Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

We believe there is a conspiracy afoot in the world against marriage and family life, but it is not a conspiracy of earthly powers; it is a spiritual one. Parents, by raising a family you have entered into this battle, so you need to keep your eyes open and take spiritual authority within your home and within your own life. In this podcast we discuss things like how the Evil One tries to deceive us, how we can give him footholds in our lives, and how we should respond to his attacks. By freeing yourself up to love, living in the light, and taking authority in our own lives we can live a life spiritual freedom, allowing nothing to hold us back. Remember, Christ the Victor has come to bring us life and it is by His grace and in His name that we shall overcome.

Show links and more info can be found at: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mfp118-know-your-enemy-spiritual-warfare-for-parents

As moms and dads, we are pulled in many different directions. Our world is frantic and sometimes chaotic. We parents need to take a pause, take some time away to become more intentional in our Catholic family life. We suggest a tool that we call the Family Board meeting. This meeting is a time for you and your spouse to affirm each other in your giftedness, cast a vision framing what you want your family to look like, and set concrete goals to make that vision a reality.

More than ever, our world needs dynamic Catholic families. That only happens when parents are intentional about building a Catholic family culture within their home. Take time to build a culture that is stronger and more influential on your children than the culture of the world that surrounds them. To help you run this board meeting we’ve created a tool for you.  Get the worksheet and work with your spouse to be more intentional in your family life. (Download here)

To learn more about the Family Board Meeting, listen to this podcast.

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There are different types of love, but the love that is exclusive, belonging to husbands and wives is eros, a passionate, romantic love which is an essential part of any marriage. As parents we are concerned with so many things - keeping our families financially afloat, the many needs of the children, feeding and clothing everyone - it is easy to neglect to fan the flame of romance between you and your spouse. In this podcast we give you some encouragement and practical ideas for ways wives can pursue their husbands and how husbands can pursue their wives. We talk about WHY this is important and HOW you can do it better than you are today.

Take Our Listener Survey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MFP2019-podcastsurvey

The Four Loves by CS Lewis - https://amzn.to/2LncWyW

Love Languages episode - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-015-love-languages/

Messy Family Minute Weekly Email - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/sign-up-for-minutes/

There are different types of love, but the love that is exclusive, belonging to husbands and wives is eros, a passionate, romantic love which is an essential part of any marriage. As parents we are concerned with so many things - keeping our families financially afloat, the many needs of the children, feeding and clothing everyone - it is easy to neglect to fan the flame of romance between you and your spouse. In this podcast we give you some encouragement and practical ideas for ways wives can pursue their husbands and how husbands can pursue their wives. We talk about WHY this is important and HOW you can do it better than you are today.

Take Our Listener Survey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MFP2019-podcastsurvey

The Four Loves by CS Lewis - https://amzn.to/2LncWyW

Love Languages episode - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-015-love-languages/

Messy Family Minute Weekly Email - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/sign-up-for-minutes/

It is a myth that there is a perfect way to be a parent.  The reality is that every family, every couple, every child is different but when parents work together, they can figure it out.  We have ten kids of our own so we know that this path is not an easy one!

We used to think it was our job to make our children into saints. Now we realize that It is their job to make us into saints! This parenting thing is full of dying to self, hardships that are physical and emotional. Parenting makes you more aware of your sinfulness and weaknesses than almost anything else you ever will do. But this is exactly where God wants us so He can shower us with His mercy and love. God doesn’t love us in spite of our humanity – He loves us BECAUSE of it!  Parenting is our path to holiness, and as we change and mature we will be better parents.  We may even become saints! 🙂

If you’d like to hear more about this topic, check out our podcast on this same subject, Parenting Essentials.

Get weekly emails with the latest Messy Family Minutes > SIGN UP

Sometimes it can seem that our family life is hum-drum, monotonous, and insignificant. But Christ began his public ministry at the wedding at Cana. When we read this account in the gospel, we are reminded that our marriage, our ordinary family life, IS important to God.

