The Springs in the Desert Podcast: Catholic Accompaniment Through Infertility

This week we air our third podcast in our miniseries on examining our consciences. The Springs in the Desert spiritual Father, Fr. Paul, takes us again into an examination as we look at our relationships with others. It's a gift to live in community yet sometimes it can be a real challenge. May this examination help us open ourselves up to the grace the Lord wants to give us this Lent!  Links:...

We welcome back Fr. Paul to this second episode in a miniseries on examining our consciences. He and Jillian discuss why it's common to experience fear and discomfort surrounding the Sacrament of Confession, but why it's completely not necessary! To end the episode, we'll again dive right into another examination where we take some quiet time and individually examine our relationship w...

Welcome to the first podcast in a miniseries on examining our consciences. Father Paul, our Springs in the Desert spiritual Father, explains what an examination is and why it's healthy and beneficial to do regularly. Then we'll actually dive into one where we take some quiet time and individually examine our relationship with God.  This should be a prayerful and meditative time to help us...

Our special guest this week, Bethany Meola, discusses Life Giving Wounds, a ministry she founded with her husband, which helps adult children of divorce or separation find healing. Do you come from a broken home? Have your parents been separated or divorced? If you have wounds from your family of origin, you are not alone. Remember, the Lord wants us to live joyful and abundant lives, no matter th...

We welcome back special guest and licensed counselor, Clare Kane, on the podcast this week to discuss intimacy in a season of infertility. She shares some common threads she sees when meeting with couples struggling with infertility as it relates to intimacy. If this is an area of your marriage where you're seeing some wounds emerge, you're not alone. Clare will help put words to why we ma...

In this Desert Reflection, Jillian and Stacey dive a little deeper into The Five Love Languages as we continue to reflect on how to keep the spark alive with our spouse. Being in tune with how our spouse ticks, can deepen our bond with them and strengthen our marriages which is something we all want! Links: The Five Love Languages The Five Love Languages Quiz

It can be a challenge to keep the flame alive during a season of infertility. Springs team members, Ian and Cassi Durnan, share with Ann their own personal struggles in their marriage when it comes to daily connecting with their spouse at a deep and intimate level. They also reveal some ways they've worked through things to get to a place of mutual nurturing, encouragement, and care in their r...

Happy New Year Springs in the Desert Listeners! We'll start the year off revisiting an old favorite, the Word of the Year. Have you picked a word for the year yet? Springs team members, Ann and Cassandra have, and they go deep sharing their personal reflections and insights as they unwrap what their words mean for them. Spoiler alert, one of the words is 'trust' and what they discuss r...

Jillian and Ann discuss the various conversations where one might face challenges in a season of infertility in today’s episode. From setting up an appointment to talk with your pastor and navigating questions from family and friends to having fun with your spouse and changing up your practice of prayer, they talk through how to begin these conversations that may be difficult to navigate. Together...

On the pod this week we welcome Mari Wagner, co-owner with her husband, of West Coast Catholic, a popular Catholic lifestyle brand. Mari shares about all things homemaking with Spring's team members, Allie and Cassandra. She offers some great advice on how to make your house a home in which the art and decor can draw your gaze up to heaven. She also shares some pearls of wisdom on building int...

Advent is here! Ann chats with Fr. Paul about how we can take advantage of this beautiful season in the Church to get close to the Lord. Just as we would prepare our house for Christmas, we can take this opportunity to prepare our souls as well. Ann and Fr. Paul give some tailored and practical advice as it relates to prayer, fasting and almsgiving during a season of infertility. Let us help you s...

Cassandra and Jillian chat with Mary Bruno all about Spiritual Motherhood and how to cultivate it. They discuss that because infertility exists, we can be confident that God has entrusted us with many avenues in which to be fruitful. Through discernment and our daily “yes,” spiritual motherhood and fatherhood make God’s love tangible to those around us in an abundance of ways! Links: 12 Stripes De...

