and looked up to see who was cheering loudly--Tim will never forget spotting his friend, Santis, as well as a young, homeless man they had befriended, James. Tim learned "radical empathy" through his encounters with James. Tim was touched by James' humanity and saw Christ residing in him--James also ministered to Tim. Through this experience in...

Susan Skinner discovered she had the gift of discernment of spirits.  Susan's son had slept over at his friend's home before, but this time Susan felt uneasy; she said yes to playing during the day, but no to the overnight invitation. Susan dropped her son off and chatted with the friend's mom, Veronica, in her living room. The next day, Veronica was murdered right where she and Susan had been sta...

Screenwriter Rod Barr shares how God had a plan for Mother Francesca Cabrini that was not her own. At the turn of the 20th century, the dream of a better life inspired Italian immigrants to journey to America. Tragically, most found themselves among the poorest of the poor and even homeless--including the children. While Mother Cabrini had committed her heart to ministry in China, Pope Leo XIII di...

The dawn of each day is a precious time for Megan Nix--her youngest daughter was born at the start of a new day and her beloved mother later went home to God in the early morning hours.   Megan came to learn that not only was dawn the start of these soul-touching days, but also new seasons in her life. Seasons in which Megan would come to know the depth of grief and boundlessness of love.  Megan's...

As a young girl, Tara Nowell began to believe the lie that she couldn't depend on anyone but herself. Eventually, this became anyone but herself and "the bottle." Even when she was at her rock bottom with alcoholism, Tara did not deny God's existence--she just wanted Him to leave her alone. Yet through the love of Christ and her beloved parents, God pursued Tara. After years of denial and resistan...

Our Church family is divided. Yet Christ calls us to communion in Him.  In this Lenten podcast, Chaplain Fr. Jon Meyer and host Lindy Wynne explore how the division in our Catholic Church increases our sense of unhealthy suspicion and harms our capacity to love as we are called.  In life there is a healthy, intuitive suspicion we are blessed with that helps to keep us and our children safe. At the...

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed Christmas! Mamas in Spirit Season 6 will begin on Thursday, February 15th with the Lenten Series. Host Lindy Wynne will be doing a virtual Lenten Plan for Catholic Moms with John Bosio on Fridays at 11am CST during Lent 2024. Go to mamasinspirit.com and enter your email to get more information.  Can't wait to be with you for Season 6! May God bless you and...

By the time Kathy Tankersley was 23 years old, she was a single mom of five children.  Kathy vividly remembers being in church and praying on her knees for a someone she could truly trust and confide in. Then she met Rex Tankersley. The day after their weekend honeymoon, Rex sat her five children down and asked them if they wanted him to be their dad. The children responded with a resounding "Yes!...

"In her life, Lord, be glorified." These are the words Courtney Siebring sang as she cuddled and prayed over the baby girl Courtney and her husband were fostering. Courtney had experienced infertility and longed to be a mother more than anything--yet the department of social services told Courtney and her husband they would not be keeping the baby girl that they already loved so dearly. Courtney l...

"You know who's going to have to do this." The words Brenda's Hauk's husband spoke penetrated her heart--she knew she was called by God to something so much bigger than herself. Even though Brenda was frightened, she said "yes" to a plan that was clearly not her own. Brenda started BrightStone , a comprehensive work, social support, and residential community for adults with special needs, expandin...

When Fr. Ed Steiner was just 5 years old, there was a knock on his front door during supper. Fr. Ed excitedly ran to see who it was. What he found he never could have imagined.   It was Santa Claus!   To the day Fr. Ed still finds himself stirred with a similar sense of awe he experienced that very moment he saw Santa as a young boy. Yet Fr. Ed recognizes what he is really waiting for is the comin...

Be charmed by Ted and Catherine Wynne as they share their gratitude to God and advice to listeners after 50 years of marriage. Host Lindy Wynne has a heartfelt conversation with her parents-in-law as they reveal the trust and companionship they are blessed to have with one another.  From Catherine's '69 Camaro to Ted's love of football, hear how they revel in both the little and big moments. Their...

The table is turned on Host Lindy Wynne, as Chaplain Fr. Jon Meyer asks Lindy about womanhood and what it means to be a woman. Lindy explores the gift of womanhood and meaning of Saint Edith Stein's words, "The woman's soul is fashioned as a shelter in which other souls may unfold."  When Lindy was twenty-one and volunteering at an orphanage in Tijuana, she met and developed a maternal love for a...

After Kristi Bentley experienced pregnancy loss with her first baby, she wondered how something so beautiful could be given and then taken away from her. Kristi now sees how the hand of God was at work in her life all those years ago. Kristi's loss led to a deep understanding of the precious gift of life. While mourning her first child she promised to be open to all the children God might bless he...

The moment Ryan Penney hit the water his life and heart were forever changed. Ryan was on a performing arts scholarship at Samford University and about to begin his first professional acting job. While on a trip Ryan jumped into a lake off of a high cliff. Ryan landed wrong, broke his back and was immediately paralyzed—doctors said that Ryan would never walk again. While Ryan wasn't praying or eng...

Mary Margaret Lambert vividly remembers chatting with her dad while he painted a ceramic frog the night before she lost him. The next day Mary Margaret was devastated to learn her father and his wife died in the Nashville flood of 2010. Little did Mary Margaret realize that the frog her father held in his hands would come to mean so much--F.R.O.G. means "Fully Rely on God."  Mary Margaret struggle...

John Bosio and his wife share a love story worthy of a movie. In the 1960s, eleven-year-old John entered pre-seminary in Italy. Meanwhile, an American girl from a military family was praying for him in a school chapel in Thailand--she and her friend would run into the chapel during recess to pray for their future spouses every day. After fifty years of marriage John knows he and his beautiful wife...