The Better Part - Intentional Living for Christian Moms with a Bible-Loving Catholic Mama

For the last episode of this series, Marci Combo and I discuss what prayer looks like for each of us. We answer a couple of questions that listeners have asked about: how our relationships with each person of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) work in our prayer lives, and what our daily prayer routines tend to look like. We also touch on topics that haven't yet be...

Join in for a rosary that follows along with verses from God's Holy Word! The rosary is a beautiful, effective prayer that allows you to meditate on "mysteries" while repeating rote prayers. If you've never prayed the rosary, check out this thorough and helpful page from Hallow. It gives an explanation of what the rosary is, why we pray it, and how to pray it. https://hallow.com/blog/how-to-pray-t...

Whether we show up nice and neat or as a big ol' mess, God is 100% present to us! Reflect about how He loves us despite our mess and then join in for another led meditation. This meditation comes from the book An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. It prompts you to consider how you were created fully by God and not by your own doing. The world would have gone on without y...

Let's talk about Lent and then meditate on scripture together! This episode uses imaginative prayer, which is a beautiful way to dive deeper into a narrative passage of the Bible and pick up on details you may have missed in a simple reading. If you want to do more imaginative prayer on your own and would like a guide, check out this website: https://campusministry.nd.edu/pray/ways-to-pray/ima...

This episode goes through some of St. Ignatius' Rules for Spiritual Discernment. This is huge for understanding God's voice and voices of evil spirits in your life. Sometimes feeling God's presence and understanding his voice is easy and sometimes it is really hard! Sometimes our prayer feels fueling, refreshing, and like deep communion with God, and sometimes prayer feels dry and like...

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, prayer is just hard. Sometimes it is due to logistical difficulties. If that is you, go back and check out the "Prayer: Practicals" and "Prayer: Troubleshooting & Tips" episodes. But sometimes, it's just hard because of stuff we are going through in our personal lives. Major financial difficulties, depression, difficult diagnoses, an...

Let's talk contemplative prayer! Many saints before us have thrived with hours of contemplative prayer every day, "sitting in the room with Jesus." If vocal prayer is us talking to Jesus and meditative prayer is us focusing on Jesus, contemplative prayer is us listening to Jesus. It is not about our actions, but about God's actions and listening to what He wants to say to us. Thi...

This episode dives into MEDITATIVE prayer, which takes a little more focus, discipline, and time than vocal prayer. Meditative prayer is beautiful for growing our virtues of patience and helping us develop more intimacy with Jesus! You can meditate on all kinds of things, including: scripture, prayers, pictures, nature, or even just a word. By training our bodies to slow down and focus , we can go...

Once we have established a solid routine of prayer, we can work on deepening our prayer so that we can grow closer to Jesus! This episode speaks on many different types of vocal prayer (any time you are speaking to God either out loud, in your heart, or written words). I encourage you to open your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to draw out one type of prayer you can work on. OR you may just choose...

When life is inconsistent, it can be really hard to find consistency in your prayer! In this episode, we’ll do some troubleshooting. I’ll share the experiences of a few different women that can help you figure out how to make the time for prayer even when life changes. I’ll also give some overall tips that might be helpful! In the next three episodes, we will focus on deepening our prayer lives an...

In this episode, Jenna defines what she means by consistent, daily prayer and goes through an acronym that lists aspects of a good prayer life. Use this acronym to look at your own prayer and see if there are any ways you can improve the environment in which you pray! Next week, she’ll discuss troubleshooting, which can help you if you struggle to find the time of your day to devote to prayer, plu...

Join me for the first episode of our "Prayer" series! This series will hit on some practicals for bringing prayer into daily life as a mom and will go through different types of prayer for each of us to grow in our walks with Jesus. A daily prayer life is essential to developing a relationship with Jesus, and a relationship with Jesus is essential to living a life of peace! He wants to p...

Y’all! I’m so excited to share my lovely friend Jenna with you! You will not want to miss this episode! Here’s the survey we talk about in today’s episode - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-I-UMz4hz_0P74SSVddosk1-jrt6cZr1urbGWqzR-qONyEQ/viewform - we would so appreciate it if you filled it out! Jenna’s podcast starts January 2, 2024! Get excited!!! Email me at 500secondstojoy@gmail.com...

