
Sometimes the internet is a great place! Haley’s husband Daniel became Twitter friends with Dr. Gregory Hillis and then Haley met the Hillis family during last summer’s big road trip and visited the Abbey of Gethsemani (where Thomas Merton lived) with them. One minute you’re driving through beautiful Kentucky, and the next you’re eating dinner at a hermitage with monks and somebody you’re husband knows from Twitter. It’s like magic.
Dr. Hillis is our first of Christy’s fellow Canadians to join us on the podcast.  He is a historical theologian with particular expertise in patristics and joined Bellarmine’s faculty in August 2008.  In addition to  Christian spirituality, ecclesiology, sacramental theology, 19th and 20th century Roman Catholic theology, and Eastern Christian history and theology, Dr. Hillis studies Thomas Merton and we thought he would have some great insights into Merton’s work to share with you (we were right!)
In this episode we talked about Merton’s conversion, which of his writings Merton newbies should read first, why people are scared of Merton, and his emphasis on dialogue with other faith traditions. We also chatted about Wendell Berry, how the vocation of marriage is a call to generous love, how we are sacramentally connected to other Christians through baptism, and advice from Dr. Hillis about the beauty and complexities of interfaith marriage.
It’s a great episode, so grab some coffee and listen in!
Links for this episode:
Getting Started with Thomas Merton: A Reading Guide: My Unquiet Heart
Haley’s Why You Should Take Your Kids to Caves, Monasteries, and Fancy Hotels
Books we talked about:

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master, The Essential Writings

Thomas Merton: Essential Writings

The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

The Intimate Merton: His Life from Journals
How to connect with Dr. Greg Hillis:

* Greg’s blog: My Unquiet Heart
* Twitter

Come hang out with us!

* The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social C...

FoC 044: Why We Need Silence and Thomas Merton with Dr. Greg Hillis

Bloggers Christy and Haley have caffeine-fueled chats about faith, books, culture and whatever strikes their fancy. Join them for conversations with great women as they share about family, vocation, tv, and laundry. So pour a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy some time with friends.

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Well, friends, all good things must come to an end. After eight (8!) wonderful years of co-hosting this podcast for you, we’ve decided to call it a day and offer a fond farewell to a project that has brought us so much joy. 



In this episode we’re sharing about how we got started podcasting together, how things have changed (from podcasting while our little babies napped to new seasons of life with big kids), and how special this endeavor has been for both of us. We’re sad to say goodbye to our listeners who have made our efforts so worth it. We’re proud of almost two hundred episodes that we hope you found uplifting, interesting, and encouraging (or at least entertaining!). We share about all that this podcast has brought to our lives.  Thank you so much for being a part of it!



And of course, we’d love to stay in touch with you!



We’ll still be keeping The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook alive (as long as everyone behaves with the utmost decorum) so if you’d like to join  4,900+ other FoC listeners in good conversations, then come on over. It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! 



And you’ll find us on (some) social media and definitely writing on Substack (links below)



Connect with Haley on Instagram and her free Substack newsletter 



Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her free Substack newsletter



You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.



We love our listeners and we’re so grateful to have spent the last eight years chatting with you!

FoC 188: The Final Episode










Tis the season to decorate your home, prepare for guests, and feel that creeping sense of inadequacy when you look at perfectly curated Instagram houses. It’s so important to have the right perspective on home. Instead of keeping up with the latest trends, can we focus on cultivating homes that serve our families? Can we build a style with confidence because we like it rather than acquiesce to the latest consumerist craze? And can we stop worrying about the wrong way to decorate? We can! Because Paige Rien is here to help!



Paige Rien is a wife, mother, author, designer, former television designer and current recovering person, one day at a time. She is passionate about helping women work on their homes in a new way – by encouraging confidence, tuning out the noise of design media and focusing on each family’s authentic needs. Paige had a career on HGTV and has written two books, Love the House You’re In and Revived & Renovated. She lives in Maryland with her  husband and four children and we love her Instagram account.



