Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

You try your hardest to raise your teenagers with patience, honesty and good manners, but they still end up being like you. – Anonymous There is much confusion among teens today around the crucial questions of life and we believe it is because too many parents are not taking up their essential role in their children’s lives.  During adolescence, the parent-child relationship is crucial especially for the parent of the same sex. Fathers teach boys how to be men, and mothers teach girls how to be women.  It’s never too early to start thinking about how to handle this period of transition from childhood to adulthood.  We have seen over the years some families who do this transition very well, and unfortunately some that don’t. Listen in to this podcast as we discuss things we have done with our teens, five of whom are now adults, and how we continue to learn about this wonderful stage of parenting that brings its own joys and challenges.   We discuss these resources in our podcast today: Why Gender Matters Preparing for Adolescence Wild at Heart Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters Bringing up Boys Passport 2 Purity

After attending our niece’s wedding recently, we had some time to reflect on the significance of marriage not only in our own lives today but how being married prepares us for our eternal unity with God.  The church teaches clearly that marriage is a foreshadowing of the unity between Christ, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride.  This reality should impact our marriages greatly!  We need to allow this truth to change us and make us even more serious about deepening our relationship with our spouse.  Listen in for some inspiration about marriage, weddings, and even religious vocations.  This conversation will inspire and encourage you!   Family Board Meeting Workshop: https://messyfamilyhood.com/family-board-meeting-registration/    Lenten program for couples: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/cana90/ Mother Daughter course: https://messyfamilyhood.com/women-signup/  Dads vs Wild course: https://messyfamilyhood.com/dadsvswild/

“Teaching kids how to handle money is more than dollars and cents, it’s about character and responsibility” - Dave Ramsey Handling money is a subject that can bring about strong emotion in couples, but it's a life skill that we need to teach our children!  How we use money reflects our values, and if we want to intentionally train our children and instill in them our deeply held beliefs, then we need to teach them how to use money.  Like most things we do as parents, teaching isn’t just talking.  Children learn by example, they learn by asking questions, and most importantly, they learn by doing.  In this podcast we take some time to explain how we have taught our kids how to use money and how they have taken these lessons into adulthood.  Although we don’t propose to have all the answers, we do share how we have handled allowances, paying kids for chores, children contributing to the household, and children taking care of their own expenses.  Listen in for some fun conversation and inspiration!

The family is a kind of school of deeper humanity. But if it is to achieve the full flowering of its life and mission, it needs the kindly communion of minds and the joint deliberation of spouses.  Gaudium et Spes 52. How do you live life intentionally?  You plan for it!  And when you are a family, that plan starts with taking some time to have a “deep dive” conversation with your spouse.  A tool we have designed to guide this conversation is called “The Family Board Meeting”.  Think about it this way, your family is your own little corporation and you are president of the board.  Well, maybe not exactly, but you and your spouse are the partners in running your home, and how can you do that effectively without a plan?  Once a year it’s a good idea to get away, dream a little and set some goals.  The most important part of this conversation is not making the perfect goals or having the ultimate budget or schedule.  It's actually about having a unified vision as a couple for what you want your family to be. That’s what it’s all about.  Listen in as we discuss this valuable tool for you and your family.  (This podcast is a throwback to 2015!)   Free Webinar and Worksheet: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/family-board-meeting/   Family Board Meeting Workshop: https://messyfamilyhood.com/family-board-meeting-registration/    Mother Daughter course: https://messyfamilyhood.com/women-signup/  Dads vs Wild course: https://messyfamilyhood.com/dadsvswild/ 

Having all our adult children along with our grandchildren at our house over the holidays reminded us that all the sacrifices we have made over the years (and continue to make!) are all worth it.  We thought our listeners would enjoy hearing from our kids’ perspective what worked for them and what didn’t, what we taught them intentionally or unintentionally, and how these lessons affect them now as adults.  We tell parents all the time that is so important to imagine what you want your kids to look like when they are adults, and we have tried to live that out ourselves.  Some topics we discuss in this conversation are the importance of forgiveness, “adulting”, managing teens, allowing kids to fail, and communicating respect for children so they know their voice matters.  We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation because we enjoyed having it!  New MFP Guide to Screens and Your Child: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/screens-and-your-child-guide/ Family Board Meeting: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/family-board-meeting/

Lovers do “for love” what never would be done for a reason, or a rule, or a doctrine or a law. True love “loves” and needs to suffer — not for suffering’s sake alone, but for the sake of what we know is only gained on the other side of suffering: Joy.  - Damon Owens   Damon and Melanie Owens have been serving couples throughout most of their 27 years of marriage and now they have launched their own marriage ministry called Joyfully Ever After.  Damon has been the executive director of the Theology of the Body Institute and, with Melanie, they have trained over 20,000 couples in marriage, NFP and in the beauty of the Theology of the Body.  In this interview we discuss some of the greatest needs they see in marriages today, what to do if your spouse is unwilling to work on the marriage, and how to increase intimacy in marriage.  Like us, they offer practical tools for living Catholic life with authenticity and joy.  Listen in as we dive into our conversation with this inspiring Catholic couple.     Damon and Melanie’s ministry to marriage: https://www.joyfuleverafter.org/ New MFP Guide to Screens and Your Child: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/screens-and-your-child-guide/ *** Support our ministry: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/give/

The Advent season is more than just a countdown to Christmas. It is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ –  His coming at Christmas and His second coming. The Church gives us many beautiful traditions to help us lead our children to focus on more than just presents and treats, but instead on the true celebration of the gift of Jesus! In this podcast we share some ideas and inspiration on what we do for Advent and how to inspire your family in this journey to Bethlehem. Download our free guide to Advent and Christmas at : https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/advent-2021/  Previous podcasts of interest: MP 036 : Holidays with In-laws and Out-laws - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-036-holidays-with-in-laws-and-out-laws/  MP 021 : Visiting Family - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-021-visiting-family/ MP 074 : Busy-ness - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-074-busy-ness/

Jeff Cavins is the author is the Bible Timeline, the tool behind the hit podcast “The Bible in a Year” with Fr. Mike Schmitz.  Jeff and his wife Emily have studied, taught, and led thousands of people into a deeper relationship with the Word of God through their books, talks, and guided tours.  They have a heart for families and a desire to teach parents how to teach their children!   On this podcast, we discuss teaching scripture to our children and learning why it is so important that parents do this.  Not only do the Cavins have great insight, but they also have developed tools for parents to use in their own homes!  Listen in as we learn more about their work and how they are continuing to serve the Church by helping families fall in love with the Word of God.  If you would like to  the video recording, sign up here: messyfamilyproject.com/date-night-with-the-cavins Advent Email Campaign Sign up: messyfamilyproject.org/advent-2021/ Cruise Info: messyfamilyproject.org/cruise/  Jeff's Website and Pilgrimage Information: https://www.jeffcavins.com/

We love interacting with our listeners and one way we do this is by taking your questions!  Katie (Hernon) Gamboa joins us again to sit in as the “Every-mom” and ask us the questions that our members have sent in to us to be answered.  Per usual, there is a variety of subjects that we cover in this episode.  One mom is struggling with spiritual desolation and a husband who is agnostic.  A dad dealing with addiction reached out for encouragement and advice on relating to his wife during recovery.  We also touch on lighter topics such as laundry routines, having fun with your kids, and navigating the secular Christmas trappings that are all around us.  And we always have questions about toddlers, so that topic is in here too!  Thank you to all who sent in their questions - we hope we have done them justice! Link to FANOS:  https://hopehousehealing.com/learn/fanos Link to Cruise: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/cruise/

All of us need community and having people in your home is a great way to make them feel loved and to experience a little bit of heaven.  But so many of us have “hostess anxiety” and feel like our home, our cooking, or our kids aren’t good enough to be exposed to others.  The reality is that we all need to practice hospitality, but not everyone has been trained how to be a good host!  In this episode we do just that!  After giving some inspiration, we go through some practical tips that we have found over the past 30 years for entertaining large groups, small groups, people with kids, or a group of couples.  Getting together is worth it!  Listen in and then subscribe and share!