Girlfriends (a Podcast For Catholic Women)

Do you want a better marriage? I know I do! Today I encourage you to think about some ways in which you might be falling into bad habits or negative spirals in your relationship with your spouse, along with four ideas for improvement. Making bad assumptions. Do you assume the worst about your spouse’s intentions, especially inside of conflict? Many of us do this out of insecurity or defensiveness, but it’s not fair and hurts your relationship. Having unspoken expectations. Do you have problems, expectations, wants and desires that you fail to communicate to your spouse? And then do you wind up feeling disappointed when he fails to meet your unspoken expectations? We need to be clear in our communication, especially about expectations in marriage. Apathy Have you gotten lazy in your relationship? What small efforts and kindnesses have you let slide in recent years? Think about it and demand better from yourself. Your marriage is worth the investment! Negative Communication Habits Step outside your relationsh

I offer six different ways every wife can support her husbands to be the spiritual leaders in the home and community: Think about what you want. Consider what you want from your husband and then ask yourself, “Is it fair and reasonable to ask this of him?” Recognize what he is already doing. There are many different ways of being a “spiritual leader.” Recognize and appreciate the things he is already doing right. *Don’t boss him. *This is ugly. Don’t boss or try to bully him into being the person you wish he would be. Give him room to be a husband and father, by focusing on the ways in which you are called to be a wife and mother. Figure out what is getting in the way. Is he tired? Are the kids misbehaving? Does he have no time? Find out what the obstacles are so that you can help with them. Find out what his goals are. Ask him about his spiritual goals for himself and for your family. Think of ways to help him meet those goals and offer your support. Do your own stuff. You have spiritual goals and you are ca

Listener Tarcy reaches out this week with a question about how to stop yelling at her kids. She recognizes that it’s a bad habit, but struggles to stop. Do you yell at your kids sometimes? Or maybe your husband? Or co-workers? Let’s talk about why this happens and some ideas for ways to stop. Follow through. We need to teach our kids that we mean what we say the first time we say it, and this requires upfront discipline on our part. So hard! And yet so worthwhile in the long term! Listen to yourself. Pay attention to the ways you communicate to others, especially when angry or frustrated, and decide if that is what you want for your personal relationships. Remember that your kids will copy what you do. Do you want them to be “yellers”? Pay attention to the example you are setting. Whisper, or use a very calm and quiet voice to get your kids’ attention. It works surprisingly well! Check in with yourself and ways you might be tempted to compare yourself to others. Often, our frustrations with our families are

The Church is in trouble, and we feel powerless in the face of this evil, but we are not powerless. I have been spending some time thinking and praying about what we can DO, actually DO to help save our Church and I am sharing them here today: Pray for, encourage, and support our good priests. (8:00) Renew your family prayer life, especially with the Rosary and devotions to Mary, and talk to your family about the needs of the Church. Prayer is not a passive approach, it is healing and empowering. (16:07) Take action. You can do good things in your parish community. If you see anything in your own parish, it is your job to ask questions. (23:44) Tell me how you are coping and what you are doing to take positive action to do good things in our wounded Church. I would love to share more ideas in the coming weeks. Here is a link to the Fr. Mike episode I mentioned: Fr. Mike Schmitz Addresses the Pennsylvania Sex Abuse Scandal (https://media.ascensionpress.com/video/the-pennsylvania-sex-abuse-scandal/) I also shar

Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

How can we grow closer to God every day? I think sometimes we take the ideas of holiness and sainthood and put them up high on an unattainable shelf in our minds. But God calls you to be holy! While he does call you to grow in big ways sometimes, he usually calls you to grow in small ways, in opportunities he sends your way every day. Here are some ways that I have been working on everyday holiness and I want to encourage you to think about them too: Look for ways to serve. Pray your morning offering. Talk to God all day. Look for the worst job. Pray to grow in holiness. Lastly, I answer a question about little kids’ sleeping habits from listener Grace. Maybe you have advice for her as well! Send me your ideas and I will be glad to share them in a future show. Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Do you make prayer excuses? Don’t lie. We all come up with creative ways to avoid doing what we know we should do—pray! In this week’s show, I share some ways to respond to ourselves when we are tempted to make up excuses for why we aren’t praying more. The excuses we cover: 1) I don’t have time. 2) I will do it later. 3) I get distracted. 4) My family is almost never all home at once. 5) I don’t know what to say. 6) I’m too tired. Do any of these sound familiar? Let’s resolve together to accept no excuses to remember the right answers to these excuses and revive our prayer lives this summer! Drop me a note and let me know how it’s going for you. Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Summer is a time set apart, and so I see … opportunity! To set a goal! To try something new! This week, I’m sharing some ideas I think you should consider adding to your list of goals this summer. 1) Learn something 2) Add to your spiritual life 3) Go outside every day 4) Take a trip 5) Try something new What is going on your bucket list this summer? I would love to hear from you about what goals you are setting for yourself and your family during this season. Here is my daughter Juliette’s graduation speech that I mention at the start of this week’s show. Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

