By the time Kathy Tankersley was 23 years old, she was a single mom of five children.

Kathy vividly remembers being in church and praying on her knees for a someone she could truly trust and confide in. Then she met Rex Tankersley.

The day after their weekend honeymoon, Rex sat her five children down and asked them if they wanted him to be their dad. The children responded with a resounding "Yes!"

The children are now grown and have children of their own. Rex has also passed and Kathy reflects on why she says:

Don't feel sorry for me, because I have been so loved.

Listen to this Advent podcast and allow Kathy's gift of storytelling open your heart to the wondrous gift of God's love.

"In her life, Lord, be glorified."

These are the words Courtney Siebring sang as she cuddled and prayed over the baby girl Courtney and her husband were fostering.

Courtney had experienced infertility and longed to be a mother more than anything--yet the department of social services told Courtney and her husband they would not be keeping the baby girl that they already loved so dearly.

Courtney learned the meaning of "Thy will be done" in a way she never had before.

What unfolded was completely unexpected and clearly God's plan: Courtney and her husband learned this baby would become their daughter through adoption.

Listen to this Advent podcast and be inspired to loosen control in your life, offer your very heart to the Lord and experience the peace and joy that can only come from Christ.

Courtney is the author of Little Spark of Life: A Celebration of Born and Preborn Human Life. Learn more at www.littlesparkoflifebook.com.

"You know who's going to have to do this."

The words Brenda's Hauk's husband spoke penetrated her heart--she knew she was called by God to something so much bigger than herself.

Even though Brenda was frightened, she said "yes" to a plan that was clearly not her own.

Brenda started BrightStone, a comprehensive work, social support, and residential community for adults with special needs, expanding their potential and helping them develop mentally, physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.

Let Brenda's "yes" and the tremendous blessing that has come from it inspire your own fiat in this Advent podcast.

Learn more at brightstone.org.

When Fr. Ed Steiner was just 5 years old, there was a knock on his front door during supper. Fr. Ed excitedly ran to see who it was. What he found he never could have imagined.

It was Santa Claus!

To the day Fr. Ed still finds himself stirred with a similar sense of awe he experienced that very moment he saw Santa as a young boy. Yet Fr. Ed recognizes what he is really waiting for is the coming of Christ.

In this Advent podcast Fr. Ed reflects on our need to remember why Christ came—and how the true meaning of Christmas fills our hearts and homes during this special time of year.

Let us strive to make awe-filled memories and practice the Gospel with our loved ones this Advent Season.

Be charmed by Ted and Catherine Wynne as they share their gratitude to God and advice to listeners after 50 years of marriage.

Host Lindy Wynne has a heartfelt conversation with her parents-in-law as they reveal the trust and companionship they are blessed to have with one another.

From Catherine's '69 Camaro to Ted's love of football, hear how they revel in both the little and big moments. Their lives are blessed with profound meaning as they companion one another in both the good and difficult times of life.

Let your heart be wrapped in the gift of family this Thanksgiving season.

The table is turned on Host Lindy Wynne, as Chaplain Fr. Jon Meyer asks Lindy about womanhood and what it means to be a woman.

Lindy explores the gift of womanhood and meaning of Saint Edith Stein's words, "The woman's soul is fashioned as a shelter in which other souls may unfold."

When Lindy was twenty-one and volunteering at an orphanage in Tijuana, she met and developed a maternal love for a young boy named Coco. Coco began calling Lindy "mama." It broke Lindy's heart to have to leave Coco, yet simultaneously revealed God's call for Lindy to be a spiritual mother and shelter souls through adoption.

Womanhood is a complete self-gift in which a woman surrenders her heart for the sake of Love Itself.

Lindy has witnessed such mercy, love and compassion in other women. The gift of a woman is her feminine heart and ability to shelter other souls in a way that hopefully moves others to do the same.

After Kristi Bentley experienced pregnancy loss with her first baby, she wondered how something so beautiful could be given and then taken away from her.

Kristi now sees how the hand of God was at work in her life all those years ago.

Kristi's loss led to a deep understanding of the precious gift of life. While mourning her first child she promised to be open to all the children God might bless her and her husband Patrick with. Seven children and countless prayers later, Kristi shares personal stories about Our Lady of Fatima, many Saints and the "kiss of God."

Be inspired by Kristi's openness to life even when others don't understand—Kristi's pure heart encourages us to notice all the ways we may experience the kiss of God, too.

The moment Ryan Penney hit the water his life and heart were forever changed.

Ryan was on a performing arts scholarship at Samford University and about to begin his first professional acting job. While on a trip Ryan jumped into a lake off of a high cliff. Ryan landed wrong, broke his back and was immediately paralyzed—doctors said that Ryan would never walk again.

While Ryan wasn't praying or engaging in the Sacraments at the time of his accident, he cried out to God in the hospital. Somewhere deep within him there was a powerful seed of God's hope—Ryan knew he would walk again.

While Ryan's body is not the same as it was before the accident, neither are his heart or his life. Hear how Ryan has given his life to God, and learned how saving people is much more important than entertaining them.

Mary Margaret Lambert vividly remembers chatting with her dad while he painted a ceramic frog the night before she lost him.

The next day Mary Margaret was devastated to learn her father and his wife died in the Nashville flood of 2010.

Little did Mary Margaret realize that the frog her father held in his hands would come to mean so much--F.R.O.G. means "Fully Rely on God."

Mary Margaret struggled with grief and got tired of hurting. She sought the Lord through writing and help through counseling to heal her broken heart.

The ceramic frog sits on Mary Margaret's porch to this day, reminding her of her beloved father and our eternal reliance on God.

John Bosio and his wife share a love story worthy of a movie.

In the 1960s, eleven-year-old John entered pre-seminary in Italy. Meanwhile, an American girl from a military family was praying for him in a school chapel in Thailand--she and her friend would run into the chapel during recess to pray for their future spouses every day.

After fifty years of marriage John knows he and his beautiful wife are on the last leg of their pilgrimage together on Earth.

Since his wife no longer has memories, John creates precious moments with her each day.

It is critical to John that his wife knows she comes first. After authoring numerous books on marriage and family life and leading countless retreats, John has stepped away to care for his beloved.

John shares timeless wisdom in this podcast that will touch your soul by his witness to true love.