Girlfriends (a Podcast For Catholic Women)

What is your relationship with Mary like? Do you struggle sometimes to feel close to our mother in heaven? Author Marge Fenelon writes extensively about Mary, from personal experience and from a historical perspective. Her newest book is My Queen, My Mother: A Living Novena. She joins me for a conversation about this book and others this week. Check out all of Marge’s work at her website, MargeFenelon.com (https://margefenelon.com) Snippet from the Show “Whether you’re anxious about your work, or your children, or your marriage–Mary cares about that.” RESOURCES * Praymorenovenas.com (https://www.praymorenovenas.com/) * MargeFenelon.com (https://margefenelon.com) * How to Pray Like Mary (https://ascensionpress.com/collections/collection-book/products/how-to-pray-like-mary) EVENTS * July 30-August 2: Catholic Marketing Network in Lancaster, PA * Saturday, November 16, 2019: You Are Enough Retreat at Holy Family Catholic Church in Orlando, FL * Saturday, January 11, 2020: You’re Worth It Retreat, St. Michael Chu

Failure feels terrible. Maybe you didn’t get a job you applied for, maybe your idea for a school fundraiser was a total dud, or maybe you just got impatient and yelled at your kids. Again. When we fail, we are sometimes tempted to live in denial or drown our sorrows in unhealthy ways, but this week I want to invite you to spend some time thinking about healthy ways to respond to failure—so we can learn and grow from our experiences. See the full shownotes as ascensionpress.com/girlfriends Snippet from the Show “Sometimes when we fail, the temptation is to feel like you don’t have any control, but in any situation, you can choose how you react.” 1) Acknowledge how you feel. Don’t pretend it didn’t happen or that it doesn’t matter. If you are feeling angry or sad or embarrassed, allow yourself to fully experience that feeling without judgment. 2) Stop any negative coping. Avoid engaging in numbing behaviors like drinking or overeating. A little indulgence might be soothing, but make sure this is not your go-to

This week’s show was recorded live on Facebook with listeners interacting with me live as I recorded. This was a fun way to do the show and I hope you enjoy listening to it, even after the fact. We talked about the topic of sharing your faith with non-believing family and friends. How can we avoid conflict and share authentically in a way that might inspire others to explore the Faith themselves? Here are some ideas I shared: 1) Show, don’t tell. As much as you can, lead others to the Faith through your example of joyfully living it out, rather than trying to teach them or lecture them about it. 2) Pray! Pray for the grace to know how to share your faith. Pray for the people you hope to convert, and pray for the opportunity to share your faith with others. 3) Remember it’s God’s job. It’s not about you! You can cooperate with God’s grace, but only God can convert people’s hearts. 4) Invite them to something. Invite people to your church, to a parish event, or just into your home. Invite them in to see your li

My daughter got married last weekend, and despite all the planning that goes into weddings, we survived! In fact, I enjoyed it! I am so grateful to God for the gift of this blessed event and all that we enjoyed in the process of planning and hosting. When I shared photos on Facebook and Instagram, many people asked me to do a podcast about wedding planning … so here you go! Snippet from the Show “As you’re planning a wedding, it’s important to lean on Mary ... She is such an understanding, consoling, compassionate mother. In those moments when we’re tempted to stress about things we know we shouldn’t, she’s very helpful in calming our stressed out souls.” SHOWNOTES Here are my un-professional thoughts from a mother-of-the-bride: 1) There are no “have-to’s” So many times, the pressure we feel to do things a “certain way” or to meet other people’s expectations is completely unnecessary. I encourage you to examine what things you feel pressured to do and consider letting go of things that are not meaningful or

This week I am excited to share a recent conversation I had with my friend, author Katie Curtis. Katie is a wife, mom, and author of The Wideness of the Sea, a beautiful novel about a young woman’s life transition in her career and among her family members and romantic interests. I loved reading this book recently and know you will enjoy it too! Katie is working on a second novel, even as she raises her family of six kids (including toddler twins!) and working as a freelance food writer. You can read her food writing at her food blog, The Humble Onion, and more about all her work at her website, KatieCurtis.net. I also share a question from listener Samantha about how to handle small children during Mass. Do you have ideas to share? Let me (and Samantha) know! I would love to include your ideas and input on a future show focused on this perennial topic. Snippet from the Show “Reading is sort of like the Trinity. There’s your consciousness, the writer’s consciousness, and the words that pass through the page.”