What a fun conversation we had with Heather Anderson Renshaw, wife, mom, writer, speaker, and upcoming author of Death By Minivan! With humor and grace, Heather shares about embracing her vocation as a mom, “growing up” in her marriage, and how she juggles family life with her work as a writer. Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

Do you misuse social media? I think we all should pause regularly to assess our habits and discern better use of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, or whatever other social media website or app we’re using. I think there are some things we should never do: 1) Don’t “hate follow” people. Are you following certain people for bad reasons? Be honest! Cut it out! 2) Don’t compare. We all are tempted to do it sometimes, but comparing yourself to others will only distract you from your unique call to holiness. 3) Don’t believe it all. Recognize that you never know the whole story about another person’s life. WhHat you see on social media is filtered and edited. 4) Don’t overshare. Talk with your kids before you post their photos or events online. Don’t share about your husband and marriage in a way that will violate his trust. Even if it’s cute or funny, or you have a great caption for it, don’t post stuff from your kids that might embarrass them, even years from now. 5) Don’t just skip it all. This

Our topic this week is conflict in marriage. How can we handle the inevitable disagreements that come in our married relationships with maturity and grace? I share some ideas for what I consider “fighting fair” but I want to hear yours too! I answer listener Bridget’s recent question on this topic with the following ideas: 1) No name calling 2) Check in with them about what they are saying 3) No using the “D” word (divorce) 4) No threats, physical or otherwise 5) Stick to the topic at hand 6) Don’t use absolutes or accusatory language 7) Take a break when you need to I also share about Ascension’s newest podcast, The Tightrope Finally, we share some feedback from our recent episode about female friendships. We have a lot of thoughts and feelings about friendship! If this is something you struggle with, know you are not alone. Thank you to those of you who have left us iTunes reviews! If you haven’t already, please consider leaving Girlfriends a review, or sharing the podcast with friends or family who might

This week we are talking about the importance of simplicity—in all areas of your life, from spirituality to homemaking and hospitality. How can you live a simpler life and finally find peace in all that you do? Rachel has a new book coming out on this very topic in the fall, and you will be inspired by all that she has to share. Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe

There has been a lot of conversation recently about finding out your gifts, and I have been hearing from women who are seeking to know what their gifts are. They particularly want to know how God wants them to use their gifts in their lives. How do we do that? First of all, I think it’s important that we have these conversations in light of the idea of “vocation,” which is a counter-cultural concept. Some ways I recommend finding out what your gifts are include: 1) What are you good at? This one is obvious, but sometimes we don’t pay attention to our natural skills. What comes easy for you that is difficult for others? 2) What do others say? What do the people in your life tell you your gifts are? Ask them! 3) Pray about it. Ask God what your gifts are, and the ways in which he wants you to use them in service to others. 4) Remember the idea of hidden talents. The gifts that God has given you might not be obvious and/or glamorous. Be open to the idea that your skills may be a hidden part of your service to Go

Listener Jennifer emails a question this week: How do you handle changing friendships? How do you navigate the need for a friendship to end, if a relationship becomes a negative influence in your life and motherhood? We discuss the importance of evaluating your friendships and of seeking new friends if you are currently feeling alone. I encourage every woman to screen her influences, as the people we spend time with truly do affect how we feel about our life, marriage, and motherhood. I also share an email from listener Jennifer who is struggling with some conflicting feelings about her first pregnancy. We also hear and from Shelley, who responds to Catherine’s voicemail from last week, sharing about adult children who are not practicing their Catholic faith. Get full access to Girlfriends After Hours at daniellebean.substack.com/subscribe