Our Lord and Our Lady love our families and they are present with us. They desire to change what is ordinary into the extraordinary. The Lord can take our simple and everyday tasks and make them holy. Like the servants at the wedding at Cana, we need to notice when we run out of wine. When we run out of joy. When we run out of love. It is then that we can turn to Our Lady and ask for her help. She can bring Christ into our lives, our ordinary water, and transform it into wine. And when we invite Christ into our lives to transform us, He creates the best wine of all.

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St. Francis would tell his followers “Let us begin again for until now we have done nothing.” This is a great inspiration for us because sometimes we feel like we are always beginning again with new habits, plans, and goals for our family. We are the most consistently inconsistent parents out there! But we have become less stressed out about our inconsistency because we see that it is an opportunity to begin again with our children. It is hard to create habits in ourselves, let alone a group of children! But habits are an important part of formation, as the quote above from Stephen Covey shows. Since we have made so many plans with our family, we would like to share with you some of what we have learned in creating habits for your family. In this podcast we discuss questions such as how do you create appropriate habits for your family? How do you come up with a plan with your spouse? How do you keep those kids motivated?

7 Habits of Highly Effective Families: https://amzn.to/2Zj05l1

The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family: https://amzn.to/2ZgndRj

Amazing Camp for Teens: https://cysc.com/

Special weekend in Tampa for couples in February 2020… interested in hearing more? https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/tampa-february-15/

St. Francis would tell his followers "Let us begin again for until now we have done nothing." This is a great inspiration for us because sometimes we feel like we are always beginning again with new habits, plans, and goals for our family. We are the most consistently inconsistent parents out there! But we have become less stressed out about our inconsistency because we see that it is an opportunity to begin again with our children. It is hard to create habits in ourselves, let alone a group of children! But habits are an important part of formation, as the quote above from Stephen Covey shows. Since we have made so many plans with our family, we would like to share with you some of what we have learned in creating habits for your family. In this podcast we discuss questions such as how do you create appropriate habits for your family? How do you come up with a plan with your spouse? How do you keep those kids motivated?

7 Habits of Highly Effective Families: https://amzn.to/2Zj05l1

The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family: https://amzn.to/2ZgndRj

Amazing Camp for Teens: https://cysc.com/

Special weekend in Tampa for couples in February 2020… interested in hearing more? https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/tampa-february-15/

Our society not only devalues mothers, but also underestimates their importance in the life of a newborn child. Some biologists believe that humans are born too soon because so much formation happens in the first years of life outside the womb. The essential element in this formation is the mother. No matter how much time a mother spends with her child vs. being in the workplace, the quality of her relationship with her infant is what makes the difference. In this podcast, we use the book Being There: The Importance of the First Three Years by Erica Komisak as a reference for parents seeking to do all they can to develop a healthy, securely attached, independent child.

Buy this book : https://amzn.to/318grhz

Get our messy family newsletter: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/join/

Family Retreat Kit: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/family-retreat-2019-3/

Related shows

Every Mother is a Working Mother - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-046-every-mother-is-a-working-mother/

High Powered Parents - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-092-high-powered-parents/

Our society not only devalues mothers, but also underestimates their importance in the life of a newborn child. Some biologists believe that humans are born too soon because so much formation happens in the first years of life outside the womb. The essential element in this formation is the mother. No matter how much time a mother spends with her child vs. being in the workplace, the quality of her relationship with her infant is what makes the difference. In this podcast, we use the book Being There: The Importance of the First Three Years by Erica Komisak as a reference for parents seeking to do all they can to develop a healthy, securely attached, independent child.

Buy this book : https://amzn.to/318grhz

Get our messy family newsletter: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/join/

Family Retreat Kit: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/family-retreat-2019-3/

Related shows

Every Mother is a Working Mother - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-046-every-mother-is-a-working-mother/

High Powered Parents - https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/mp-092-high-powered-parents/