In this episode we talk about embracing the process of slow decorating, taking risks with design, and focusing on the important stuff rather than the ‘gram. Paige has so much wisdom to share about confidently building a beautiful home, releasing the obsession with perfection, and loving whatever stage we’re in.  And all those baby things that throw off our aesthetic? Well, Paige has some really deep insights to gain perspective on the baby and toddler years. Paige is so fun and you’re going to love what she has to share! So grab a cup of tea and enjoy the conversation.



Connect with Paige:



Page’s Instagram



And don’t forget…



Haley’s brand new children’s book series is available from Pauline Books and Media just in time for Christmas!







The Sister Seraphina Mysteries are read-a-loud stories about an order of mouse nuns who run a school under the floorboards of G.K. Chesterton’s home. Each volume involves a child-friendly mystery that is investigated by Sister Seraphina. She is helped by other sisters from her abbey and two of her students, Marigold Mouseweather and Dominic Whiskerbright. Each book contains several chapters with illustrations on each page by the wonderful Betsy Wallin.







Book One: The Pursuit of the Pilfered Cheese



Beneath the floorboards of G. K. Chesterton’s home, a thrilling pursuit is about to unfold. Sister Seraphina was pleased that everything was ready for the school fair. But when the prize cheese goes missing, the Sisters of Our Lady Star of the Sea and their brave students will need all their detective wits to solve the mystery.

FOC 187: Finding the Confidence to Love Your Home with Paige Rien










How do we determine what’s true in a very disorienting time? How do we know what authorities, institutions, or media to believe when the world around us feels untrustworthy? How do we have deep conversations with friends and loved ones when the political landscape is so divisive? It’s a very difficult time to navigate and it’s easy to become cynical or even despairing. 



Journalist Bonnie Kristian tackles some of these complicated issues  in her fantastic new book Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community. Bonnie is a mom (of twins!), a graduate of Bethel Seminary, and the author of A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today. She writes and edits opinion pieces on foreign policy, religion, criminal justice, urbanism, civil liberties, electoral politics, and more. She’s written for Christianity Today, The Week, USA Today, CNN, Politico, and Time, to name a few. She is a great Twitter follow and just an insightful and fascinating voice on our strange political and religious landscape.



In this episode we talk about how to have a healthy relationship with news and media when the odds are stacked against us. We discuss how to love and maintain relationship with friends and loved ones who have accepted extremist ideologies. We explore the nature of the social media beast and how it works against our mental health and our reason. And we try to imagine how we can cultivate real community, truth, and goodness when things look very bleak. It’s a very interesting conversation and Bonnie has such wisdom to share. So grab a cup of tea and enjoy this episode!



Connect with Bonnie:




* Bonnie’s website



* Bonnie’s Twitter




Sponsor



We are thrilled to be sponsored for this episode by Happy Nest Home Goods. 



Happy Nest Home Goods celebrates doing small things with great love with their modern Catholic embroidery art, patterns, and kits as well as their line of beautiful sacrifice beads for the whole family. 



Sacrifice Beads are a devotion practiced by St. Therese as a little girl using a string of sliding beads to track small sacrifices made throughout your day. So whenever you do a chore you hate, keep your temper, offer up a disappointment, or give someone else the better leftover from the fridge, just slide a bead towards the crucifix and unite your sacrifice to Christ’s on the cross. This beautiful practice will help foster your ability to see opportunities to offer every moment to God.







You can find a wide variety of sacrifice beads for men, women, and children at happynesthomegoods.com. Sacrifice beads make for a perfect spiritual stocking stuffer or gift for those receiving sacraments this year!



Happy Nest also has adorable beginner-friendly embroidery patterns and kits for every liturgical season, including Advent and Christmas, that are perfect to gift to the crafter in your life OR for you to add a handmade touch to your Christmas gifts this year!








