Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

“We need to give God room to show up. Often we try to fix and solve everything without waiting for God to act” - Jonathan and Amanda Texiera

Summary

The number one conflict in marriages, statistically, is money.  How we spend our money reflects our values, but also our belief in the providence of God.  Do we truly believe that God cares about all of our life, including our financial ne...

"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed." - G.K. Chesterton

Summary

Movies shape more than behavior — they form the imagination, the moral compass, and the heart. Catholic parents are not merely protecting innocence; they are cultivating virtue and wonder. In this episode, we expl...

Motherhood changes you because it literally alters a woman’s brain—structurally, functionally, and in many ways, irreversibly. - Louann Brizendine, The Female Brain

Summary

Women are gifted in a way that men are not.  Women can hold many different tasks in their mind at the same time, see the needs of others, and know the needs of the household and balance them all.  Sometimes this can...

“True power is not dependent upon the invented honors of earth.  True power is that which guides, shapes, carves, and claims the souls of men.  And the souls of men are most often won and lost at the feet of mothers.” - Kimberly Ells

Summary

Does it feel like its harder to be a parent today than ever before? There are powers arrayed against the family - powers in secular philosophies, ...

God has selected you uniquely to be the mother for these children.  He will equip you for the work He wants you to do!

Summary

No one feels prepared to be a parent.  Even if you were one of the oldest of 10 kids in a Catholic family (like Alicia or Katie) or a family of 7 (like Suzanne) you can never really be ready!  The key to surviving, and even thriving, is stepping fully into your i...

'Cause I love you more than you could know

And your heart, it grows every time it breaks

I know that it might sound strange

But I wish you pain 

- “Wish You Pain” by Andy Grammar

Summary

Every parent wants to keep their kids safe, but is it possible to keep them “too safe”?  In this podcast episode we dive into the overwhelming cult o...

Our vows are for life, and we need overwhelming grace to live them out - Kevin Wells

Summary

If you ever thought your marriage was in such bad shape that you simply did not know what to do, this podcast is for you.  We were so blessed to be able to talk to Kevin Wells, the author of The Hermit: The Priest Who Saved a Soul, a Marriage, and a Family.  This interview is deep because Kevin...

What is the rhythm of leadership in your family?

Summary

Every relationship relies on communication, but when you operate as a family with many members, communication can become difficult!  Kids can get lost in the chaos, plans get forgotten, chores undone, and mom and dad are constantly putting out fires.  In comes the miracle of the Family Meeting!  Well, let’s rephrase that… A famil...

If forgiveness isn’t hard, you aren’t doing it right - Dan Meola

Summary 

Many parents struggle with their children--not because of the kids, but because of the wounds they are carrying from their own parents.  The only path for healing those wounds is forgiveness.  But how do we forgive, especially when the hurts are deep and real?  In this podcast we sat down with Dan Meola, the founde...

“If we accept that God’s love is unconditional, that the Father’s love cannot be bought or sold, then we will become capable of showing boundless love and forgiving others even if they have wronged us” - Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia

Summary: 

Becoming a husband and father is the biggest change a man goes through in his life.  There is simply no better “life-coaching” than family life!...

“You’re not just parenting your children… you are parenting your grandchildren”

Summary

Have you ever walked through a thousand-year-old castle or along a wall built by Romans nearly a millennium ago? On a recent trip to the UK, we were struck by the longevity of these structures—and the intentionality behind them. They weren’t built to last a season, but centuries.

In thi...

“Unleashing the heart of the Father is a power the world does not know.”

Summary

God wants us to know Him as a father.  We as parents are to prepare the hearts of our children to know the father by acting like him.  So when our children wonder what God is like, we should be able to say to them, “God loves you as I love you, but so much better”.  For us to do that, we need to know what ...

"Never be embarrassed to love your wife." – Chris McMahon​

Summary

What does it take to build a thriving business and a strong marriage at the same time? In this episode, Mike sits down with longtime friends Chris and Molly McMahon—financial advisors, founders, parents of five, and marriage warriors. Together, they unpack the real story behind balancing ambition with family, building a...

The only way to not live constantly in the Urgent is to manage those things that are Important.

Summary

“How are  you?” “BUSY!” Isn't that the response so many of us give when asked this question?  How did we all get so busy and how do we get off the crazy train?  Parents have as much time as anyone else (even though it doesn’t feel like it!) but they need to be more conscious than any...

"God gives us our children to heal and transform us." - Kyle Wester

Summary

In many ways, being a parent is less about our kids and more about our own formation!  When we lean into the vocation of parenthood, God can use every experience with our children to show us His love and to form us into the person He has created us to be.  In this podcast, we talk to Kyle and Sara ...

“Lovemaking puts flesh on the vows that we exchange in marriage” - Byron and Francine Pirola

Summary

A few years ago in Australia, we met an amazing couple who we immediately wanted to share with our listeners.  Byron and Francine Piroloa from Smart Loving, are on a mission to make marriages stronger all over the world and they are willing to talk about that subject that few couples wi...

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  Genesis 2:24

Summary

Unity between man and woman was God’s original plan, but the Fall not only broke our relationship with God, it also broke our relationship with each other.  But the good news is that Jesus has given us grace in the sacrament of Matrimony so we can ha...

Vices are our disordered way of fulfilling our God-given good desires. 

Summary

So many of us thought we were good people till we had kids, right?  This is because kids expose our weaknesses and we need to be aware of them in order to overcome them.  Listen in as we reveal Satan’s plan for you and lay out God’s great plan of using our rightly ordered desires to develop virtues and live...

A problem with disrespect from a child always goes back to a dysfunction in the parent-child relationship.

Summary

When our sweet children enter the teen years and adolescence is upon them, something happens that tends to cause parents stress and dismay - back talk and disrespect.  Some of this is immaturity on the part of the child and some is simply lack of training in relationships....