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The Catholic Sobriety Podcast
Welcome to The Catholic Sobriety Podcast with your host Christie Walker!
This podcast is dedicated to empowering Catholics to live lives of freedom by providing tips and tools to help them be successful as they reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption. Christie Walker, a compassionate Catholic life and sobriety coach, is here to support you on your journey toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.
Are you questioning whether alcohol has taken control of your life? Do you worry about the impact it may have on your well-being? Many people find themselves in this situation, fearing the loss of pleasure and stress relief associated with alcohol. They assume that giving it up will only bring deprivation and misery. But Christie offers a different and much more positive perspective.
With Christie's expertise, you'll discover the joy and peace that come from embracing a healthier lifestyle rooted in the Catholic faith and tradition.
Ready to get curious? Start listening!
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The Catholic Sobriety Podcast
Ep 124: Warrior Words: 33 Years of Sobriety with Heather Gaffney
What happens when a terrifying wake-up call becomes the first step in a 33-year journey of sobriety? Heather Gaffney joins us to share her remarkable story of transformation—from a young woman whose bartenders knew her by name to becoming a beacon of hope for others navigating recovery and trauma.
Heather's candid revelations about her drinking period resonate with raw honesty as she describes the moment everything changed: waking up in an unfamiliar place with no memory of how she got there. That April morning 33 years ago marked the beginning of a profound spiritual journey that has carried her through domestic abuse, breast cancer, and countless other challenges with an unshakable faith.
The conversation delves into the surprising ways God shows up in our darkest moments—like Heather finding a 10-year AA chip outside a bar long before she got sober—and how these divine breadcrumbs often only become visible in retrospect. We both share how sobriety doesn't just remove alcohol's negative effects but unveils an entirely new level of spiritual clarity and emotional authenticity.
As the creator of the "Warrior Words" podcast, Heather now provides a platform for others to share their stories of survival and hope. Her practical advice on writing without self-criticism offers listeners a tangible way to process their own experiences and discover the beauty hidden within their struggles.
Whether you're questioning your relationship with alcohol or facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, this episode reminds us that hope persists even in life's darkest corners. Listen now to discover how embracing vulnerability and faith can transform your story into one of purpose and unexpected joy.
Warrior Words Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/warrior-words-stories-of-hope-finding-beauty-after/id1725674975
Warrior Words YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@warriorwords
Heather's Warrior Words Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/warriorwords
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Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives, women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason. I am your host, christi Walker. I'm a wife, mom and a joy-filled Catholic, and I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach, and I am so glad you're here. Welcome, friends. Today I am so honored to have Heather Gaffney joining us. Heather's remarkable recovery story spans decades and she has maintained her sobriety for over 33 years, even through life's most challenging seasons. Her steadfast faith and vulnerability have inspired countless others to trust in God's grace as they walk their own path.
Speaker 1:Heather Gaffney is an author, podcaster and YouTuber. She is host of the Warrior Words podcast and YouTube channel, where she shares stories of hope and thriving after trauma to help others rediscover the beauty in their lives. Heather has a master's degree in education and in some other to two young adults and some other to two young adults. She is a domestic abuse survivor, breast cancer survivor and autism advocate. Her favorite things include caramel, coffee drinks, good books, sappy movies and the colors of nature, and spending time with the master artist in Rare. Thank you so much for being here today. Heather, I'm so glad you're here.
Speaker 2:Thank you for inviting me, christy. I appreciate that introduction. You made me smile a few times, so thank you very much, you're welcome.
Speaker 1:Well, let's just get into it. Could you just go ahead and share a bit about your personal recovery story, your history with alcohol and what led you to sobriety?
Speaker 2:Hey, sure I don't know exactly your demographic, but maybe a lot of us can recognize or relate to starting to drink, maybe before the legal age, maybe starting in college. And that's where my story started, and I joked often about on my 21st birthday how the bartenders knew me. At one point during the evening I had three drinks in my hand because there were multiple bartenders who were waiting for me to celebrate that legal birthday. So that paints an interesting picture to start, and that's maybe the fun part of it. Alcohol would take me to places that you probably just never want to go, and sometimes those are literal places and sometimes those are just places within yourself. You do things that you wouldn't normally do without alcohol in your system. You say things you wouldn't normally say. Your inhibitions are lowered.
Speaker 2:I just, you know, I didn't drink very long, it was only about maybe a four-year period but I started to see patterns and I started to see myself doing things that just didn't seem like me and they weren't things that I was proud of, and there were just comments made by people in my circles and actions taken that I just started to feel like something's not right. And the common thread to all of it was alcohol. And I don't know. There were just times that I just found myself doing things that I knew were wrong. They were contrary to the way I was brought up. They were contrary to the beliefs I held as a Catholic single young adult. I have to say it was probably what we now call Catholic in name only, like I would go and check the box and okay. I went to Mass this week, I went to confession before Easter and before Christmas, but I think the way my mother raised me always stayed. It was always there, and so I started finding myself doing these things and just realizing this is not compatible with who I was raised to be, and it culminated with me having I don't remember exactly.