Do you struggle in friendships? So many of us do. But I am a firm believer in the idea that if you want a good friend you should be a good friend. So in that spirit, this week, I am sharing five things that good friends do. Snippet from the Show “It’s a beautiful opportunity we have that God allows us to pray for other people. Good friends approach their relationships in prayer.” SHOWNOTES Good friends pray with and for their friends. Ask your friends how you can pray for them. If you want to grow closer to someone, consider adding their intentions to your daily prayer life. If you are longing for friends, bring that longing to your prayer life as well. Tap into the power of prayer for your growth in friendship! Good friends are courageous. They step out and make the first move. They engage others, even if it means stepping outside their comfort zones. Ask someone over for coffee or for a playdate. Be vulnerable in your conversations with friends you have already—sharing honestly about your struggles and impe

This week I am chatting with one of my heroes, author Colleen Carroll Campbell about her newest book, The Heart of Perfection: How the Saints Taught Me to Trade My Dream of Perfect for God’s. Colleen shares about life as a wife, mom, and successful author, speaker, and media personality, and the ways in which she was brought to a deeper understanding of God’s love for her through her struggles with perfectionism and coming to know saints who struggled too. Colleen’s previous book is My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir, another great read that will inspire you to learn more about saints who can accompany you on your life’s journey. Check out the shownotes as ascensionpress.com/girlfriends Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

This week I am answering a question from listener Erin who wants to know how to get herself to do the things she wants to do. We all struggle with making good habits. We have values and priorities, but sometimes when it comes to following through, we need what Erin calls a “kick in the pants.” Snippet from the Show “God wants us to set reasonable goals out of self-love, not self-loathing.” SHOWNOTES There are some things that can help us find success in establishing the good habits we want and stopping the bad habits we don’t want. This week I am sharing four ideas: Identify your pitfalls. Think about what might make you fail before your failure happens. What obstacles might get in the way? What temptations might you fall prey to? Make a plan now for how you will handle your pitfalls or avoid them altogether. Make laziness work for you. We are all creatures of efficiency and so we can really increase our chances of success if we make good choices easy to do and bad choices hard to do. Make the things you wan

This is the show you’ve been waiting for! This week, my husband Dan joins me on the show for an original interview—the first male guest we’ve ever had on Girlfriends. Dan takes readers’ questions from Instagram, discussing pregnant women, complementarity between the sexes, and even foul language. And then Dan tackles the same topic we discussed last week from my point of view—discipline. Dan shares some of his ideas about the importance of setting and enforcing rules as parents, but also talks about establishing a “family culture” that will form your kids and serve them well, even when they leave home. For the full shownotes, including a list of my upocoming events, check out this episode at ascensionpress.com/girlfriends Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

In anticipation of next week’s show, when my husband Dan will be coming on to share about discipline, I thought this week I would share my own perspective on effective discipline. At the beginning of this episode, I mention a new video series on Divine Mercy from Fr. Chris Alar!! If you don't know much about Divine Mercy, or you want to learn more, check out this free video series at ascensionpress.com/pages/divinemercyvideos (https://ascensionpress.com/pages/divinemercyvideos) I also share feedback from listener Megan who listened to the first forty episodes of Girlfriends through all of Lent. Thank you, Megan! :) Snippet from the Show “What a privilege and honor that our children’s first experience of who God is is through their relationship with us [their parents].” Here are four ideas I have to share – let’s see how Dan’s list compares next week when he comes on! Be clear. Set standards for your kids and expect them to meet them. Follow through. If you set a standard and a child fails to meet that standa

Do you know that next Sunday we will observe Divine Mercy Sunday? This time of year is a wonderful opportunity to focus on Jesus’ gift of Divine Mercy. I mention Fr. Chris Alan in today’s episode, and I just found out that he has created a video series on Divine Mercy with Ascension! Go to ascensionpress.com/pages/divinemercyvideos (https://ascensionpress.com/pages/divinemercyvideos) to sign up to receive exclusive access to this FREE video series! A great way to celebrate Easter for all fifty days is to plan to practice the Corporal Works of Mercy in your family and in your community. In this week’s show, I share ideas for creative ways to practice each of the works of mercy. Feed the Hungry Give Drink to the Thirsty Clothe the Naked Shelter the Homeless Visit the Sick Visit the Imprisoned Bury the Dead How do you plan to practice mercy in the coming weeks? I would love to hear your ideas! I also share feedback from listeners Christian and Melissa. Melissa shares how much she loves using the Hallow app for

This week, I had the opportunity to chat with author Dawn Eden Goldstein about her newest book, Sunday Will Never Be the Same: A Rock & Roll Journalist Opens Her Ears to God. Dawn shares about her conversion from the Jewish faith to Christianity and eventually the Catholic Faith through the telling of the fascinating story of her life. The book is beautifully written and inspiring to readers and seekers from all walks of life. Check out the shownotes for this episode at ascensionpress.com/girlfriends Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Holy cow, you guys! I heard from so many of you after my recent show (5 Ways to Grow in Patience) and you were all about the fasting. I mentioned in that show that I believe fasting is a helpful way to work on becoming more patient, and many of you wanted to know more. To begin, I share voice feedback from listener Andrea who wanted to know some practical tips for making fasting more successful. I share some ideas along those lines at the start of the show: Stay busy Drink plenty of water Start small And then we move on to some ideas I want to share about what I believe are the main spiritual benefits of fasting: Fasting quiets your inner “self.” This is the main thing we are called to do as Christians—deny ourselves and focus on God and others. Fasting teaches us to not seek immediate gratification. You are not going to die because you feel hungry. Through fasting, you gain power over physical desires. We are meant to control our physical passions with the use of our reason, and fasting is a practice in exa