FoC 186: How Not To Lose Your Mind With Politics And The News with Bonnie Kristian










Women’s healthcare has been a hot topic for ages, but in a post-Dobbs world, it’s never been more discussed. So we decided to reach out to Leah Jacobson, a women’s health advocate and service provider to discuss the complexities of women’s healthcare, protection for the unborn, and fighting for the care, education, and medical resources that all women deserve. 



Leah is the founder and the CEO of The Guiding Star Project, a non-profit organization to meet the practical needs of women through providing health care. She has a Master’s degree in Health and Wellness and she’s an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She helps mothers and babies by working at her local WIC office, in the labor and delivery department of her local rural hospital, and in her own private practice that specializes in home and virtual visits.  Leah is also the author of a book titled Wholistic Feminism.



In this episode we talk about the ways the healthcare system has let women down and how pathologizing the female body sets us up to fail. Leah imagines a world in which education about women’s health reaches young women before they even start menstruating and we struggle with the challenge of a hyper-politicized pro-life movement and how to navigate conversations about abortion when the issue is so charged. It’s a heavy topic, so grab a good cup of coffee and enjoy the conversation.



Connect with Leah:




* Leah’s website



* Leah’s Instagram




And don’t forget…



Haley’s brand new children’s book series  is available from Pauline Books and Media just in time for Christmas!







The Sister Seraphina Mysteries are read-a-loud stories about an order of mouse nuns who run a school under the floorboards of G.K. Chesterton’s home. Each volume involves a child-friendly mystery that is investigated by Sister Seraphina. She is helped by other sisters from her abbey and two of her students, Marigold Mouseweather and Dominic Whiskerbright. Each book contains several chapters with illustrations on each page by the wonderful Betsy Wallin.







Book One: The Pursuit of the Pilfered Cheese



Beneath the floorboards of G. K. Chesterton’s home, a thrilling pursuit is about to unfold. Sister Seraphina was pleased that everything was ready for the school fair. But when the prize cheese goes missing, the Sisters of Our Lady Star of the Sea and their brave students will need all their detective wits to solve the mystery. With a little literary inspiration from their upstairs neighbors, the Chestertons, can they band together to solve the case―and save Saint Wulfhilda’s School?







Book Two: The Curious ChristmasTrail



It’s Christmas Eve, and under the floorboards of G. K. Chesterton’s home,

FoC 185: The Wholistic Pro-Life Future For Women’s Healthcare with Leah Jacobson










Several years ago, we were enchanted by a new series: The Green Ember. This series featuring rabbits who are fighting for goodness in a dark world captivated our kids and we wished there were more books like it in the world. Thankfully, the author, S.D. Smith is still writing and his latest project Jack Zulu and the Waylander’s Key was co-written by his teenage son, Josiah. We are so happy to have Sam talking about children’s literature and the importance of good stories on the podcast today!



Sam Smith lives in West Virginia with his wife and four children. In addition to being a full-time writer, he is also the founder of Story Warren, a small publishing house dedicated to bringing good stories into the world. 



In this episode we talk about how Sam fell into writing books and what it has been like to have a story he created for his children become a beloved bestseller. Sam had so many insights into the importance of good storytelling for forming the imagination and helping us to “escape into reality.” We discussed the hunger so many readers have for stories that are timeless rather than relevant to the current moment and Sam also shared about the writing process for co-authoring his newest series with his son. Sam is such a warm and engaging guest and you’re going to love getting to know him. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!



Connect with Sam:



* Sam’s website* Sam’s Instagram



Sponsor: EverythingCatholic.com



If you love finding beautiful, quality Catholic gifts to bless those you love, now you don’t have to search so hard to find the best out there.



Shop EverythingCatholic.com, your new destination for quality Catholic gifts!



 







Shop books, home goods, art, candles, gifts for babies and kids, apparel, jewelry—everything!







Visit EverythingCatholic.com and use code CARROTS at checkout for 15% off your order.



Patreon!



Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!



Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. So join today!



Come hang out with us!



Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.



* The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)* Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter,

FoC 044: Why We Need Silence and Thomas Merton with Dr. Greg Hillis

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