August 1, 2025 • 63 mins
What if the pain you’ve carried could become the path to someone else’s healing?
In this powerful episode, I sit down with Cathy Jo Lang—life coach, speaker, and host of The Unplanned Joyful Life podcast—who shares how her unplanned pregnancy, postpartum depression, and family history of alcoholism led her to a miraculous encounter with Jesus.
After being hospitalized just weeks after giving birth, Cathy Jo met a compassionate priest who helped her surrender the burden of shame. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle—one that sparked 36 years of freedom from depression and a life dedicated to helping young mothers find hope.
We talk about:
- The difference between trauma healing and future-focused coaching
- The scriptures that became her anchors (Philippians 4:13, Psalm 118:24, 2 Cor. 12:9)
- Why surrendering your weakness is the key to unlocking God’s power
This story will speak to anyone navigating recovery, shame, or the question: “Can God really use this?”
Spoiler alert: Yes. And it might just become your greatest ministry.
👉 Listen to Cathy’s podcast here: Unplanned Joyful Life Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unplanned-joyful-life-catholic-church-ignite-your/id1764716429
👉 Learn more about her coaching: https://cathyjolangllc.com/
If you have ever...
- Struggled with the social pressures associated with alcohol use.
- Felt isolated, alone, and unsure of how to break the cycle.
- Experienced shame and frustration after drinking.
- Told yourself, “I’ll never get this. It’s no use.”
Then this 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start is for you!
Each day, you’ll receive a short video with simple tasks to help you analyze your drinking habits with clarity.
I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. You are NOT alone!
Please subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a thing!
👉🏻 JOIN THE FREE 5-DAY KICK START
https://the-catholic-sobriety-coach.myflodesk.com/5-day-sobriety-kick-start
Visit my Website: https://thecatholicsobrietycoach.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the
go-to resource for women seekingto have a deeper understanding
of the role alcohol plays intheir lives, women who are
looking to drink less or not atall for any reason.
I am your host, christi Walker.
I'm a wife, mom and ajoy-filled Catholic, and I am
(00:22):
the Catholic Sobriety Coach, andI am so glad you're here.
Welcome to the podcast.
Today I'm so excited becausetoday I have a guest.
I have Kathy Jo Ling.
She is a wife, mom, grandmotherand practicing Catholic
Professionally.
(00:42):
She is a certified life coach,public speaker and host of the
Unplanned Joyful Life podcast.
With a background as aregistered nurse, an
internationally board-certifiedlactation consultant and
published children's book author, she brings a wealth of
(01:03):
experience to her coachingpractice.
Kathy Jo Lange LLC.
She has achieved many personaland professional milestones and
is passionate about helping youdo the same.
Kathy Jo uses positivepsychology to help clients reach
their professional and personalgoals at an accelerated rate.
(01:25):
She does this through friendlyand engaging conversation,
guided reflection and deliberategoal setting.
She believes consistentaccountability ensures that you
stay on track.
Kathy Jo will help you get fromwhere you are to where you want
to be, and she will support youevery step of the way, and at
(01:45):
the end I will have Kathy giveus all her information, so you
know exactly where to find her.
Kathy, jo, thank you so muchfor being here today.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh, Christy, you're welcome.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, so I was super blessed to talk to Kathy Jo last
week for her podcast, theUnplanned Joyful Life podcast,
and so go over there and checkout.
I guess it's a four partinterview because she and I had
so much fun chatting and we justwent on forever and then all of
a sudden it's like, oh my gosh,how much time has passed.
(02:24):
So we had never met before, butI think we really connected and
I just wanted to have her hereas well.
So thank you again for beinghere.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So let's just dive in to the story behind your
ministry, because I just thinkit's so wonderful and so needed.
So I would love it if you couldjust share a bit about how the
Unplanned Joyful Life podcastcame to be what it is and a
little bit about your work as aCatholic speaker and coach.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Okay, well, honestly, when I think of how it started
and I look back, being on yourpodcast today and with your
podcast being called theCatholic Sobriety Coach, it's so
clear to me that the HolySpirit guides us in everything
that we do, as long as we'reopen to it.
And I could see the work beingdone, probably from before I was
(03:22):
born.
I was born into a family thatstruggled with alcoholism and
dysfunctionalism and I dobelieve that part of my
unplanned pregnancy was theeffects of living in a
dysfunctional family and havingthat longing to be a part of
something and feel that love andthat unconditional connection
(03:44):
to others.
And even though my parentsloved all of us so much, they
struggled in so many ways withsome things and it did cause
some turbulence in our family.
And so, first of all, that iskind of how I feel like my
unplanned joyful life wasstarted.
That is kind of how I feel likemy unplanned joyful life was
(04:08):
started.
So I met my husband when I wasjust before I turned 17.
And we started dating just acouple weeks after and it
honestly, was kind of like alove at first sight type of
connection.
So we started dating and wedated for two years and then we
actually met in January and thenI ended up getting pregnant
around that same time.
Two years later I had gonebefore becoming intimate with my
(04:31):
husband.
I went on birth control a yearafter, you know, we started
dating and was going to be veryresponsible and planning and,
you know, really take care ofthings.
So I didn't have an unplannedpregnancy and really take care
of things.
So I didn't have an unplannedpregnancy.
But the way that the birthcontrol pill affected my body
and my emotions was not good.
I was crying all the time.
(04:53):
I thought maybe it was ourrelationship.
It ended up being themedication or the contraceptive
oral contraceptive I was taking.
So my husband and I broke upbriefly.
I went off the pill because Iwasn't sexually active, and then
I noticed 100% difference inhow I was taking.
So my husband and I broke upbriefly.
I went off the pill because Iwasn't sexually active, and then
I noticed a hundred percentdifference in how I was feeling.
So when we reconnected I didnot go back on the pill and I
became pregnant.
So so I just like to see that,because sometimes people think
(05:15):
when there's an unplannedpregnancy, the mom is
irresponsible or doesn't knowthat you can go on the pill or
you condom, you know, and thatwas my situation at that time.
So fortunately, my family wasvery much open and accepting of
unplanned pregnancies.
I had a brother who passed.
(05:37):
He had a heart defect and hedied when he was 18 months old,
and my family had been through alot and I think that they knew
the importance and the joy andthe significance of life.
So I'm super grateful for thatand so it was never something
that I questioned.
I remember becoming intimatewith my husband and knowing that
(06:00):
I would not do that unless Ireally felt like I could see
myself with him the rest of mylife, because I didn't believe
just, you know, casual sex orthings like that.
So you know, it was a strugglein the beginning and we got
married three months afterpregnancy and we had our son
Stephen.
So we got married in April, wehad Stephen in October and I had
(06:23):
like like the perfect pregnancy.
But six weeks after Stephen wasborn I ended up having to go
into the hospital for a severepostpartum depression.
So that was devastating andbecause I got the help that I
needed.
Even though it was extremelysevere, it was treated and I was
(06:44):
able to go home and I recoveredfairly quickly.
So you know, sometimes peoplesuffer depression and they don't
get help and maybe sometimesthey even struggle getting the
right help and it can last ayear or two years.
It can last their whole lifelong and although mine was
extremely severe, it was takencare of within a few weeks and I
(07:04):
was able to go back and takecare of it.
That being said, I struggledwith the guilt and shame of that
event.
Having to leave my newborn wasvery hard and, wanting to be the
best mom and wife that I couldbe and knowing that that
happened, I struggled with thatand I saw how my husband
(07:26):
responded to that me being inthe hospital.
He came and he worked, he wentto school, he came and visited
me every day.
He showed me so muchunconditional love that I felt
like I never really experiencedin that way before.
And when I came home, I askedhim how he got through it and he
said that his mom just told himto keep his faith.
And it was such a simplestatement, but it was so
(07:51):
profound at the same time.
Because we had both grown upCatholic, we both went to
Catholic grammar schools,catholic high schools.
I eventually graduated from aCatholic college after that, but
my family did not practice ourfaith and I was able to see his
family practice it together as afamily every week and I could
feel the stability in their homethat I didn't experience in my
(08:13):
own home.
I was putting all these thingstogether and trying to figure
out how could this, how couldthis depression or this
breakdown never happen to meagain?
What could I do that could?
I knew that was nothing toguarantee that it could never
happen again, because I knowthat depression is common and
(08:34):
there are people that sufferwith it and then they have, you
know, different periods in theirlife when it comes back or
different situations, and but Ireally did not want to ever be
in that position again.
I met a woman in the hospitalwho kind of was a frequent flyer
and she had four or five kidsand every so often she just went
and got herself admitted andtreated.
(08:54):
And I think I met that womanfor a reason because I didn't
want that to be my normal.
I didn't want to be leaving myfamily like that.
So when my husband said this, Iknew that it was.
I knew that he was speakingfrom his heart.
When he said about the faith,it wasn't just something that he
was just flippantly saying, andso I started to.
(09:15):
I wanted what he had like, Iwanted the stability that he had
, so I started really searchingand delving into my faith.
I did end up going tocounseling after I was
discharged home, which helped me, and I was on medication till
maybe six months after I wasdischarged.
I've never been on anymedication since then.
It has been 36 years and I'venever suffered a depression, you
(09:38):
know, since then.
But what happened was itprobably took me two years to
come to terms with the wholecrisis and I was able to take
care of my son.
I was able to love him and bepresent with him.
But inside I felt that whathappened to me was because I was
less than other people, that Ididn't have what other people
(09:59):
had, or I was weak.
And so it was delving into myfaith that I started to really
listen to what the readings wereall about, listen to the
prayers that we were reciting inchurch.
Look at all the images.
The Blessed Mother was a bigimage for me at that time,
because I needed to look to amother who had that
unconditional love for me andwas going to be an example for
(10:21):
me, seeing Jesus on the crossand feeling like we're the only
ones that are suffering.
There's no way you can do that.
You can't look at Jesus andthink that he doesn't understand
.
He was through the worst, youknow.
And so around the two-yearperiod I was starting to feel, I
think, as I was coming closerto really establishing and
(10:41):
accepting the faith, I washaving a lot of stirrings, which
I think partly were the HolySpirit and partly maybe the
adversary trying to fight mygrowth, you know.
So I had a couple of timeswhere I was very, very anxious
and I went out for a walk andthe first time I went for the
walk I met, I ended up at thechurch and I talked to a priest
(11:03):
there, father Joe Regliano, andI told him, you know, what I was
experiencing and he just reallylistened and encouraged me and
comforted me and prayed with meand kind of sent me on my way
and I felt better.
But maybe like a week or so,the same thing happened and I
went back again and he was thereagain, which is pretty uncommon
(11:23):
, you know.
He was right there in thechurch when I came in and the
church was empty besides me andhim.
And so I talked to him againand I was concerned with what
people thought of me, thatpeople looked down on me and
that I was weaker and I was lessthan other people.
And he said you are carryingthis on yourself, you are
(11:44):
allowing this burden to make youfeel this way and you need to
let Jesus take this from you.
And so he encouraged me to lookat the cross, look at Jesus on
the cross.
And he embraced me in a waythat was so, you know, men are
stronger than we are, so whenthey give us a hug, it's just
different, you know, than even areally great hug from a female.
(12:07):
Isn't like a hug, you know,from a man who had.
They're just stronger.
And so he hugged me and he saidto me Kathy, you need to let
Jesus take this from you, lethim take this from you.
And he just kind of keptrepeating it and I felt this
release within me and it wasalmost like I could feel this
(12:27):
tension and this angst leave mybody.
And I remember, after himhugging me, me feeling like wow,
and then, you know, we saidgoodbye and I went to leave the
church and when I left thechurch, I knew that I was
changed, like I knew thatwhatever happened between us,
(12:49):
that that guilt and shame wasgone and it really truly was
like it was.
I still think of that time andthat was a miracle that that
that was removed from me.
And so I just want to share thatstory, because that is the,
ultimately, the reason why Iwant to serve younger moms and
(13:09):
because they do, they are morevulnerable for some things
happening and they might evenhave been more vulnerable to
becoming pregnant unplanned, butthat doesn't mean that their
pregnancy isn't valuable and itdoesn't mean that the life that
they have is and it doesn't meanthat they life that they have
is.
It doesn't mean that they can'tlive a full and happy life and
so, yeah, so from that moment onmy life, my faith has been a
(13:31):
huge part of my life, and Iwould kind of be aware of how
long time has gone and thinking,will I ever experience that
kind of depression again?
And like a year would go by andI would think, oh, wow, like a
year went by and I'm still doingokay, you know.
And then five years, wow, likefive years, I'm like I'm doing
(13:52):
you know what I mean Like ittruly, as time would go by, I
would realize that like I reallytruly have been saved.
And so I started writing amemoir and I share my diagnosis,
treatment, recovery and healing, and the healing part to me is
the faith aspect of it.
And so I started picturingchapters when I would look back
(14:12):
at like how long it had beensince I suffered that depression
and all of a sudden, likedifferent chapter titles started
coming to my mind about like abook that I would write about it
, and I mentioned it to myhusband and he was very
supportive, open to it.
And so in my later 30s, I wrotethe majority of a memoir.
It still is not published yet.
(14:33):
When the actual speaking partof it came, you asked me about
the speaking and the podcast.
I became a internationally boardcertified lactation consultant
in 2012.
And in 2014, I was asked by mymanagement team at the hospital
I worked at to go to a teach thetrainers program in
(14:56):
Williamsport, pennsylvania, andI worked with other women who
were going to have to go backand teach their coworkers and
anyone in contact withbreastfeeding moms, to try and
really promote and supportbreastfeeding in the women who
are choosing breastfeeding, thatthey got the care that they
needed.
And so this was the first timethat I really had to get up and
(15:17):
speak in front of people.
I always cowered from speakingin front of people when I was in
high school.
I would pretend like I was sickfor like two weeks straight if
I had to, in order to like notspeak in public.
And I had one teacher that waslike no, you're not going to get
away with it.
So the first day I came back toschool she said, okay, kathy's
going to do her talk, becauseshe never did her talk.
(15:39):
And she gave me an A plus andsaid it was very natural, I know
.
And so I remember that.
And so I went to do this talk.
I had to.
Each of us had to teach a topicto the other women in the
course in Williamsport and I hadto teach on marketing and how
marketing can sometimesinterfere with marketing of
(16:00):
formula, can sometimes interferewith the breast milk and the
breastfeeding process.
But as I was preparing for itand I read from Jesus Calling
every day, and in the book sherefers to certain scripture, and
I could tell that the nightbefore it was time for me to do
my talk.
(16:21):
I had a certain amount of itplanned, but I wanted it to be
more like a conversation withthe audience.
I got to a certain point and itwas almost like the energy
heightened and then it was justlike very clear.
Like then I kind of almost likewent blank and it was almost
like I felt like God was, or theHoly Spirit was, telling me
(16:43):
you're done now.
You know, trust me and andwe're going to do this together,
you know.
So I went and did it and I dida presentation and then I opened
up conversation and then I didthe scavenger hunt at the end
and I again I got really greatfeedback from the people there
and it was different.
I felt like I was meant to besharing myself with the people
(17:07):
in the audience.
So I started after that happened, I started finding and creating
opportunities to speak publiclyjust to get good at it.
You know, I took a coursethrough our Catholic health
system that I worked at.
I just researched online how tobecome a better speaker.
I would speak at confirmationclasses, discipleship programs,
(17:31):
anywhere that anybody wouldlisten to me, I would you know I
would speak.
And I then became certified asa speaker through Maxwell
Leadership, which was started byJohn Maxwell, and when it was
time for me to do mycertification, which is a
three-day it's either in personor online, but you have to be
(17:51):
engaged online the whole threedays and you do have to present
to your table, which is maybe 12people, and because I did it
online, I presented to 12 peoplethat basically were all over
the world.
You know other people that werebeing certified at the same
time and when I went throughthis program, I was introduced
to coaching and I realized thatthat's me, like I've always
(18:16):
loved people, I've always wantedto support people, I've always
loved psychology, but I feellike a therapist who hears a lot
of negative details and painfuldetails of people's trauma.
I knew at this point that wasnot me.
Like I'm very sensitive topeople's thoughts and feelings
(18:36):
and words and so I needed to.
When I saw coaching usepositive psychology and helps to
move people forward and towardpositive goals, I was like
that's me, you know.
So I ended up going through thecertification process for that
and I got.
As soon as I was certified, Igot my first coaching client and
it's been over three years andI've never been without coaching
(18:58):
clients.
I just know that that's whatGod has called me to do.
Just know that that's what Godhas called me to do.
But then what happened was I wasintroduced to a program on
podcasting and it is led byStephanie Gass and her program
is called Online Business forChristian Women, and so I went
(19:21):
through her program where sheoffers Clarify your Calling,
which teaches us like what do wewant to?
Who are we going to servethrough our podcast?
The second part is Podcast ProUniversity, which taught me all
the nuts and bolts and everylittle thing there is that comes
with podcasting.
And you have to remember, I wasa nurse, so my specialty was
(19:41):
not technology in any way, so myspecialty was not technology in
any way.
And then this last program I'vebeen doing is called Podcast to
Profit, and that is really justbringing together all my
programs and scaling my business.
So, yeah, so when I was doingClarify my Calling or Clarify
your Calling, I actually feltlike I really love serving
(20:04):
everyone.
I actually felt like I reallylove serving everyone.
I love coaching the young, theold, male, female, gay, straight
.
Like, honestly, I feel like Godhas called me just to be
present and to serve whoever itis that he brings in front of me
.
So when I was doing Clarifyyour Calling, it was really hard
for me to pinpoint the acertain person that I wanted to
(20:26):
serve.
But I went through theexercises like multiple times
and because of my personal andprofessional background, because
of my gifts and skills, myhardships and my triumphs, it
was very clear that I was meantto serve younger moms who have
stepped into motherhood afterexperiencing an unplanned
(20:46):
pregnancy, and really kind of tobe an advocate for them.
You know, serve them but alsoadvocate for them and just give
them a voice.
So I know that was a very longanswer but yeah, that's kind of
how I came to serve the younger,younger Christian mamas.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
That's amazing.
That's such an awesome story.
I loved all of it.
I'm going to unpack a littlebit of it, but it's just the
main thing that I just get outof.
It is like we go throughdifferent things, right, and so
God allows certain things tohappen, but based on our choices
(21:25):
or how it's going to impactother people in the future.
And I just see, in just youtelling your story, how he was
just kind of equipping you andpreparing you for what you do
now and what you'll do beyond.
And so when you were talkingabout, like you know, having
that postpartum depression, itis so I know moms that have had
(21:49):
that and I did not experiencethat, but I know moms that have
had it and you're right, there'sso much shame attached to it
and, like the oh, I wish I wouldhave been there for this, that
and the other.
And we it's such a naturalthing, right that mom guilt.
And I'm sure the women that youwork with, like the young moms,
(22:09):
feel that in a way too, like,oh, I should have been better
prepared or oh, I shouldn't havedone this, that.
Not that they would ever wantto take away the fact that they
are a mother now, but maybe youknow the steps could have been
different, or you know, or maybeit came about, like you said,
(22:30):
very traumatically and it isn'tsomething that they really had a
choice in.
But yet here they are asmothers and we can't go back.
And I mean we can go back andreflect on where we were and how
we felt and that helps us helpothers, but we can't go back and
change it.
(22:51):
And so what I've found in mylife is I have there's shame,
there's regret, there's, youknow, all of that in my story.
But the way that I reconcilethat and the way that I move
forward in a positive way is tosay, okay, how can I take this
and use it for good?
(23:11):
How can I take this and use itto help somebody else, encourage
them, give them hope?
You know whatever it is.
And then, when you were talkingabout just seeing your
background, your home life andhow it was dysfunctional, I
think, is the word that you useand then seeing your husband's
family and the stability thereand being like, oh, I think,
(23:36):
like we have that desire on ourheart, but then when we see it
in action, it makes it so thatit's like that could be possible
for me, like, no matter whathappened in the past, I feel
like this could be possible, andyou seem like a person that
just figures things out, likeyou figured out podcasting.
You figured out how to become acertified lactation specialist.
(23:59):
You're a figure outer, and Ithink that's why we resonate
with one another.
So much is because of thatpositivity, that how are we
going to fix this or or makethis work or go where God is
calling us to go, and sometimesit's that deficit in our life
(24:21):
that is actually the blessing,because it equips us to move
forward, right, yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Yeah, and I just want to share a couple of things.
The pregnancy itself was neversomething that I was ashamed of
or would look back and dodifferently.
I feel more sorrow for peoplethat choose not to have their
babies, and I think amisconception with unplanned
pregnancies is like that poorperson.
(24:49):
They have ruined their lives,their poor child, and I think
that is what upsets younger momsthe most is being treated
differently or being looked downon, and I have seen it.
I have been on both ends of it.
People that know me as an adultdon't always know that I was a
younger mom.
I hear what people say and I'veseen it.
(25:10):
So I think that if I was goingto say anything to advocate for
younger moms, it's that theyknow what their life is and the
value that they have in theirchild and in their family, no
matter what their hardships are.
The wide majority of women, Iwill say, will never regret
their children ever.
(25:31):
I truly believe that, and so Ijust like wanted to make that
part of it clear.
And another thing I wanted tomention is even growing up, when
I was younger, I was alwaysaware of my friends' homes and
their families and the stabilitythat I saw in their lives and
(25:51):
so I think that when it happenedwith my husband it's different,
because your friends don'tunderstand.
You know, I have one friendthat remembered being at my
house and something happeningand she said my face looked like
a balloon that had the air letout of it.
One of the things that happenedwithin our home that other
people didn't usually seehappened and she saw it and she
(26:12):
heard it and it was very.
It was comforting to know thatshe knew that this was years
later as adults that she told methat.
But I always was aware of, likemy friends and their
relationships, like with theirmoms or dads, or how the
atmosphere in their home was.
I was always very sensitive toit and I think my sensitivity
(26:34):
came from having to be overlysensitive in my but I guess
those two things I kind ofwanted to mention.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
I am so glad that you mentioned that because it is a
real thing and I think that isgood for those of us on the
outside to recognize and say youknow, build these women up, be
supportive, be encouraging,because they are choosing this
life and they're happy about it.
Like you said, you never regretit.
(27:03):
It's everything in life.
We just there's things that aredifficult, but they're worth it
right and being like.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Right now I'm 56 years old and I can look back on
my life and say that truly,like, truly, the greatest thing
that ever happened to me washaving my children and my
husband and creating the lifethat we have together, and and
that's something I will never,ever regret or second guess or
anything Like I can't imagine mylife without them, and I know
(27:36):
that not only was my son a gift,but he blessed us.
His light has blessed ourfamily, you know.
So, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, and they teach us things right.
They teach us things aboutourselves.
We grow together, especially,you know, as we're there growing
.
We're growing too and we'relearning things and it's just a
beautiful thing and we talkedabout this when we had our other
(28:13):
conversation is the positivity?
Like I'm the same way.
I always thought I would be acounselor or do something, you
know, be a therapist, and itjust never stuck with me.
But when I discovered coaching,it was like, oh, we get to go
from here and move forward andthere's so much value in
counseling and therapy andtrauma counseling and all of
that.
It's so, so important.
But I think the best thing isthat counseling and coaching can
(28:37):
actually go hand in hand.
Like I have clients that workwith both and it's been very
effective for them.
Or sometimes people work with acounselor first because they're
not really in a place forcoaching yet, and then we, you
know, and then they do coachinglater and that's that's great
too.
So there's definitely a placefor both.
But I'm also of thatpersonality where it's that
(29:01):
empathy.
It can be a lot for me to.
I just take it on and it's.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
And I that's too much .
Speaker 1 (29:07):
With coaching it's like, okay, let's dig in.
Where are we?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
going to go, and this is like with my coaching.
I do the same as you.
I have clients that have cometo me after counseling.
They sometimes comesimultaneously while they're
coaching or counseling, and thensometimes I refer them to
counseling If I start to feelthat that's something that's
going to move them forward.
I'm not afraid to do thateither.
But one thing I do really loveto do and I think it's so
(29:34):
important is make sure thatpeople and they feel comfortable
bringing up or mentioning maybetrauma or difficulty they've
been through, because that's apart of who they are.
I always make sure that theyfeel comfortable doing that and
I take that into account.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yes, definitely the past is part of their experience
and I've done the same thingwhere I've referred someone to
counseling because it's actuallywhat's keeping them stuck from
moving forward.
And then once they can workthrough that and start to heal
that, then they can, thenthey're in a place for that.
But yeah, certainly it does getbrought up.
(30:12):
It's not like don't evermention anything.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
It's very important to know One of the things I
noticed about myself when I wasgoing to counseling.
At one point I started tobecome dependent on the
counselor and I was afraid.
I started to yeah, I don't knowhow else to say it, but I was
(30:37):
becoming dependent on her and Iwas afraid.
It was almost like taking yourfirst steps for the first time,
you know, like a baby learninghow to walk, and so that was one
thing I remembered when Istarted coaching.
And then another thing was thatI used to do a lot of
journaling and it was a placewhere I could vent and write
like things that were upsettingme, and so I never liked to go
back and read it because it wasso negative, you know.
And then I started doing agratitude journal and I could
(30:59):
feel like a shift in my thinking, started writing the memoir.
A friend told me that when youcan, when you're a victim of
something and you can take itand make use of it, then you are
no longer a victim, and I thinkthat coaching is.
That is what's so beautifulabout coaching.
You know whether you've been inrehab and have had to stop
(31:23):
drinking or using drugs orwhatever it is you're dealing
with, or you've been in thehospital for mental health
purposes, or you finally isyou're dealing with or you've
been in the hospital for mentalhealth purposes, or you finally
got your mental healthstabilized but you don't have a
lot of good friends.
You've been kind of.
Coaching helps you create apositive future and a life for
yourself, and so I think that'swhat I love about coaching so
(31:44):
much and following up after andalongside counseling.
Either way, I think that itgives people like framework for
their future and for a happyfuture, like we don't have to
live in the past, we don't haveto beat ourselves up and feel
less than or guilty or whatever.
Yeah, so I just that that'swhat I wanted to share.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Yeah, and I I'm glad you did because that does.
That is a real thing, thathappens, and also in the
recovery world.
That happens with people withAA, like if they're at AA,
pretty soon they becomedependent on it and they're
afraid of what will happen whenthey leave AA.
So that's something that reallydoes happen.
And I think you hit the nail onthe head, or alluded to it is,
(32:28):
with coaching.
It's like we're helping.
It's kind of like that teenagestage right when there's like
that breaking away.
I always tell people the pointof coaching isn't to be coached
forever, it's to learn how tocoach yourself, and so we give
you these tools and then, onceyou're ready, then you can kind
of go on your own.
That doesn't mean like I've hadcoaches for different things,
(32:51):
yeah, so it doesn't mean you'llnever have a coach, but I've
learned how to coach myself indifferent aspects of my life,
and I would say also that peopledon't even have to be in a
place of real need to come tocoaching.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Like I have coaching clients that are writing and
publishing books, that arebecoming better speakers, that
are improving their health, youknow.
So you don't have to have had adepression, you know, been to
rehab or anything like that.
You can just be at a stage inyour life where you feel like
God's calling you to dosomething more, and having a
coach or somebody to workalongside you is just going to
(33:25):
make it happen more less, Iwould say.
Alongside you is just going tomake it happen more less, I
would say uneventfully, or likeless struggles and move you
forward faster is what I wouldsay.
I don't know if you would agreewith that.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Yeah, it for sure helps you ignite that and go
forward a lot quicker Because,like us, you can figure it out
on your own.
But it takes a long time right.
It's taken us years.
Well, you know, christyhonestly.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Another thing I thought about when you were just
talking.
You had mentioned somethingabout us kind of making things
happen or we're very much likegoats.
I would say that, like you know, on the topic of alcohol, I
have an occasional glass of wine.
Like I can go months without adrink of wine, or if I do have
one, I notice the second glass.
(34:10):
It doesn't taste as good or itdoesn't settle with me.
So usually it's one glass ofbeer, one beer, I'm sorry.
One glass of wine, maybe onebeer once a month, or it could
be a couple of days in a row,like if we're camping, but then
not again for like months, youknow.
(34:30):
So I am not dependent on alcoholand when I, when my first son
was young, there was a time thatI did go out with my husband
and friends and the next day Ihad gotten up and I felt awful.
I felt depressed and tired andnauseous and it made me feel
terrible that I didn't have theenergy to really care for him
the way that I should have felt.
(34:51):
And, having been through thedepression and knowing like how
precious our minds are, I wasjust like I never want to be
like that.
I never want to allow somethingto interfere with my clarity or
like the care that I'm givinghim.
And I think, because my lifehas not evolved around alcohol,
I've always been a very likeself-learning, forward moving,
(35:15):
which goes along with ourcoaching, and I would think
that's probably similar to you.
Do you understand what I'msaying there with the connection
of not drinking and, you know,not having alcohol be something
that is sustaining us orcomforting us?
Because when you don't have adrug to comfort you, you have to
figure out how to comfortyourself or you have to you deal
(35:38):
with it.
So when I went through thatdepression, I say that that was
one of the best, one of theworst and best things that
happened to me at that time,because it brought me to my
knees and I had to look at thetruth and in looking at the
truth, made me realize I neededGod.
And so somebody could saysomething about me and it could
(36:00):
be very hurtful, but chances areI already know that about
myself.
If it's true, if it's somethingI'm not good at or something
that's a weakness of mine orsomebody you know, if somebody
says it to me, yeah, it's goingto hurt me, that you wanted to
hurt me, but I'm so self-awarethat there's not much that you
can say to me, that you're goingto shock me.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Yes, I've already said it to myself, I've already
come to try.
I don't need you to say it tome.
Yeah, no, I do agree with you.
You, I think, when I look atthe times when I was drinking
and everything like all myenergy was put into that, like
how am I gonna get it?
When am I gonna have it?
When am I?
You know all of those things.
(36:39):
So when we are consumed by andit can be alcohol, it could be
food, it could be shopping, itcould be scrolling, it could be
anything, it could be shopping,it could be scrolling, it could
be anything really it just numbsus, first of all, and it also
takes a lot of our mentalclarity.
And I know, and I'll see iteven, like in my life now, if I
get a little bit off track andmaybe I'm on social media too
(37:02):
much, I'm like I need to takethat off because it's taking
away from my creative energy,it's taking away from me
communicating with God andsaying, like, what do you want
me to do?
Speaker 2 (37:13):
next.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
And so, yeah, that is such a freedom when you can let
go of whatever that is,whatever those strongholds are
that are keeping you bad.
And you had mentioned earlierabout, like, as you were kind of
coming into the coming to faith, how you could feel that I can.
I had this too.
Like you have this fire, thisdesire to like go and get it,
(37:36):
but then there's that, the enemy, like kind of knocking you down
a little bit and I experiencedpanic attacks and miraculously,
I had never had them before thatand I have thankfully never had
them before that and I havethankfully never had them after
that.
But it was when my husband wasgoing through RCIA and we were
coming back to faith and goingto church regularly and
(37:57):
everything.
So, just know, like, whenyou're doing that good thing,
whatever that is, when you'removing forward and getting
closer to the Lord and reallystepping into the woman that you
know God has called you to be,you will feel, you will face
pushback and it can come in theform of fear of man, like you
(38:19):
talked about.
What are people going to thinkabout me?
Or whatever it is, or it can itcan be anxiety that creeps up
in us because of you know,whatever we're thinking, you
know some of that comes from theenemy and some of it comes from
us, right?
Speaker 2 (38:36):
yeah, can be like and once you know it, it's so
freeing because, yeah, I lovethe one scripture by saint paul
that says I, we are pressed atevery side, but we do not fall.
I don't have this specificwording to it.
Sometimes, when I feel likethings are coming at me at every
(38:57):
end, like it might be myhusband and I might be having
some tension, and then somethinghappens with my mom, and then
something stressful at work, andit feels like everything is
coming at you at once, and thenI'm just like, okay, the devil
loves, he loves for us to beafraid or feel pressured or
whatever.
And it's almost like, once youknow it, like you, it just
(39:22):
changes you, you know, it givesyou more control over your life
and over your faith.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
And, yeah, oh for sure, Especially and, like you
said, once you have thatawareness around it, it
definitely is helpful for that.
So, because we've talked aboutfaith a lot, I would love to
know both how your Catholicfaith influences the way you
coach and support others and anyfavorite scriptures or
(39:47):
practices that you use in yourwork.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Yeah, I would say that my Catholic faith shapes
everything that I do, so I wouldsay that there's not any part
of my life that it's not.
It's funny because when Istarted the Unplanned Joyful
Life, the four pillars wereembracing your Catholic faith
self-care, healthy home,environment and community
involvement.
When it comes down to it, ourCatholic faith encourages all of
(40:12):
those things, and so I justyeah, I feel like it affects me
in every way when it comes to mycoaching practice.
I have clients that areCatholic and I have clients that
are not, but I always ask them.
They might be Catholic but notpracticing, and so I always make
sure to ask them if they'reokay, if that is something that
I use as options when we'relooking at different ways of
(40:34):
moving forward, and I've neverhad anybody say no.
They always they almost seemhappily yes, like if you can
bring that in, that's great, youknow.
So I always bring that in, andsometimes it's referring to
scripture.
Sometimes I'll share like aspeaker or a podcast with them
or Christian music that I thinkmight be inspiring to them.
(40:55):
But I would say the way that itaffects my coaching the most is
that it helps me to be present100% with them because I feel
that my needs are cared for andbecause I believe that the Holy
Spirit is with me, and by goingto church regularly, hearing
(41:18):
scripture, going to confession,I feel like my needs are met.
And so it's important, when youwant to be there for somebody
else, that your needs are met,because you can't go there
wanting or needing somethingfrom those people.
You are there for them, period,you know.
So I would say, first of all,that is one way that it affects,
I would say that encouragingforgiveness, I would say empathy
(41:43):
, mercy, just the importance ofrespecting that individual and
really listening to them.
It's funny because at the endof all my coaching sessions, I
have a coaching reflection formI fill out and it asks what did
you do well during the sessionand what can you do better?
And I always have listen.
Even if listen is one of thethings I did well, it's always
(42:05):
something that I need to remindmyself to do better, because I
truly believe that individuals,the Holy Spirit or their inner
genius, like they, knowthemselves better than anybody,
and the best way that I canbring out the best in them is to
be present for them and tosupport them, not in telling
(42:26):
them what they should do, butlike listening to their words
and then I sometimes willreclarify back to them things
that they've said to me, so thatyou know I make sure that we're
on the same page, but thenthey're also hearing it a second
time and just really supportingthem and loving them through
the whole process.
One thing I have to do a lot isto bring their successes to
(42:47):
their attention.
So one of the first questions Iask people every week is what
is something that you'regrateful for this week and what
is a win that you want toacknowledge?
And I love those first twoquestions because they help the
client to look at the positive,because sometimes they might
have completed the actions theycommitted to, but for some
(43:09):
reason, they don't realize theydid, or maybe they did a little
bit, or maybe they didn't, butthey had some major crisis
happen in their lives.
And so one of the things it'sfunny because I think of we
always think of accountabilityas being that person that we can
go back to and say, yes, I didmy, I did my exercises or I did
my thing, but I always feel likeaccountability and I think that
(43:32):
my faith has helped me.
See, this is the accountabilityof reminding people of the good
that's within them.
You know, when they come to meand they say I'll say, well, you
actually didn't do what youcommitted to do.
Remember, you said you did X, yand Z and they're like do what
you committed to do.
Remember, you said you did X, yand Z.
And they're like, oh yeah,that's right, you know.
(43:55):
Or maybe maybe they will say Ididn't do anything.
But then they tell me like thishorrendous thing happened to
them and I said, oh my gosh,like I honestly wouldn't expect
you have finished it, you know.
And then we might talk a littlebit about what happened.
But then other times I'll evenhave people very negative, but
they've completed everything.
And but then other times I'lleven have people very negative,
but they've completed everything.
And I'm like a cheerleader,like I get excited about any
success that people have.
So I think also like the joy asa Catholic that I have chosen
(44:20):
to live in my life, I think thatI extend that to my clients and
I think that gives them hope ofjoy and like a happy future,
you know.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
Yeah, I think that's really at the heart of coaching
as a practice, and I am surethat there are so many that can
resonate with you and be like,yes, that's what I need as a
cheerleader, because that's whatI always say I try to start, we
always start our sessions withwins.
What were your wins this week?
And sometimes, like you said it, the wins will turn into things
(44:51):
that they didn't do.
But then, because I'm a kind ofa Pollyanna, my husband it
annoys my husband sometimes.
But, yeah, I try to do thatwith my clients too, because
even in the, maybe they had aslip or maybe this happened or
that happened.
There's awareness that happens.
There's awareness that happens.
There's learning that happens.
So I always try to pull outthose wins and be like look, you
(45:13):
had this and you had this andyou had this.
And they're like, yeah, oh mygosh, I did.
And that really is our job ascoaches is, like you said, to
listen, to reflect back to themwhat they're not even actually
hearing themselves.
Yes, and be like, no, look atwhat you've done to reflect back
to them what they're not evenactually hearing themselves.
Yes, yes.
You know and be like no, look atwhat you've done.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
Yeah, I had a client recently who has been walking
every morning for an hour andshe's been doing great and just
really moving forward.
And one of the things a coupleweeks ago it was my idea like do
something nice for yourself,buy yourself something, meet
someone for coffee, you know,just whatever it is that you
enjoy, do something good foryourself.
And I even said buy yourselfsomething, right.
(45:55):
And so when we met a couple ofweeks later she said I said she
said, oh, I didn't do anything,she's like.
And then a couple of minuteslater in the conversation she's
like well, I bought myself a newpair of nice running walking
sneakers.
I said, well, I bought myself anew pair of nice running
walking sneakers.
I said you did Like that's youknow.
And yeah, and I think whenpeople hear the okay to do
(46:17):
something good for themselves,that's important because you
know we need to know that I meanother things.
That I do is really focus onself-care and healthy boundaries
.
Those are two things thatalways seem to be in the
beginning of whatever we'redoing.
But in general, I think reallybeing present and supporting and
allowing that client to sharetheir personal dreams and ideas
(46:41):
is just huge.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
Yeah, yeah, okay.
So now, why don't you go aheadand share your favorite
scripture or practices that youuse in your work?
Speaker 2 (46:54):
Yeah, so a couple of books that I recommend to people
.
A lot is Boundaries by Dr HenryCloud and Dr John Townsend, and
I also recommend Better ThanNormal, which is written by Dr
Del Archer.
So those are books.
There's many books that Irecommend, but those are just
two of them, and they seem tocome up a lot, scriptures that I
(47:18):
just tend to, and honestlythere's probably hundreds of
scripture that come to mind,depending on the conversation,
but the ones that came to mefirst are Philippians 4.13,.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me, and
that is something that mysister-in-law shared with me
when I was really starting tocome into my faith, and so that
is a very special scriptureverse for me and very empowering
(47:39):
, I think.
The next one is Psalm 118,verse 24.
This is the day the Lord hasmade.
We will rejoice and be glad init.
And that is a verse that mybrother shared with me when I
was struggling, and I rememberwhen he shared this with me and
I thought that's nice, but hedoesn't really understand.
You know, like this one beforeI really found my faith and came
(48:00):
to terms with it, and I justremember thinking, oh, that's,
that's sweet of him, but he justdoesn't really know.
You know, but he knew, and so Ijust love that because it's
just a reminder that you know wedon't have to have this day.
The Lord has made that for us,and so what are we going to do
(48:22):
with it?
Are we going to be grateful forit and do our best and be our
best, or are we going to feelsorry for ourselves for the
things that we don't have andwallow?
So I love that.
2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, andhe said to me this is probably
the biggest one that I sharewith people when they're going
through a challenging time orthey're kind of down on
(48:43):
themselves for their weaknesses.
And he said to me my grace issufficient for you, for my
strength is made perfect inweakness.
Therefore, most gladly I willrather boast in my infirmity
that the power of Christ mayrest upon me.
And yeah, this scripture to meis really incredible, because
(49:05):
it's really in our weakness thatit's almost like it ignites
Christ's love for us even more.
And his mercy was made almostlike a puzzle piece for our
weakness.
So I always say like, no matterhow low you go, he will meet us
there.
And then the last one is the23rd Psalm and I won't read the
whole thing.
(49:25):
But the Lord is my shepherd, Ishall not want.
And when you talked about havingpanic attacks, I went through a
period when I was afraid.
When I was coming to reallyembrace my faith, I was starting
to have fear about havinganother depression and having
that kind of overcome me and itwas like horrible, like panic
attacks, I know, like if there'sanybody listening and you know
(49:48):
they are horrible.
And when I started reading the23rd Psalm, I started realizing
that the valley is onlytemporary and that we go into
the valley and then we come outof the valley of.
The panic attack was a fear ofsomething that had not happened
(50:09):
yet.
Like it was a fear of somethingthat I thought was going to
happen, but it probably wasn'tgoing to happen.
So I would catch myself rightin that, right in that horrible,
painful fear, and I would justkind of talk my talk to myself
and say this isn't this is thebad thing, the bad thing's not
going to happen.
You're, this is the bad thingright now and so not going to
happen, this is the bad thingright now.
(50:31):
And so once I would acknowledgethat, then it would kind of
dissipate, and it wasn't longafter that then I stopped having
them all together.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
So that's what happened to me.
I was afraid that something badwas going to happen to me, like
while I was home with my boysmy twins were like four at the
time.
It was two years of just beingafraid, and what I came to
realize later that I didn'trecognize then is that the enemy
was really getting me not totrust God and his goodness, and
(50:59):
so I started clinging to theverse that the Lord, what he
said, what his promises are trueand what he said would happen
would come about.
Right.
I don't have the verse off thetop of my head, but it was
something I just kept tellingmyself that over and over again.
And, like you, I'm like nothingbad has happened, Like if you
(51:22):
want to freak out when somethinglike that happens, freak out,
but it's, you are fine and youjust aren't trusting in God's
mercy and his care and hisprovidence and all of that.
And once I was able to get ahold of that, like it's never
happened again.
My mom also got me a miraculousmedal and I started wearing it
(51:45):
every day, and I think that wasvery helpful too, because I had
Mary as just that very powerfulintercessor for me, guiding me
and guiding us as we werejourneying back to the church.
But that happens and then Ilove the thing.
I love all those scriptures andI think that they'll sound
familiar to so many of us, andwhat I try to do is tell my
(52:09):
clients and pretty much anyonewho will listen that we need to
speak God's truth over us.
So, instead of affirmations, wecan make declarations and I
learned this from a Bible studyWalking with Purpose Bible study
that I did where when we impartGod's truth over us by speaking
these scriptures to us, theones that are resonating with us
(52:30):
, the ones that remind us ofGod's love and mercy and care
for us, that is actuallyallowing grace to be imparted on
us, which is so powerful.
So that's why I wanted to knowwhat your scripture verses were
and I loved how they came to you, yes, so that's why I wanted to
know what your scripture verseswere, and I loved like how they
came to you.
Speaker 2 (52:50):
Yeah, yeah, I love it .
Yeah, I, it's fun.
I didn't realize how much Iwould be using it in the podcast
when I started.
I actually thought the podcastwould actually tap more into my
maternal child nursingbackground, but in actuality it
has been more of the faith,because really the faith affects
(53:11):
everything that we do.
It's not just one part of ourlife, it really infiltrates all
of it.
And yeah, so I think that hasbeen really beautiful.
And the people that I haveconnected with.
It's been incredible thatpeople like you and other people
I've interviewed on my show.
It's just there's such aconnection and there are people
from all over the country andall over the world that we've
(53:32):
never met before.
But you know, god is bringing ustogether and if I was being
called to kind of serve peopleon a larger scale, that's kind
of the feeling I got.
I was working as a nurse and Ino longer felt that that was
where I was meant to be.
I felt like God was calling meto serve more in the public or
community.
I saw it more as physical,speaking or working, I don't
(53:56):
know how.
I really didn't have itpictured any specific way.
I just knew that he was callingme to do that, and I know that
all of you, all of the otherpeople that are doing similar
types of work, I'm sure havefelt that same thing.
You know I don't know why God'scalling me to do this, but I
feel like he's calling me to dothis.
You know, and we hear that onyour interview that you do, on
(54:18):
my show, also from your part ofit.
So, yeah and honestly, christy,today I published my 100th
episode, which was part one ofthe interview I did with you,
and I can't believe howsignificant that is, because I
do not suffer from alcoholism.
(54:38):
I do not.
It's not something I feel hasinfiltrated my home, but I still
deal with the effects ofalcoholism from my family and I
see it in relationships withother people, I see it in my
community and it is such anoverwhelming deterrent from
(54:59):
people finding God and fromliving their life fully and
completely.
And so you just took me rightback to, like, my childhood and,
you know, starting at my dad,who was an alcoholic, my dad's
dad and probably generationsbefore that.
But yeah, it just I'm so happythat you're doing the work that
(55:20):
you're doing and I just thinkit's so important and so
necessary.
So, like from now until August27th.
I'm doing a promotion becausethat's my year anniversary and
today's my 100th episode, andI'm excited that your interviews
are taking place within thattime, because I'm hoping that
people will listen and learnabout alcohol, and not that you
(55:41):
don't always have to like cut itcompletely out of your life,
but that you can create a newhabit and new relationships with
it, and I just think that whatyou're doing is incredible.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
Thank you.
Well, it's mutual and I thinkthat what you're doing is so
important and needed as well.
Speaking for those women whoreally haven't had a voice in
this right, I think a lot ofpeople try to assume what they
are feeling or going through oryou know what they need, but I
think it's so beautiful thatyou're sharing their stories and
(56:15):
sharing what you know in yourencouragement and you're such a
light.
So I appreciate that so muchand congratulations.
100 episodes is really amilestone, because it's just
like oh my gosh, I've done thisa hundred times.
How does I know I do that?
So yeah, so I hope people do.
Please do go and listen to theunplanned joyful podcast for
(56:39):
sure.
Um, not just the unplannedjoyful life ohing joyful life.
Yes, thank you, and I love thejoyful because you're so joyful
like you just exude joy and it'sso wonderful.
So just two more things sobefore we close.
One thing I would love is whatwould you say to a woman who is
(57:02):
listening and feels overwhelmedor stuck in her habits or unsure
how to begin again?
Speaker 2 (57:09):
You know, honestly, I wrote something down that I
wanted to share with that person.
First of all, I want you toknow that I am praying for you
and I feel for you.
You know it's hard.
People are in.
There are so many sufferingpeople.
I just was on a prayer team theother night where people come
and we pray over them and withthem, and there's so many people
(57:30):
suffering right now.
So I want you to know that I'mpraying for you and I want you
to know that you are not aloneand that God is with you.
His power is actually ignitedby the response to your weakness
.
Go easy on yourself, reach outfor help and take one day.
Sometimes it's one hour andsometimes it's one minute at a
(57:50):
time.
This is the day the Lord hasmade.
We will rejoice and be glad init.
You are not alone and you aregoing to be okay, that is so
beautiful.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
Thank you so much for that.
That gave me goosebumps.
So, before we close, you sharedabout your podcast a little bit
, but just let people know, likeall the things about you, where
they can find you, how they canconnect with you and if you
have any resources or anythinglike that.
Speaker 2 (58:20):
Okay, yeah, definitely, you can find me, if
you want to listen to thepodcast, at the Unplanned Joyful
Life podcast, and that is onlike a variety of different.
I mean Apple podcast is themost popular, but it's on
Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadiopretty much any one that you can
think of.
So the Unplanned Joyful Lifepodcast by Kathy Jo Lange.
(58:42):
You can find me on Facebook andI have a personal and
professional Facebook page whichis Kathy Jo Lange, and then the
other one is Kathy Jo Lange LLC, and then I have a community
group called Practical Supportfor the Younger Christian Mom
and that has younger moms, butit also has people that support
(59:07):
younger moms, and so some of thethings we do is we ask people
what are they grateful for, oncea week and then another time we
ask people what do they want tobe prayed for, and I share
different things.
You know on that.
People can also email me atkathylang716 if they're
interested in, or they canmessage me on Facebook if
(59:28):
they're interested in, aone-on-one coaching session.
I do offer a free session toanybody that is interested in
giving it a try and I don'tpressure people to continue.
If they want to try one timeand they decide, they're
definitely going to walk away,you know, with something
valuable.
You know I've had free session,but yeah, those are things that
I offer and I am gettingtogether right now a free
(59:54):
download which is aself-assessment.
So I don't have that right nowon my website, but I will be
putting that up soon.
Speaker 1 (59:59):
Okay, perfect.
Well, I will have all thatinformation in the show notes so
you can connect with Kathy Jo.
And yeah, if you want to putthat, if you want me to have
that assessment link in theretoo, I can do that as well.
All right, so well.
Thank you so much, kathy Jo,for being here.
You just have blessed me againwith another fruitful
(01:00:21):
conversation and I'm so gladthat you connected, that we
connected and, yeah, we've beenable to chat and hopefully, you
know, the Lord just sends thisout to all those women who need
this encouragement and needcheerleaders like us, and just
to have some hope and know thatthey're not alone for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:00:43):
So thank you, right.
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
That does it for this episode of the Catholic
Sobriety Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand I would invite you to share
it with a friend who might alsoget value from it as well, and
make sure you subscribe so youdon't miss a thing.
I am the Catholic SobrietyCoach, and if you would like to
(01:01:07):
learn how to work with me orlearn more about the coaching
that I offer, visit my website,thecatholicsobrietycoachcom.
Follow me on Instagram at theCatholic sobriety coach.
I look forward to speaking toyou next time and remember I am
(01:01:28):
here for you, I am praying foryou.
You are not alone.
Thank you.
Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the
go-to resource for women seekingto have a deeper understanding
of the role alcohol plays intheir lives, women who are
looking to drink less or not atall for any reason.
I am your host, christi Walker.
I'm a wife, mom and ajoy-filled Catholic, and I am
(00:22):
the Catholic Sobriety Coach, andI am so glad you're here.
Welcome to the podcast.
Today I'm so excited becausetoday I have a guest.
I have Kathy Jo Ling.
She is a wife, mom, grandmotherand practicing Catholic
Professionally.
(00:42):
She is a certified life coach,public speaker and host of the
Unplanned Joyful Life podcast.
With a background as aregistered nurse, an
internationally board-certifiedlactation consultant and
published children's book author, she brings a wealth of
(01:03):
experience to her coachingpractice.
Kathy Jo Lange LLC.
She has achieved many personaland professional milestones and
is passionate about helping youdo the same.
Kathy Jo uses positivepsychology to help clients reach
their professional and personalgoals at an accelerated rate.
(01:25):
She does this through friendlyand engaging conversation,
guided reflection and deliberategoal setting.
She believes consistentaccountability ensures that you
stay on track.
Kathy Jo will help you get fromwhere you are to where you want
to be, and she will support youevery step of the way, and at
(01:45):
the end I will have Kathy giveus all her information, so you
know exactly where to find her.
Kathy, jo, thank you so muchfor being here today.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh, Christy, you're welcome.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, so I was super blessed to talk to Kathy Jo last
week for her podcast, theUnplanned Joyful Life podcast,
and so go over there and checkout.
I guess it's a four partinterview because she and I had
so much fun chatting and we justwent on forever and then all of
a sudden it's like, oh my gosh,how much time has passed.
(02:24):
So we had never met before, butI think we really connected and
I just wanted to have her hereas well.
So thank you again for beinghere.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So let's just dive in to the story behind your
ministry, because I just thinkit's so wonderful and so needed.
So I would love it if you couldjust share a bit about how the
Unplanned Joyful Life podcastcame to be what it is and a
little bit about your work as aCatholic speaker and coach.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Okay, well, honestly, when I think of how it started
and I look back, being on yourpodcast today and with your
podcast being called theCatholic Sobriety Coach, it's so
clear to me that the HolySpirit guides us in everything
that we do, as long as we'reopen to it.
And I could see the work beingdone, probably from before I was
(03:22):
born.
I was born into a family thatstruggled with alcoholism and
dysfunctionalism and I dobelieve that part of my
unplanned pregnancy was theeffects of living in a
dysfunctional family and havingthat longing to be a part of
something and feel that love andthat unconditional connection
(03:44):
to others.
And even though my parentsloved all of us so much, they
struggled in so many ways withsome things and it did cause
some turbulence in our family.
And so, first of all, that iskind of how I feel like my
unplanned joyful life wasstarted.
That is kind of how I feel likemy unplanned joyful life was
(04:08):
started.
So I met my husband when I wasjust before I turned 17.
And we started dating just acouple weeks after and it
honestly, was kind of like alove at first sight type of
connection.
So we started dating and wedated for two years and then we
actually met in January and thenI ended up getting pregnant
around that same time.
Two years later I had gonebefore becoming intimate with my
(04:31):
husband.
I went on birth control a yearafter, you know, we started
dating and was going to be veryresponsible and planning and,
you know, really take care ofthings.
So I didn't have an unplannedpregnancy and really take care
of things.
So I didn't have an unplannedpregnancy.
But the way that the birthcontrol pill affected my body
and my emotions was not good.
I was crying all the time.
(04:53):
I thought maybe it was ourrelationship.
It ended up being themedication or the contraceptive
oral contraceptive I was taking.
So my husband and I broke upbriefly.
I went off the pill because Iwasn't sexually active, and then
I noticed 100% difference inhow I was taking.
So my husband and I broke upbriefly.
I went off the pill because Iwasn't sexually active, and then
I noticed a hundred percentdifference in how I was feeling.
So when we reconnected I didnot go back on the pill and I
became pregnant.
So so I just like to see that,because sometimes people think
(05:15):
when there's an unplannedpregnancy, the mom is
irresponsible or doesn't knowthat you can go on the pill or
you condom, you know, and thatwas my situation at that time.
So fortunately, my family wasvery much open and accepting of
unplanned pregnancies.
I had a brother who passed.
(05:37):
He had a heart defect and hedied when he was 18 months old,
and my family had been through alot and I think that they knew
the importance and the joy andthe significance of life.
So I'm super grateful for thatand so it was never something
that I questioned.
I remember becoming intimatewith my husband and knowing that
(06:00):
I would not do that unless Ireally felt like I could see
myself with him the rest of mylife, because I didn't believe
just, you know, casual sex orthings like that.
So you know, it was a strugglein the beginning and we got
married three months afterpregnancy and we had our son
Stephen.
So we got married in April, wehad Stephen in October and I had
(06:23):
like like the perfect pregnancy.
But six weeks after Stephen wasborn I ended up having to go
into the hospital for a severepostpartum depression.
So that was devastating andbecause I got the help that I
needed.
Even though it was extremelysevere, it was treated and I was
(06:44):
able to go home and I recoveredfairly quickly.
So you know, sometimes peoplesuffer depression and they don't
get help and maybe sometimesthey even struggle getting the
right help and it can last ayear or two years.
It can last their whole lifelong and although mine was
extremely severe, it was takencare of within a few weeks and I
(07:04):
was able to go back and takecare of it.
That being said, I struggledwith the guilt and shame of that
event.
Having to leave my newborn wasvery hard and, wanting to be the
best mom and wife that I couldbe and knowing that that
happened, I struggled with thatand I saw how my husband
(07:26):
responded to that me being inthe hospital.
He came and he worked, he wentto school, he came and visited
me every day.
He showed me so muchunconditional love that I felt
like I never really experiencedin that way before.
And when I came home, I askedhim how he got through it and he
said that his mom just told himto keep his faith.
And it was such a simplestatement, but it was so
(07:51):
profound at the same time.
Because we had both grown upCatholic, we both went to
Catholic grammar schools,catholic high schools.
I eventually graduated from aCatholic college after that, but
my family did not practice ourfaith and I was able to see his
family practice it together as afamily every week and I could
feel the stability in their homethat I didn't experience in my
(08:13):
own home.
I was putting all these thingstogether and trying to figure
out how could this, how couldthis depression or this
breakdown never happen to meagain?
What could I do that could?
I knew that was nothing toguarantee that it could never
happen again, because I knowthat depression is common and
(08:34):
there are people that sufferwith it and then they have, you
know, different periods in theirlife when it comes back or
different situations, and but Ireally did not want to ever be
in that position again.
I met a woman in the hospitalwho kind of was a frequent flyer
and she had four or five kidsand every so often she just went
and got herself admitted andtreated.
(08:54):
And I think I met that womanfor a reason because I didn't
want that to be my normal.
I didn't want to be leaving myfamily like that.
So when my husband said this, Iknew that it was.
I knew that he was speakingfrom his heart.
When he said about the faith,it wasn't just something that he
was just flippantly saying, andso I started to.
(09:15):
I wanted what he had like, Iwanted the stability that he had
, so I started really searchingand delving into my faith.
I did end up going tocounseling after I was
discharged home, which helped me, and I was on medication till
maybe six months after I wasdischarged.
I've never been on anymedication since then.
It has been 36 years and I'venever suffered a depression, you
(09:38):
know, since then.
But what happened was itprobably took me two years to
come to terms with the wholecrisis and I was able to take
care of my son.
I was able to love him and bepresent with him.
But inside I felt that whathappened to me was because I was
less than other people, that Ididn't have what other people
(09:59):
had, or I was weak.
And so it was delving into myfaith that I started to really
listen to what the readings wereall about, listen to the
prayers that we were reciting inchurch.
Look at all the images.
The Blessed Mother was a bigimage for me at that time,
because I needed to look to amother who had that
unconditional love for me andwas going to be an example for
(10:21):
me, seeing Jesus on the crossand feeling like we're the only
ones that are suffering.
There's no way you can do that.
You can't look at Jesus andthink that he doesn't understand
.
He was through the worst, youknow.
And so around the two-yearperiod I was starting to feel, I
think, as I was coming closerto really establishing and
(10:41):
accepting the faith, I washaving a lot of stirrings, which
I think partly were the HolySpirit and partly maybe the
adversary trying to fight mygrowth, you know.
So I had a couple of timeswhere I was very, very anxious
and I went out for a walk andthe first time I went for the
walk I met, I ended up at thechurch and I talked to a priest
(11:03):
there, father Joe Regliano, andI told him, you know, what I was
experiencing and he just reallylistened and encouraged me and
comforted me and prayed with meand kind of sent me on my way
and I felt better.
But maybe like a week or so,the same thing happened and I
went back again and he was thereagain, which is pretty uncommon
(11:23):
, you know.
He was right there in thechurch when I came in and the
church was empty besides me andhim.
And so I talked to him againand I was concerned with what
people thought of me, thatpeople looked down on me and
that I was weaker and I was lessthan other people.
And he said you are carryingthis on yourself, you are
(11:44):
allowing this burden to make youfeel this way and you need to
let Jesus take this from you.
And so he encouraged me to lookat the cross, look at Jesus on
the cross.
And he embraced me in a waythat was so, you know, men are
stronger than we are, so whenthey give us a hug, it's just
different, you know, than even areally great hug from a female.
(12:07):
Isn't like a hug, you know,from a man who had.
They're just stronger.
And so he hugged me and he saidto me Kathy, you need to let
Jesus take this from you, lethim take this from you.
And he just kind of keptrepeating it and I felt this
release within me and it wasalmost like I could feel this
(12:27):
tension and this angst leave mybody.
And I remember, after himhugging me, me feeling like wow,
and then, you know, we saidgoodbye and I went to leave the
church and when I left thechurch, I knew that I was
changed, like I knew thatwhatever happened between us,
(12:49):
that that guilt and shame wasgone and it really truly was
like it was.
I still think of that time andthat was a miracle that that
that was removed from me.
And so I just want to share thatstory, because that is the,
ultimately, the reason why Iwant to serve younger moms and
(13:09):
because they do, they are morevulnerable for some things
happening and they might evenhave been more vulnerable to
becoming pregnant unplanned, butthat doesn't mean that their
pregnancy isn't valuable and itdoesn't mean that the life that
they have is and it doesn't meanthat they life that they have
is.
It doesn't mean that they can'tlive a full and happy life and
so, yeah, so from that moment onmy life, my faith has been a
(13:31):
huge part of my life, and Iwould kind of be aware of how
long time has gone and thinking,will I ever experience that
kind of depression again?
And like a year would go by andI would think, oh, wow, like a
year went by and I'm still doingokay, you know.
And then five years, wow, likefive years, I'm like I'm doing
(13:52):
you know what I mean Like ittruly, as time would go by, I
would realize that like I reallytruly have been saved.
And so I started writing amemoir and I share my diagnosis,
treatment, recovery and healing, and the healing part to me is
the faith aspect of it.
And so I started picturingchapters when I would look back
(14:12):
at like how long it had beensince I suffered that depression
and all of a sudden, likedifferent chapter titles started
coming to my mind about like abook that I would write about it
, and I mentioned it to myhusband and he was very
supportive, open to it.
And so in my later 30s, I wrotethe majority of a memoir.
It still is not published yet.
(14:33):
When the actual speaking partof it came, you asked me about
the speaking and the podcast.
I became a internationally boardcertified lactation consultant
in 2012.
And in 2014, I was asked by mymanagement team at the hospital
I worked at to go to a teach thetrainers program in
(14:56):
Williamsport, pennsylvania, andI worked with other women who
were going to have to go backand teach their coworkers and
anyone in contact withbreastfeeding moms, to try and
really promote and supportbreastfeeding in the women who
are choosing breastfeeding, thatthey got the care that they
needed.
And so this was the first timethat I really had to get up and
(15:17):
speak in front of people.
I always cowered from speakingin front of people when I was in
high school.
I would pretend like I was sickfor like two weeks straight if
I had to, in order to like notspeak in public.
And I had one teacher that waslike no, you're not going to get
away with it.
So the first day I came back toschool she said, okay, kathy's
going to do her talk, becauseshe never did her talk.
(15:39):
And she gave me an A plus andsaid it was very natural, I know
.
And so I remember that.
And so I went to do this talk.
I had to.
Each of us had to teach a topicto the other women in the
course in Williamsport and I hadto teach on marketing and how
marketing can sometimesinterfere with marketing of
(16:00):
formula, can sometimes interferewith the breast milk and the
breastfeeding process.
But as I was preparing for itand I read from Jesus Calling
every day, and in the book sherefers to certain scripture, and
I could tell that the nightbefore it was time for me to do
my talk.
(16:21):
I had a certain amount of itplanned, but I wanted it to be
more like a conversation withthe audience.
I got to a certain point and itwas almost like the energy
heightened and then it was justlike very clear.
Like then I kind of almost likewent blank and it was almost
like I felt like God was, or theHoly Spirit was, telling me
(16:43):
you're done now.
You know, trust me and andwe're going to do this together,
you know.
So I went and did it and I dida presentation and then I opened
up conversation and then I didthe scavenger hunt at the end
and I again I got really greatfeedback from the people there
and it was different.
I felt like I was meant to besharing myself with the people
(17:07):
in the audience.
So I started after that happened, I started finding and creating
opportunities to speak publiclyjust to get good at it.
You know, I took a coursethrough our Catholic health
system that I worked at.
I just researched online how tobecome a better speaker.
I would speak at confirmationclasses, discipleship programs,
(17:31):
anywhere that anybody wouldlisten to me, I would you know I
would speak.
And I then became certified asa speaker through Maxwell
Leadership, which was started byJohn Maxwell, and when it was
time for me to do mycertification, which is a
three-day it's either in personor online, but you have to be
(17:51):
engaged online the whole threedays and you do have to present
to your table, which is maybe 12people, and because I did it
online, I presented to 12 peoplethat basically were all over
the world.
You know other people that werebeing certified at the same
time and when I went throughthis program, I was introduced
to coaching and I realized thatthat's me, like I've always
(18:16):
loved people, I've always wantedto support people, I've always
loved psychology, but I feellike a therapist who hears a lot
of negative details and painfuldetails of people's trauma.
I knew at this point that wasnot me.
Like I'm very sensitive topeople's thoughts and feelings
(18:36):
and words and so I needed to.
When I saw coaching usepositive psychology and helps to
move people forward and towardpositive goals, I was like
that's me, you know.
So I ended up going through thecertification process for that
and I got.
As soon as I was certified, Igot my first coaching client and
it's been over three years andI've never been without coaching
(18:58):
clients.
I just know that that's whatGod has called me to do.
Just know that that's what Godhas called me to do.
But then what happened was I wasintroduced to a program on
podcasting and it is led byStephanie Gass and her program
is called Online Business forChristian Women, and so I went
(19:21):
through her program where sheoffers Clarify your Calling,
which teaches us like what do wewant to?
Who are we going to servethrough our podcast?
The second part is Podcast ProUniversity, which taught me all
the nuts and bolts and everylittle thing there is that comes
with podcasting.
And you have to remember, I wasa nurse, so my specialty was
(19:41):
not technology in any way, so myspecialty was not technology in
any way.
And then this last program I'vebeen doing is called Podcast to
Profit, and that is really justbringing together all my
programs and scaling my business.
So, yeah, so when I was doingClarify my Calling or Clarify
your Calling, I actually feltlike I really love serving
(20:04):
everyone.
I actually felt like I reallylove serving everyone.
I love coaching the young, theold, male, female, gay, straight
.
Like, honestly, I feel like Godhas called me just to be
present and to serve whoever itis that he brings in front of me
.
So when I was doing Clarifyyour Calling, it was really hard
for me to pinpoint the acertain person that I wanted to
(20:26):
serve.
But I went through theexercises like multiple times
and because of my personal andprofessional background, because
of my gifts and skills, myhardships and my triumphs, it
was very clear that I was meantto serve younger moms who have
stepped into motherhood afterexperiencing an unplanned
(20:46):
pregnancy, and really kind of tobe an advocate for them.
You know, serve them but alsoadvocate for them and just give
them a voice.
So I know that was a very longanswer but yeah, that's kind of
how I came to serve the younger,younger Christian mamas.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
That's amazing.
That's such an awesome story.
I loved all of it.
I'm going to unpack a littlebit of it, but it's just the
main thing that I just get outof.
It is like we go throughdifferent things, right, and so
God allows certain things tohappen, but based on our choices
(21:25):
or how it's going to impactother people in the future.
And I just see, in just youtelling your story, how he was
just kind of equipping you andpreparing you for what you do
now and what you'll do beyond.
And so when you were talkingabout, like you know, having
that postpartum depression, itis so I know moms that have had
(21:49):
that and I did not experiencethat, but I know moms that have
had it and you're right, there'sso much shame attached to it
and, like the oh, I wish I wouldhave been there for this, that
and the other.
And we it's such a naturalthing, right that mom guilt.
And I'm sure the women that youwork with, like the young moms,
(22:09):
feel that in a way too, like,oh, I should have been better
prepared or oh, I shouldn't havedone this, that.
Not that they would ever wantto take away the fact that they
are a mother now, but maybe youknow the steps could have been
different, or you know, or maybeit came about, like you said,
(22:30):
very traumatically and it isn'tsomething that they really had a
choice in.
But yet here they are asmothers and we can't go back.
And I mean we can go back andreflect on where we were and how
we felt and that helps us helpothers, but we can't go back and
change it.
(22:51):
And so what I've found in mylife is I have there's shame,
there's regret, there's, youknow, all of that in my story.
But the way that I reconcilethat and the way that I move
forward in a positive way is tosay, okay, how can I take this
and use it for good?
(23:11):
How can I take this and use itto help somebody else, encourage
them, give them hope?
You know whatever it is.
And then, when you were talkingabout just seeing your
background, your home life andhow it was dysfunctional, I
think, is the word that you useand then seeing your husband's
family and the stability thereand being like, oh, I think,
(23:36):
like we have that desire on ourheart, but then when we see it
in action, it makes it so thatit's like that could be possible
for me, like, no matter whathappened in the past, I feel
like this could be possible, andyou seem like a person that
just figures things out, likeyou figured out podcasting.
You figured out how to become acertified lactation specialist.
(23:59):
You're a figure outer, and Ithink that's why we resonate
with one another.
So much is because of thatpositivity, that how are we
going to fix this or or makethis work or go where God is
calling us to go, and sometimesit's that deficit in our life
(24:21):
that is actually the blessing,because it equips us to move
forward, right, yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Yeah, and I just want to share a couple of things.
The pregnancy itself was neversomething that I was ashamed of
or would look back and dodifferently.
I feel more sorrow for peoplethat choose not to have their
babies, and I think amisconception with unplanned
pregnancies is like that poorperson.
(24:49):
They have ruined their lives,their poor child, and I think
that is what upsets younger momsthe most is being treated
differently or being looked downon, and I have seen it.
I have been on both ends of it.
People that know me as an adultdon't always know that I was a
younger mom.
I hear what people say and I'veseen it.
(25:10):
So I think that if I was goingto say anything to advocate for
younger moms, it's that theyknow what their life is and the
value that they have in theirchild and in their family, no
matter what their hardships are.
The wide majority of women, Iwill say, will never regret
their children ever.
(25:31):
I truly believe that, and so Ijust like wanted to make that
part of it clear.
And another thing I wanted tomention is even growing up, when
I was younger, I was alwaysaware of my friends' homes and
their families and the stabilitythat I saw in their lives and
(25:51):
so I think that when it happenedwith my husband it's different,
because your friends don'tunderstand.
You know, I have one friendthat remembered being at my
house and something happeningand she said my face looked like
a balloon that had the air letout of it.
One of the things that happenedwithin our home that other
people didn't usually seehappened and she saw it and she
(26:12):
heard it and it was very.
It was comforting to know thatshe knew that this was years
later as adults that she told methat.
But I always was aware of, likemy friends and their
relationships, like with theirmoms or dads, or how the
atmosphere in their home was.
I was always very sensitive toit and I think my sensitivity
(26:34):
came from having to be overlysensitive in my but I guess
those two things I kind ofwanted to mention.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
I am so glad that you mentioned that because it is a
real thing and I think that isgood for those of us on the
outside to recognize and say youknow, build these women up, be
supportive, be encouraging,because they are choosing this
life and they're happy about it.
Like you said, you never regretit.
(27:03):
It's everything in life.
We just there's things that aredifficult, but they're worth it
right and being like.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Right now I'm 56 years old and I can look back on
my life and say that truly,like, truly, the greatest thing
that ever happened to me washaving my children and my
husband and creating the lifethat we have together, and and
that's something I will never,ever regret or second guess or
anything Like I can't imagine mylife without them, and I know
(27:36):
that not only was my son a gift,but he blessed us.
His light has blessed ourfamily, you know.
So, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, and they teach us things right.
They teach us things aboutourselves.
We grow together, especially,you know, as we're there growing
.
We're growing too and we'relearning things and it's just a
beautiful thing and we talkedabout this when we had our other
(28:13):
conversation is the positivity?
Like I'm the same way.
I always thought I would be acounselor or do something, you
know, be a therapist, and itjust never stuck with me.
But when I discovered coaching,it was like, oh, we get to go
from here and move forward andthere's so much value in
counseling and therapy andtrauma counseling and all of
that.
It's so, so important.
But I think the best thing isthat counseling and coaching can
(28:37):
actually go hand in hand.
Like I have clients that workwith both and it's been very
effective for them.
Or sometimes people work with acounselor first because they're
not really in a place forcoaching yet, and then we, you
know, and then they do coachinglater and that's that's great
too.
So there's definitely a placefor both.
But I'm also of thatpersonality where it's that
(29:01):
empathy.
It can be a lot for me to.
I just take it on and it's.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
And I that's too much .
Speaker 1 (29:07):
With coaching it's like, okay, let's dig in.
Where are we?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
going to go, and this is like with my coaching.
I do the same as you.
I have clients that have cometo me after counseling.
They sometimes comesimultaneously while they're
coaching or counseling, and thensometimes I refer them to
counseling If I start to feelthat that's something that's
going to move them forward.
I'm not afraid to do thateither.
But one thing I do really loveto do and I think it's so
(29:34):
important is make sure thatpeople and they feel comfortable
bringing up or mentioning maybetrauma or difficulty they've
been through, because that's apart of who they are.
I always make sure that theyfeel comfortable doing that and
I take that into account.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yes, definitely the past is part of their experience
and I've done the same thingwhere I've referred someone to
counseling because it's actuallywhat's keeping them stuck from
moving forward.
And then once they can workthrough that and start to heal
that, then they can, thenthey're in a place for that.
But yeah, certainly it does getbrought up.
(30:12):
It's not like don't evermention anything.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
It's very important to know One of the things I
noticed about myself when I wasgoing to counseling.
At one point I started tobecome dependent on the
counselor and I was afraid.
I started to yeah, I don't knowhow else to say it, but I was
(30:37):
becoming dependent on her and Iwas afraid.
It was almost like taking yourfirst steps for the first time,
you know, like a baby learninghow to walk, and so that was one
thing I remembered when Istarted coaching.
And then another thing was thatI used to do a lot of
journaling and it was a placewhere I could vent and write
like things that were upsettingme, and so I never liked to go
back and read it because it wasso negative, you know.
And then I started doing agratitude journal and I could
(30:59):
feel like a shift in my thinking, started writing the memoir.
A friend told me that when youcan, when you're a victim of
something and you can take itand make use of it, then you are
no longer a victim, and I thinkthat coaching is.
That is what's so beautifulabout coaching.
You know whether you've been inrehab and have had to stop
(31:23):
drinking or using drugs orwhatever it is you're dealing
with, or you've been in thehospital for mental health
purposes, or you finally isyou're dealing with or you've
been in the hospital for mentalhealth purposes, or you finally
got your mental healthstabilized but you don't have a
lot of good friends.
You've been kind of.
Coaching helps you create apositive future and a life for
yourself, and so I think that'swhat I love about coaching so
(31:44):
much and following up after andalongside counseling.
Either way, I think that itgives people like framework for
their future and for a happyfuture, like we don't have to
live in the past, we don't haveto beat ourselves up and feel
less than or guilty or whatever.
Yeah, so I just that that'swhat I wanted to share.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Yeah, and I I'm glad you did because that does.
That is a real thing, thathappens, and also in the
recovery world.
That happens with people withAA, like if they're at AA,
pretty soon they becomedependent on it and they're
afraid of what will happen whenthey leave AA.
So that's something that reallydoes happen.
And I think you hit the nail onthe head, or alluded to it is,
(32:28):
with coaching.
It's like we're helping.
It's kind of like that teenagestage right when there's like
that breaking away.
I always tell people the pointof coaching isn't to be coached
forever, it's to learn how tocoach yourself, and so we give
you these tools and then, onceyou're ready, then you can kind
of go on your own.
That doesn't mean like I've hadcoaches for different things,
(32:51):
yeah, so it doesn't mean you'llnever have a coach, but I've
learned how to coach myself indifferent aspects of my life,
and I would say also that peopledon't even have to be in a
place of real need to come tocoaching.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Like I have coaching clients that are writing and
publishing books, that arebecoming better speakers, that
are improving their health, youknow.
So you don't have to have had adepression, you know, been to
rehab or anything like that.
You can just be at a stage inyour life where you feel like
God's calling you to dosomething more, and having a
coach or somebody to workalongside you is just going to
(33:25):
make it happen more less, Iwould say.
Alongside you is just going tomake it happen more less, I
would say uneventfully, or likeless struggles and move you
forward faster is what I wouldsay.
I don't know if you would agreewith that.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Yeah, it for sure helps you ignite that and go
forward a lot quicker Because,like us, you can figure it out
on your own.
But it takes a long time right.
It's taken us years.
Well, you know, christyhonestly.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Another thing I thought about when you were just
talking.
You had mentioned somethingabout us kind of making things
happen or we're very much likegoats.
I would say that, like you know, on the topic of alcohol, I
have an occasional glass of wine.
Like I can go months without adrink of wine, or if I do have
one, I notice the second glass.
(34:10):
It doesn't taste as good or itdoesn't settle with me.
So usually it's one glass ofbeer, one beer, I'm sorry.
One glass of wine, maybe onebeer once a month, or it could
be a couple of days in a row,like if we're camping, but then
not again for like months, youknow.
(34:30):
So I am not dependent on alcoholand when I, when my first son
was young, there was a time thatI did go out with my husband
and friends and the next day Ihad gotten up and I felt awful.
I felt depressed and tired andnauseous and it made me feel
terrible that I didn't have theenergy to really care for him
the way that I should have felt.
(34:51):
And, having been through thedepression and knowing like how
precious our minds are, I wasjust like I never want to be
like that.
I never want to allow somethingto interfere with my clarity or
like the care that I'm givinghim.
And I think, because my lifehas not evolved around alcohol,
I've always been a very likeself-learning, forward moving,
(35:15):
which goes along with ourcoaching, and I would think
that's probably similar to you.
Do you understand what I'msaying there with the connection
of not drinking and, you know,not having alcohol be something
that is sustaining us orcomforting us?
Because when you don't have adrug to comfort you, you have to
figure out how to comfortyourself or you have to you deal
(35:38):
with it.
So when I went through thatdepression, I say that that was
one of the best, one of theworst and best things that
happened to me at that time,because it brought me to my
knees and I had to look at thetruth and in looking at the
truth, made me realize I neededGod.
And so somebody could saysomething about me and it could
(36:00):
be very hurtful, but chances areI already know that about
myself.
If it's true, if it's somethingI'm not good at or something
that's a weakness of mine orsomebody you know, if somebody
says it to me, yeah, it's goingto hurt me, that you wanted to
hurt me, but I'm so self-awarethat there's not much that you
can say to me, that you're goingto shock me.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Yes, I've already said it to myself, I've already
come to try.
I don't need you to say it tome.
Yeah, no, I do agree with you.
You, I think, when I look atthe times when I was drinking
and everything like all myenergy was put into that, like
how am I gonna get it?
When am I gonna have it?
When am I?
You know all of those things.
(36:39):
So when we are consumed by andit can be alcohol, it could be
food, it could be shopping, itcould be scrolling, it could be
anything, it could be shopping,it could be scrolling, it could
be anything really it just numbsus, first of all, and it also
takes a lot of our mentalclarity.
And I know, and I'll see iteven, like in my life now, if I
get a little bit off track andmaybe I'm on social media too
(37:02):
much, I'm like I need to takethat off because it's taking
away from my creative energy,it's taking away from me
communicating with God andsaying, like, what do you want
me to do?
Speaker 2 (37:13):
next.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
And so, yeah, that is such a freedom when you can let
go of whatever that is,whatever those strongholds are
that are keeping you bad.
And you had mentioned earlierabout, like, as you were kind of
coming into the coming to faith, how you could feel that I can.
I had this too.
Like you have this fire, thisdesire to like go and get it,
(37:36):
but then there's that, the enemy, like kind of knocking you down
a little bit and I experiencedpanic attacks and miraculously,
I had never had them before thatand I have thankfully never had
them before that and I havethankfully never had them after
that.
But it was when my husband wasgoing through RCIA and we were
coming back to faith and goingto church regularly and
(37:57):
everything.
So, just know, like, whenyou're doing that good thing,
whatever that is, when you'removing forward and getting
closer to the Lord and reallystepping into the woman that you
know God has called you to be,you will feel, you will face
pushback and it can come in theform of fear of man, like you
(38:19):
talked about.
What are people going to thinkabout me?
Or whatever it is, or it can itcan be anxiety that creeps up
in us because of you know,whatever we're thinking, you
know some of that comes from theenemy and some of it comes from
us, right?
Speaker 2 (38:36):
yeah, can be like and once you know it, it's so
freeing because, yeah, I lovethe one scripture by saint paul
that says I, we are pressed atevery side, but we do not fall.
I don't have this specificwording to it.
Sometimes, when I feel likethings are coming at me at every
(38:57):
end, like it might be myhusband and I might be having
some tension, and then somethinghappens with my mom, and then
something stressful at work, andit feels like everything is
coming at you at once, and thenI'm just like, okay, the devil
loves, he loves for us to beafraid or feel pressured or
whatever.
And it's almost like, once youknow it, like you, it just
(39:22):
changes you, you know, it givesyou more control over your life
and over your faith.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
And, yeah, oh for sure, Especially and, like you
said, once you have thatawareness around it, it
definitely is helpful for that.
So, because we've talked aboutfaith a lot, I would love to
know both how your Catholicfaith influences the way you
coach and support others and anyfavorite scriptures or
(39:47):
practices that you use in yourwork.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Yeah, I would say that my Catholic faith shapes
everything that I do, so I wouldsay that there's not any part
of my life that it's not.
It's funny because when Istarted the Unplanned Joyful
Life, the four pillars wereembracing your Catholic faith
self-care, healthy home,environment and community
involvement.
When it comes down to it, ourCatholic faith encourages all of
(40:12):
those things, and so I justyeah, I feel like it affects me
in every way when it comes to mycoaching practice.
I have clients that areCatholic and I have clients that
are not, but I always ask them.
They might be Catholic but notpracticing, and so I always make
sure to ask them if they'reokay, if that is something that
I use as options when we'relooking at different ways of
(40:34):
moving forward, and I've neverhad anybody say no.
They always they almost seemhappily yes, like if you can
bring that in, that's great, youknow.
So I always bring that in, andsometimes it's referring to
scripture.
Sometimes I'll share like aspeaker or a podcast with them
or Christian music that I thinkmight be inspiring to them.
(40:55):
But I would say the way that itaffects my coaching the most is
that it helps me to be present100% with them because I feel
that my needs are cared for andbecause I believe that the Holy
Spirit is with me, and by goingto church regularly, hearing
(41:18):
scripture, going to confession,I feel like my needs are met.
And so it's important, when youwant to be there for somebody
else, that your needs are met,because you can't go there
wanting or needing somethingfrom those people.
You are there for them, period,you know.
So I would say, first of all,that is one way that it affects,
I would say that encouragingforgiveness, I would say empathy
(41:43):
, mercy, just the importance ofrespecting that individual and
really listening to them.
It's funny because at the endof all my coaching sessions, I
have a coaching reflection formI fill out and it asks what did
you do well during the sessionand what can you do better?
And I always have listen.
Even if listen is one of thethings I did well, it's always
(42:05):
something that I need to remindmyself to do better, because I
truly believe that individuals,the Holy Spirit or their inner
genius, like they, knowthemselves better than anybody,
and the best way that I canbring out the best in them is to
be present for them and tosupport them, not in telling
(42:26):
them what they should do, butlike listening to their words
and then I sometimes willreclarify back to them things
that they've said to me, so thatyou know I make sure that we're
on the same page, but thenthey're also hearing it a second
time and just really supportingthem and loving them through
the whole process.
One thing I have to do a lot isto bring their successes to
(42:47):
their attention.
So one of the first questions Iask people every week is what
is something that you'regrateful for this week and what
is a win that you want toacknowledge?
And I love those first twoquestions because they help the
client to look at the positive,because sometimes they might
have completed the actions theycommitted to, but for some
(43:09):
reason, they don't realize theydid, or maybe they did a little
bit, or maybe they didn't, butthey had some major crisis
happen in their lives.
And so one of the things it'sfunny because I think of we
always think of accountabilityas being that person that we can
go back to and say, yes, I didmy, I did my exercises or I did
my thing, but I always feel likeaccountability and I think that
(43:32):
my faith has helped me.
See, this is the accountabilityof reminding people of the good
that's within them.
You know, when they come to meand they say I'll say, well, you
actually didn't do what youcommitted to do.
Remember, you said you did X, yand Z and they're like do what
you committed to do.
Remember, you said you did X, yand Z.
And they're like, oh yeah,that's right, you know.
(43:55):
Or maybe maybe they will say Ididn't do anything.
But then they tell me like thishorrendous thing happened to
them and I said, oh my gosh,like I honestly wouldn't expect
you have finished it, you know.
And then we might talk a littlebit about what happened.
But then other times I'll evenhave people very negative, but
they've completed everything.
And but then other times I'lleven have people very negative,
but they've completed everything.
And I'm like a cheerleader,like I get excited about any
success that people have.
So I think also like the joy asa Catholic that I have chosen
(44:20):
to live in my life, I think thatI extend that to my clients and
I think that gives them hope ofjoy and like a happy future,
you know.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
Yeah, I think that's really at the heart of coaching
as a practice, and I am surethat there are so many that can
resonate with you and be like,yes, that's what I need as a
cheerleader, because that's whatI always say I try to start, we
always start our sessions withwins.
What were your wins this week?
And sometimes, like you said it, the wins will turn into things
(44:51):
that they didn't do.
But then, because I'm a kind ofa Pollyanna, my husband it
annoys my husband sometimes.
But, yeah, I try to do thatwith my clients too, because
even in the, maybe they had aslip or maybe this happened or
that happened.
There's awareness that happens.
There's awareness that happens.
There's learning that happens.
So I always try to pull outthose wins and be like look, you
(45:13):
had this and you had this andyou had this.
And they're like, yeah, oh mygosh, I did.
And that really is our job ascoaches is, like you said, to
listen, to reflect back to themwhat they're not even actually
hearing themselves.
Yes, and be like, no, look atwhat you've done to reflect back
to them what they're not evenactually hearing themselves.
Yes, yes.
You know and be like no, look atwhat you've done.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
Yeah, I had a client recently who has been walking
every morning for an hour andshe's been doing great and just
really moving forward.
And one of the things a coupleweeks ago it was my idea like do
something nice for yourself,buy yourself something, meet
someone for coffee, you know,just whatever it is that you
enjoy, do something good foryourself.
And I even said buy yourselfsomething, right.
(45:55):
And so when we met a couple ofweeks later she said I said she
said, oh, I didn't do anything,she's like.
And then a couple of minuteslater in the conversation she's
like well, I bought myself a newpair of nice running walking
sneakers.
I said, well, I bought myself anew pair of nice running
walking sneakers.
I said you did Like that's youknow.
And yeah, and I think whenpeople hear the okay to do
(46:17):
something good for themselves,that's important because you
know we need to know that I meanother things.
That I do is really focus onself-care and healthy boundaries
.
Those are two things thatalways seem to be in the
beginning of whatever we'redoing.
But in general, I think reallybeing present and supporting and
allowing that client to sharetheir personal dreams and ideas
(46:41):
is just huge.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
Yeah, yeah, okay.
So now, why don't you go aheadand share your favorite
scripture or practices that youuse in your work?
Speaker 2 (46:54):
Yeah, so a couple of books that I recommend to people
.
A lot is Boundaries by Dr HenryCloud and Dr John Townsend, and
I also recommend Better ThanNormal, which is written by Dr
Del Archer.
So those are books.
There's many books that Irecommend, but those are just
two of them, and they seem tocome up a lot, scriptures that I
(47:18):
just tend to, and honestlythere's probably hundreds of
scripture that come to mind,depending on the conversation,
but the ones that came to mefirst are Philippians 4.13,.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me, and
that is something that mysister-in-law shared with me
when I was really starting tocome into my faith, and so that
is a very special scriptureverse for me and very empowering
(47:39):
, I think.
The next one is Psalm 118,verse 24.
This is the day the Lord hasmade.
We will rejoice and be glad init.
And that is a verse that mybrother shared with me when I
was struggling, and I rememberwhen he shared this with me and
I thought that's nice, but hedoesn't really understand.
You know, like this one beforeI really found my faith and came
(48:00):
to terms with it, and I justremember thinking, oh, that's,
that's sweet of him, but he justdoesn't really know.
You know, but he knew, and so Ijust love that because it's
just a reminder that you know wedon't have to have this day.
The Lord has made that for us,and so what are we going to do
(48:22):
with it?
Are we going to be grateful forit and do our best and be our
best, or are we going to feelsorry for ourselves for the
things that we don't have andwallow?
So I love that.
2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, andhe said to me this is probably
the biggest one that I sharewith people when they're going
through a challenging time orthey're kind of down on
(48:43):
themselves for their weaknesses.
And he said to me my grace issufficient for you, for my
strength is made perfect inweakness.
Therefore, most gladly I willrather boast in my infirmity
that the power of Christ mayrest upon me.
And yeah, this scripture to meis really incredible, because
(49:05):
it's really in our weakness thatit's almost like it ignites
Christ's love for us even more.
And his mercy was made almostlike a puzzle piece for our
weakness.
So I always say like, no matterhow low you go, he will meet us
there.
And then the last one is the23rd Psalm and I won't read the
whole thing.
(49:25):
But the Lord is my shepherd, Ishall not want.
And when you talked about havingpanic attacks, I went through a
period when I was afraid.
When I was coming to reallyembrace my faith, I was starting
to have fear about havinganother depression and having
that kind of overcome me and itwas like horrible, like panic
attacks, I know, like if there'sanybody listening and you know
(49:48):
they are horrible.
And when I started reading the23rd Psalm, I started realizing
that the valley is onlytemporary and that we go into
the valley and then we come outof the valley of.
The panic attack was a fear ofsomething that had not happened
(50:09):
yet.
Like it was a fear of somethingthat I thought was going to
happen, but it probably wasn'tgoing to happen.
So I would catch myself rightin that, right in that horrible,
painful fear, and I would justkind of talk my talk to myself
and say this isn't this is thebad thing, the bad thing's not
going to happen.
You're, this is the bad thingright now and so not going to
happen, this is the bad thingright now.
(50:31):
And so once I would acknowledgethat, then it would kind of
dissipate, and it wasn't longafter that then I stopped having
them all together.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
So that's what happened to me.
I was afraid that something badwas going to happen to me, like
while I was home with my boysmy twins were like four at the
time.
It was two years of just beingafraid, and what I came to
realize later that I didn'trecognize then is that the enemy
was really getting me not totrust God and his goodness, and
(50:59):
so I started clinging to theverse that the Lord, what he
said, what his promises are trueand what he said would happen
would come about.
Right.
I don't have the verse off thetop of my head, but it was
something I just kept tellingmyself that over and over again.
And, like you, I'm like nothingbad has happened, Like if you
(51:22):
want to freak out when somethinglike that happens, freak out,
but it's, you are fine and youjust aren't trusting in God's
mercy and his care and hisprovidence and all of that.
And once I was able to get ahold of that, like it's never
happened again.
My mom also got me a miraculousmedal and I started wearing it
(51:45):
every day, and I think that wasvery helpful too, because I had
Mary as just that very powerfulintercessor for me, guiding me
and guiding us as we werejourneying back to the church.
But that happens and then Ilove the thing.
I love all those scriptures andI think that they'll sound
familiar to so many of us, andwhat I try to do is tell my
(52:09):
clients and pretty much anyonewho will listen that we need to
speak God's truth over us.
So, instead of affirmations, wecan make declarations and I
learned this from a Bible studyWalking with Purpose Bible study
that I did where when we impartGod's truth over us by speaking
these scriptures to us, theones that are resonating with us
(52:30):
, the ones that remind us ofGod's love and mercy and care
for us, that is actuallyallowing grace to be imparted on
us, which is so powerful.
So that's why I wanted to knowwhat your scripture verses were
and I loved how they came to you, yes, so that's why I wanted to
know what your scripture verseswere, and I loved like how they
came to you.
Speaker 2 (52:50):
Yeah, yeah, I love it .
Yeah, I, it's fun.
I didn't realize how much Iwould be using it in the podcast
when I started.
I actually thought the podcastwould actually tap more into my
maternal child nursingbackground, but in actuality it
has been more of the faith,because really the faith affects
(53:11):
everything that we do.
It's not just one part of ourlife, it really infiltrates all
of it.
And yeah, so I think that hasbeen really beautiful.
And the people that I haveconnected with.
It's been incredible thatpeople like you and other people
I've interviewed on my show.
It's just there's such aconnection and there are people
from all over the country andall over the world that we've
(53:32):
never met before.
But you know, god is bringing ustogether and if I was being
called to kind of serve peopleon a larger scale, that's kind
of the feeling I got.
I was working as a nurse and Ino longer felt that that was
where I was meant to be.
I felt like God was calling meto serve more in the public or
community.
I saw it more as physical,speaking or working, I don't
(53:56):
know how.
I really didn't have itpictured any specific way.
I just knew that he was callingme to do that, and I know that
all of you, all of the otherpeople that are doing similar
types of work, I'm sure havefelt that same thing.
You know I don't know why God'scalling me to do this, but I
feel like he's calling me to dothis.
You know, and we hear that onyour interview that you do, on
(54:18):
my show, also from your part ofit.
So, yeah and honestly, christy,today I published my 100th
episode, which was part one ofthe interview I did with you,
and I can't believe howsignificant that is, because I
do not suffer from alcoholism.
(54:38):
I do not.
It's not something I feel hasinfiltrated my home, but I still
deal with the effects ofalcoholism from my family and I
see it in relationships withother people, I see it in my
community and it is such anoverwhelming deterrent from
(54:59):
people finding God and fromliving their life fully and
completely.
And so you just took me rightback to, like, my childhood and,
you know, starting at my dad,who was an alcoholic, my dad's
dad and probably generationsbefore that.
But yeah, it just I'm so happythat you're doing the work that
(55:20):
you're doing and I just thinkit's so important and so
necessary.
So, like from now until August27th.
I'm doing a promotion becausethat's my year anniversary and
today's my 100th episode, andI'm excited that your interviews
are taking place within thattime, because I'm hoping that
people will listen and learnabout alcohol, and not that you
(55:41):
don't always have to like cut itcompletely out of your life,
but that you can create a newhabit and new relationships with
it, and I just think that whatyou're doing is incredible.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
Thank you.
Well, it's mutual and I thinkthat what you're doing is so
important and needed as well.
Speaking for those women whoreally haven't had a voice in
this right, I think a lot ofpeople try to assume what they
are feeling or going through oryou know what they need, but I
think it's so beautiful thatyou're sharing their stories and
(56:15):
sharing what you know in yourencouragement and you're such a
light.
So I appreciate that so muchand congratulations.
100 episodes is really amilestone, because it's just
like oh my gosh, I've done thisa hundred times.
How does I know I do that?
So yeah, so I hope people do.
Please do go and listen to theunplanned joyful podcast for
(56:39):
sure.
Um, not just the unplannedjoyful life ohing joyful life.
Yes, thank you, and I love thejoyful because you're so joyful
like you just exude joy and it'sso wonderful.
So just two more things sobefore we close.
One thing I would love is whatwould you say to a woman who is
(57:02):
listening and feels overwhelmedor stuck in her habits or unsure
how to begin again?
Speaker 2 (57:09):
You know, honestly, I wrote something down that I
wanted to share with that person.
First of all, I want you toknow that I am praying for you
and I feel for you.
You know it's hard.
People are in.
There are so many sufferingpeople.
I just was on a prayer team theother night where people come
and we pray over them and withthem, and there's so many people
(57:30):
suffering right now.
So I want you to know that I'mpraying for you and I want you
to know that you are not aloneand that God is with you.
His power is actually ignitedby the response to your weakness
.
Go easy on yourself, reach outfor help and take one day.
Sometimes it's one hour andsometimes it's one minute at a
(57:50):
time.
This is the day the Lord hasmade.
We will rejoice and be glad init.
You are not alone and you aregoing to be okay, that is so
beautiful.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
Thank you so much for that.
That gave me goosebumps.
So, before we close, you sharedabout your podcast a little bit
, but just let people know, likeall the things about you, where
they can find you, how they canconnect with you and if you
have any resources or anythinglike that.
Speaker 2 (58:20):
Okay, yeah, definitely, you can find me, if
you want to listen to thepodcast, at the Unplanned Joyful
Life podcast, and that is onlike a variety of different.
I mean Apple podcast is themost popular, but it's on
Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadiopretty much any one that you can
think of.
So the Unplanned Joyful Lifepodcast by Kathy Jo Lange.
(58:42):
You can find me on Facebook andI have a personal and
professional Facebook page whichis Kathy Jo Lange, and then the
other one is Kathy Jo Lange LLC, and then I have a community
group called Practical Supportfor the Younger Christian Mom
and that has younger moms, butit also has people that support
(59:07):
younger moms, and so some of thethings we do is we ask people
what are they grateful for, oncea week and then another time we
ask people what do they want tobe prayed for, and I share
different things.
You know on that.
People can also email me atkathylang716 if they're
interested in, or they canmessage me on Facebook if
(59:28):
they're interested in, aone-on-one coaching session.
I do offer a free session toanybody that is interested in
giving it a try and I don'tpressure people to continue.
If they want to try one timeand they decide, they're
definitely going to walk away,you know, with something
valuable.
You know I've had free session,but yeah, those are things that
I offer and I am gettingtogether right now a free
(59:54):
download which is aself-assessment.
So I don't have that right nowon my website, but I will be
putting that up soon.
Speaker 1 (59:59):
Okay, perfect.
Well, I will have all thatinformation in the show notes so
you can connect with Kathy Jo.
And yeah, if you want to putthat, if you want me to have
that assessment link in theretoo, I can do that as well.
All right, so well.
Thank you so much, kathy Jo,for being here.
You just have blessed me againwith another fruitful
(01:00:21):
conversation and I'm so gladthat you connected, that we
connected and, yeah, we've beenable to chat and hopefully, you
know, the Lord just sends thisout to all those women who need
this encouragement and needcheerleaders like us, and just
to have some hope and know thatthey're not alone for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:00:43):
So thank you, right.
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
That does it for this episode of the Catholic
Sobriety Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand I would invite you to share
it with a friend who might alsoget value from it as well, and
make sure you subscribe so youdon't miss a thing.
I am the Catholic SobrietyCoach, and if you would like to
(01:01:07):
learn how to work with me orlearn more about the coaching
that I offer, visit my website,thecatholicsobrietycoachcom.
Follow me on Instagram at theCatholic sobriety coach.
I look forward to speaking toyou next time and remember I am
(01:01:28):
here for you, I am praying foryou.
You are not alone.
Thank you.
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