Our Desert Reflection this week deals with the timely topic of gratitude. As we are about to sit down at the Thanksgiving table, it's an appropriate time to consider the feelings of gratitude we may sometimes struggle to cultivate during a season of infertility. Ann and Cassi help renew our perspective on gratefulness and offer practical suggestions so we can go from rotely listing our blessin...

Are you praying in desperation? Do you wonder why it seems God is answering everyone else's prayers except your own? Fr. Paul shares his wisdom regarding prayer with Ann and Jillian on this week's desert reflection. We are importantly reminded that God always answers our prayers though not always how we had envisioned or in our timing. But it's always better than what we had in mind! L...

What does being okay with being okay look like in a season of infertility? Ann and Cassi share how it's possible to grieve your infertility while also experiencing deep joy and surrender. It doesn't mean that you don't have your hard days, but rather, that you can still enjoy an abiding peace all while knowing God is working everything out for your good. Link Blog Post - The Difference...

Have you been thinking about adoption? Not sure where to start? It's normal to have a lot of questions and maybe even some fear. Cassandra chats with Catholic writer, Emily Stimpson Chapman, and one of the Springs founders, Kimberly Henkel, and picks their brains on all things adoption. If you feel like God might be calling you to adopt, you'll want to listen in! Links: Emily's Website...

In today's episode, Ann and Jillian invite special guest, Victoria Cerise, back on the show to discuss a deeply personal and difficult topic, grieving a miscarriage. Victoria generously shares her story of loss and offers healthy suggestions on how to journey through the grief that often accompanies miscarriage. They discuss the difficulties that even this community can face in comparing the c...

This week Cassandra and Ann welcome special guest and licensed counselor, Clare Kane, to the podcast. The women discuss processing the transition into menopause and where it intersects with the experience of infertility. Clare shares some of her story and gives encouragement to those walking this path into a new horizon of life and marriage. Links: A God at Hand: Part One A God at Hand: Part Two C...

We welcome back Jamie Rathjen of the Fiat Institute this week to discuss a deeply personal topic to her, miscarriage. Jamie shares with Jillian and Christina her own story of loss and its physical, emotional, and spiritual effects on her. Although a heavy cross, we see through Jamie's story God working all things for the good for those who love Him. Links: Behold Your Child Ministry; Archdioce...

For our Desert Reflection this week, Jillian welcomes back licensed counselor, Edward Luersman, on the podcast. The topic of discussion is on grief and how it can manifest itself during infertility. It is completely acceptable and healthy to grieve your infertility, and Edward gives our listeners some practical tips on how to process that grief. Links: Edward's Practice

On the podcast this week, we welcome Theresa from The Loveliest Masterpiece. Theresa shares with Springs team members, Jillian and Cassi, her story of infertility, miscarriage, and hope. Just like no two women's infertility journey's are the same, Theresa talks about the multiple crosses of infertility and loss she has carried. She also talks about her ministry called, The Loveliest Master...

Ann and Jillian discuss the traps we can fall into during the busy seasons of the year. As the summer comes to a close, they share ways to reset your personal calendar, your marriage, and your prayer life. By learning to say "no," entrusting our unfinished tasks to God, and inviting Him into your calendar planning, you can reset when you need it most. The best part? You can reset every d...

We hear this concept thrown around often in the Catholic sphere, but what does it really mean, to live liturgically? Cassandra and Ann welcome special guest, Steffani Aquila, from His Girl Sunday, to discuss this topic. Steffani gives some great ideas on how to start living liturgically if we've never done so before, or new ideas to try if it's something with which we're already famili...

In today's Desert Reflection, Ann and Fr. Paul explore the lives of Saints Joachim and Anna, the Virgin Mary's parents. Since these saints are the patrons of Springs in the Desert, it's only fitting we get to know them and learn from them, especially how they carried their cross of infertility. These saints are perfect role models of how to grow in holiness, even in times of great tria...

Jillian and Christina welcome Edward Luersman to today's episode. Edward is a Springs in the Desert contributor and licensed professional counselor whose focus includes infertility, miscarriage, and their associated grief. He begins by sharing about some of the common feelings and experiences he sees in his practice among people struggling with infertility or loss. Then he discusses how we mig...