We all have times in our lives and in our days where we feel worn out and sluggish, but today we will combat these feelings and boost our energy in simple ways! We talk a lot about things we should spend our time and energy on, things like: hospitality, prayer, exercise, and volunteering. These are all amazing things that we should strive for, but so often our energy is put into the things we have to do, that we have so little left for the things we want to do. We often think of the body/mind connection in terms of what the mind can do. The phrase “mind over matter” implies that we can accomplish anything, so long as we have a will of iron. But the body is important here too. Let’s talk about some of the things we can do to get our body on board with our mind and boost our energy. Some of these things require a bit of will power at the beginning, but once you’ve started, your body will respond as well! I also share feedback about hospitality from listener Elizabeth and some fasting support from listener Dawn

Patience is something we can all afford to work on. Not just because patience is a virtue and so we should avoid impatience, but because we can negatively affect relationships with others and our own happiness when we are impatient. This week, we also hear feedback from listener Aubrey who appreciated our recent show about talking to your kids about tough moral topics. Thank you, Aubrey! Is patience a struggle for you? Join the club! Here are five ways I suggest that can help you become more patient. Find out the cause. Figure out what your triggers are and then work on changing your approach to those people and those situations that lead you to impatience. Are you stressed? Are you multitasking? Are you running late? Are you tired? Figure out the cause of your impatience so you can work on addressing the problem at its cause. Try fasting. Fasting is a spiritual practice that can help you to grow in patience. I have been experimenting with spiritual fasting this Lent and have been surprised to find that it t

Let’s talk about having people over! Why does hospitality feel so hard sometimes? The idea of having people over is so nice. Chatting in my clean living room, having beautifully prepared hors d’ourves, not running ahead of someone to make sure the bathroom is presentable ... But that’s not reality. We don’t need to have perfect homes and lives to invite someone in. So just do it! Here are some tips I want to share with regard to hospitality: 1. Stop putting it off. Be honest about the kinds of excuses you might be making and just invite someone over already! I have a challenge for you: invite someone over before the end of Lent this year. 2. It’s not about your house. Reflect on the differences between the idea of “entertaining” versus “hospitality.” If you are worried about your house instead of about welcoming people, you might be focused on the wrong things. 3. Keep it simple. No one says you have to throw a fancy dinner party. Just invite friends over for dessert, or another mom over for coffee. Make sure

Today we’re talking about how we can help the global Church through prayer and offerings, and the ministry of The Church in Need, a papal charity that supports the Catholic faithful and other Christians where they are persecuted, oppressed, or in pastoral need. My guest this week is Brooke Taylor, an author, runner, mama, wife, and a friend of mine. Brooke shares about her upcoming half marathon she will be running in the Holy Land, in order to raise funds and awareness for The Church in Need. We’re almost a week into Lent! How is it going for you so far? Let me know in the comments! Check out these previous Lent-themed Girlfriends episodes: Pray Fast Give and Girlfriend’s Guide to Fasting I also share feedback from listener Tereza who asks about how to handle a tricky situation with her mother-in-law. Snippet from the Show “Sometimes you see the news and feel helpless in the face of evil. But there is something you can actually do.” RESOURCES FROM THE SHOW Brooke’s website: http://brooketaylor.us/ Support

Our guest this week is Andrea Zachman, author of The Sacred That Surrounds Us: How Everything in a Catholic Church Points to Heaven, a book that helps reveal our Catholic churches as shrines of devotion, packed with symbolism and deeper meaning. Andrea shares how she came to write this beautiful book, and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at its inspiring content. This book is a great gift idea and perfect for anyone looking to discover more about the Church. You can find it at shop.ascensionpress.com I also share feedback from listeners Amy and Kelly. If you have feedback you want to share on this or any episode of Girlfriends, I would love to hear from you! Links to my contact information can be found in the shownotes of every episode at ascnesionpress.com/girlfriends I would love to hear from you! Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Inspired by Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the areas in my life that need decluttering. It’s not just my home that is in need of tidying, but also my digital space, and (most importantly) my spiritual space. To that end, I’m issuing a decluttering challenge for these three spaces—Marie Kondo style. Listen in to hear the challenges and change your life! Have feedback or an idea to share? I would love to hear from you! SHOWNOTES Declutter your living space - I’ve been working on decluttering my home, and I want to encourage you to do the same. Remember Marie’s rule: if it doesn’t spark joy, then get rid of it. Challenge #1 Deep clean a space in your home you have been putting off or avoiding. Challenge #2 Deep clean a storage space in your home. Declutter your digital space - Maybe you don’t often think about the ways in which your digital spaces clutter your life, but this week I want to challenge you to think about this. Challenge #1 Track your s

This week my guest is Leila Miller, author of Made This Way: How to Prepare Kids To Face Today’s Tough Moral Issues. Leila is a wife, mom, grandma, and author who has been combating evil in the culture for decades. She speaks with wisdom and from experience on this important topic. We chat about how to talk to your kids about hard-hitting Catholic issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, pornography, and transgenderism, and the reality of children encountering these topics. Go to ascensionpress.com/girlfriends for the shownotes and links to the resources from the show! Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe