Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

All of us deal with fears in life and overcoming them is the key to living in freedom in your relationships.  People have anxieties about all sorts of things, but within your spouse you should be able to find a safe place. Within marriage is where you should be able to admit your fears, have them be seen in the light of truth, and then overcome them through action.  Listen in while we discuss how you can recognize ways in which fear is holding you back from true connection with your spouse and ways to conquer that fear.   For more on this and other topics related to marriage, parenting and family life at https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/

  Divorce is so common in our culture today that the effects of it on children can easily be dismissed. Almost every couple who gets married has a family member whose life was affected by divorce, so we can think it must not be a big deal. But those people who are adult children of divorce will tell you that it is.  It is a wound they carry their whole lives, but because of Jesus and His power over sin and death that wound can actually be transformed and become a life-giving wound.  Dan and Beth Meola are the founders of the ministry “Life Giving Wounds” which serves those adults whose parents have divorced.  Their compassion, wisdom, and vulnerability in sharing their own stories is inspiring and encouraging.  Listen in to this conversation even if you are not an adult child of divorce.  It will give you insights that you have not considered before regarding this pervasive issue in our society.   Links:  https://www.lifegivingwounds.org/

Parenting kids in a tech age; Teaching kids virtue in an age of tech; Is it possible to use tech with virtue? “It is your responsibility to train your child in virtue and slowly move from protecting their innocence to building Christian maturity.  This is true for many areas of life, including use of technology” - Mike and Alicia Hernon We have talked about the harm that the overuse of screens can do to kids and especially teens, but in this podcast we give parents some ways that they can be proactive in this world of Big Tech.  Screens are here to stay, so parents need to take them on as another area in which they need to train their children in virtue.  Do not lose heart!  It is possible to have virtuous kids who are on social media, play video games, and interact with others online.  Listen in as we show you how.     Referenced in this episode Catholic Youth Summer Camp - https://cysc.com/ Messy Family Membership - https://messyfamilyhood.com/join-neighborhood/  Play and Pray Challenge: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/challenge/  Family Dance-Off: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/dance-off/

At the suggestion of our members, we talked MONEY with Sam and Rob Fatzinger, parents of 14 and authors of the new book A Catholic Guide to Spending Less and Living More. This conversation was insightful and full of great ideas for you and your families!  Money is a hot button topic for many couples and we need to find ways to use our resources wisely especially when you have a larger family and live on one income.  Rob and Sam show us that it is possible!  Plus, living simply has other benefits such as the lessons it teaches our children, care for the environment, and a greater respect for the goods of the earth.  Listen in to this fun conversation with the Fatzingers and the members of the Messy Family Neighborhood.   Join us in the Play and Pray Challenge: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/challenge/  Family Dance-Off: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/dance-off/  Find out more about the course for dads: https://messyfamilyhood.com/dadsvswild/ Book - A Catholic Guide to Spending Less and Living More - https://amzn.to/3pH2811 Fatzinger blog: http://fatzfam.com/

In this podcast, we answer listener questions in a new format - our new Program Coordinator, Katie Gamboa joins us to present topics for us to discuss. She did a great job! We may be biased since she is our most amazing oldest child (but we aren’t - she DID do a great job!) With Katie’s help, we tackle some sticky questions such as how to handle a sister who is coming out of the closet? How should this be handled with kids? Families are also struggling with the strong emotions of their children when the parents have big feelings themselves!  Listen in as we discuss socializing young children, physical intimacy and the “desire discrepancy”, and expectations in marriage and family.  Thank you to all our listeners who contact us with questions.  We love to hear from you!

Part of our message at the Messy Family Project is that parenting is a path to holiness. But the question many couples have is how much parenting is God asking of us? Within the bounds of the Church’s teaching, there are many prudential judgements that couples have to make - when to abstain from sexual relations, how to give birth, how many children to have, how long to wait in between births, and how to incorporate this new baby into your family. In this podcast we share some of our birth experiences and the values that we have come to embrace through the ten children we have brought into the world all in the context of the gift that it is to be a parent. Children are the supreme gift of marriage - they are not only good in themselves and good for the world - children are also good for us! Listen in as we take on this important discussion of infants, childbirth, NFP and more.  Join us in the Play and Pray Challenge: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/challenge/  Find out more about the course for mothers and daughters: https://messyfamilyhood.com/maidens-signup/  Find out more about the course for dads: https://messyfamilyhood.com/dadsvswild/

April 22 is Earth Day, but maybe we Catholics could call it Creation Day and celebrate the loving Father who gave this world to us to “till and keep”.  Maybe we were thinking of this because Mike was chopping down old trees on our property and we all have sore backs this morning!   But seriously, some may look at the extreme environmentalists and be tempted to move to the other extreme and not take seriously their stewardship of the land and animals that are part of our world - but that is not a Christian response!  Time and time again our Church has encouraged people to take responsibility for creation around us, be it plants, animals, or the earth itself.  We are supposed to take care of it and use it well.  Listen in as we talk about teaching and modeling for our children the correct way to care for the gift of creation.    For more information and resources visit: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/

During this episode, Mike shares his story of his parents’ divorce when he was a teen and his own journey of healing over the past 20 years.  But this is more than just his story.  We also share the hope that Christ brings to us in all our relationships, the lessons learned from suffering and pain, and, ironically, how the divorce actually strengthened his belief in marriage as a covenant between two people that should never be violated.  Anyone who has experienced the effects of divorce in their own lives, or who has married someone who has needs to hear this message.  Even though divorce is ubiquitous, it is not without devastating effects.  What is the answer?  Its the same answer that applies to us all - we need to be Fathered by God and find our identity in Him.  Listen in and have hope!     Take Listener Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MFP-2021    Referenced ministry for children of divorce: https://www.lifegivingwounds.org/ Support their sacred art drive: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sacred-art-for-children-of-divorce#/

For years, Patrick Lencioni has had books on the top of the best seller charts.  He is a master at teaching businesses how to improve their culture and organizational health.  In this podcast, Pat and his wife Laura join us to talk about the culture and health of our families and how his lessons from business can help us!  In our Family Board Meeting course, we use his book 3 Big Questions for the Frantic Family to help couples discover their unique values and rallying cry so this interview was a great time for us to go even deeper into these questions with our listeners.  This podcast is from a Zoom call that we had with our members and the Lencionis so we were able to take questions from the audience and have some great interaction.  Listen in to this compelling conversation!   Complete our listener survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MFP-2021    Take Pat’s Working Genius assessment using our special discount code: Messyfamily at https://www.workinggenius.com/ Join the Family Board Meeting course: https://messyfamilyhood.com/family-board-meeting-registration/

This is the year of St. Joseph so let’s talk about what we can learn from this man who knew Jesus and Mary more intimately than any other person who has ever lived.  There is so much we can learn from him! Because there is really no definitive teaching on St. Joseph, we can extrapolate from what we know about Jewish culture at the time and what we read in scripture to imagine what he must have been like.  We do know that he can teach us about being a spouse, a parent, a follower of Christ.  He can show us how to love Jesus and Mary better and, as patron of the family, he is a powerful intercessor for us!  Listen in to this insightful conversation about the man who can serve as a model to us all - St. Joseph.   Webinar on Holy Week as a Family: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/holy-week-webinar/ 5 Week Family Board Meeting Course: https://messyfamilyhood.com/family-board-meeting-registration/