I am BACK and I’m excited to not only share about how life has been lately and what’s next on the podcast, but to also introduce you to my special guest today. My sweet mom, Jennifer Fisch Lemp, is on the podcast today to share about her new book! It’s called Resting on a Pillow of Prayers: Poems of Loss, Hope and Healing. I am SO excited for you to learn from her. She’s going to share about how G...

I’m taking a break and I want to thank you for listening and explain why I’m taking this break. God bless you and your family! Xoxo Stephanie [email me at 500secondstojoy@gmail.com if you’d like to connect] [Here are the podcasts I mentioned to go check out: Latte and Laundry, Her Pursuit, The Joy Filled Podcast, Read-Aloud Revival, The Homeschooling Journey, and Abiding Together]

How do we sit at the feet of Jesus while managing a busy household? My guest, Suzanne Bilodeau, is here to answer that question today, and she answers it so beautifully! Suzanne is a Catholic wife and momma of 6 with a heart for encouraging moms on their faith journey! Her podcast is called Latte and Laundry and it is a podcast you must check out if you like my podcast. I’m an avid listener and I...

No matter how your Lent is going, friend, this is your invitation to “begin again” and to “live today well”. Today is a gift from God. Let’s live in that truth! Xoxo Stephanie [connect with me at 500secondstojoy@gmail.com - I’d love to hear from you]

This is a great one, friends! If you struggle with trying to do it all and be it all for everyone, you’re going to love this conversation I had with Amy from House of Eilers. Press play and be encouraged! Then head to www.houseofeilers.com or www.instagram.com/houseofeilers and continue being encouraged by Amy! She’s just lovely. She also has a podcast called #momchatmonday that you’ll love, too!...

In need of a little encouragement today? Tune in to today’s interview with author Nancy. My guest, Nancy I. Sanders, has written countless children’s books and has a new one to share with y’all today, “Bedtime with Daddy”. She speaks about the power of bedtime reading with your children and has some timely encouragement for us young moms. Enjoy!! Xoxo Stephanie [Grab a copy of Nancy’s new book by...

How do we love our families well? We start with loving God well. I’m talking with Jenna Guizar today and we are chatting about growing in closeness with our Lord. We chat about pursuing God in prayer and it’s so good, friends! Jenna is the Founder + Creative Director of Blessed is She Women's ministry + community. Head over to www.blessedisshe.net to learn more about what they do and to grab a cop...

Let’s raise some AMAZING kids! I’m so excited to introduce you to podcaster and author, Monica Swanson! Her new book is available TODAY and it’s called “Raising Amazing: Bringing Up Kids Who Love God, Like Their Family, and Do the Dishes Without Being Asked”. You are going to LOVE this conversation today and you will love Monica’s book, too! Learn more about Monica at www.monicaswanson.com and gra...

God wants to draw near to us this Lent. Will we respond to His call? God bless you and your family! Xoxo Stephanie [connect with me at 500secondstojoy@gmail.com if you’d like]

God sees your heart, sweet mama. Let’s talk about that. I want to encourage you and maybe challenge you a little bit today. I pray this episode blesses you and meets you right where you’re at! If you have ideas for Bible studies I can do in the future please feel free to email me at 500secondstojoy@gmail.com and let me know which books of the Bible you’d like to journey through together - I’m thin...

Can we be content where God has placed us? What if we’re excited and looking forward to the next phase of our motherhood journey? I have some thoughts and encouragement to share with you today, sweet friend, and I pray your time spent here is a blessing. I’d love to hear from you! Email me at 500secondstojoy@gmail.com and we can continue the conversation via email. God bless you and your family! X...

In today’s mama devotional, we’re exploring the concept of single-tasking and focusing on what matters most. I pray this time spent here blesses you in your family life and encourages you to live more intentionally. I’m trying to figure it out right alongside you - we are in this together! Xoxo Stephanie [Email me at 500secondstojoy@gmail.com with any feedback or thoughts on Bible studies I should...