Speaker 2:Well, it was April, because we're recording this in April and you mentioned 33 years. So April 21st is my sobriety date. The night of April 20th, I was in a bar with a band, because that always seemed to go hand in hand live music and drinking in hand live music and drinking. I found myself leaning back over a bar and having people pour shots of Jägermeister. Yeah, it doesn't. I'm sorry to anybody who likes Jägermeister, but it doesn't even taste that good. From my 33-year-old memory now it's cough syrup. Three-year-old memory now it's cough syrup and then I ended up waking up on the morning of the 21st in a strange place and I was alone. I didn't recognize my surroundings, I didn't have a vehicle. Luckily I was able to. Just I just kind of rolled out of the couch that I was on and figured out where I was and was able to get home. And I don't know that I made the decision immediately, but that was the day I had enough and so I just quit.
Speaker 1:I quit. That's so powerful. I mean, I can relate to so much of what you said, and I don't know that everybody does, but I know that there are many of us who those beginning years of drinking as a fun thing, like for me. I describe it as when I found alcohol, it was like this magic elixir that got me into parties. It got me invited, boys liked me, like it was great at first until it wasn't, and it took a while to realize just how much it wasn't. And I also got into bars at a very early age, 19, you know. So that's quite a bit under the limit, Although it used to be 19 in a state where I'm proud of it. But then they changed it and so, yeah, becoming 21, it wasn't even that big of a deal because I had already been going to certain bars and partying and doing all of those things. But the other thing that I could completely relate with when you said, you know, when you start realizing like wait a second, like this is not, like something's not right, this is just not who I am, and you said that it's just not compatible with, like the way you were raised or who you were, and I think that happens to so many of us, even people who are just realizing that alcohol is a problem for them. It's just that they're noticing an uptick in the amount and frequency. Maybe they're not doing all the crazy things that you and I did, but it's just not sitting well with their soul, like it just didn't settle right in their bones and I think that I've always attributed that to the Holy Spirit. You know, just working in me and that little flicker of a flame.
Speaker 1:I didn't go to church but I was a Catholic in name only and I would go Christmas and Easter and Mother's Day, and when I didn't go to confession. You are a much better Catholic in name only than I was. That's much more active. But you know, it's just one of those things where the Holy Spirit is still like knocking on those doors, because we are given these spiritual gifts by virtue of our baptism. It's not something we can shake off Now. Whether we choose to use them and unwrap them and all of those types of things will never be forced on us. But that nudging of the Holy Spirit is such a grace and I just hear that through your story. Is that kind of how you would, how you kind of think of it, or is it different?
Speaker 2:I would say that I would not have said that at that time. Looking back, I would say that now because one thing that I've noticed is that, well, let me back up and tell a Holy Spirit story that I now attribute to the Holy Spirit. And I was dating this man who actually worked at a bar, and I don't remember all the details surrounding it, but I was in that bar drinking when somebody had to call that bar to find me because a relative had died. And then I'm not sure if it was the same night, but I know it was coming home from that bar. I looked down on the ground and I saw this coin on the ground and I just thought it was like a 50-cent piece or one of those old silver dollars, whatever that size was. But so I bent down to pick it up and it was a 10-year chip from AA, wow, and I kept it. I don't know why I kept it, but I did, and so that to me was the Holy Spirit. Again, back then, no clue, right, I just knew I wanted to keep it and I still have that chip.
Speaker 2:I didn't get all of my chips all the way through, but I have that one and I do, looking back, see the interaction, the working of the Holy Spirit. There were so many things or places I ended up, things I did or places I ended up that should have turned out differently and yet they didn't. And I can only attribute that to the Holy Spirit, because it certainly wasn't me If I was inebriated or drunk. I certainly couldn't control those circumstances. And so I look back now and I think, yeah, the Holy Spirit spared me from so much, even when I didn't know enough to ask for it. So, yeah, I completely agree with that that the Holy Spirit does, yeah, does protect Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely, yeah, I'm with you. Like things could have turned out so much worse for me so many times, and when you're in it it is really hard to see it, but when you can look back on it it's like, oh, my goodness, like God was there all the time I was being so divinely guided, even despite, you know, making very poor choices, doing things that I should not have been doing, going places I had no business of going to, you know, and all of those things. So it is a grace, a grace for sure. So, thanks be to God. You are celebrating 33 years of sobriety this month. Congratulations. That is such a big milestone, and I think that what happens is a lot of people look at that and they're like, wow, like how does she do that for so long? Is there something that you can pinpoint that has kept you grounded and committed for so long?
Speaker 2:I guess if, looking back, I can say it was my faith, that it was God and his presence in the Holy Spirit, I wouldn't say that I did anything specifically. I did go to AA and I actually I benefited quite a bit from AA for the first couple of years Met a lot of great people and really really learned the steps, took the steps and I took them to heart and I really really tried to do them. But as I went through I would find there was something missing. I would hear these stories and a lot of them sounded to me and this is no shade to AA, because it has helped probably millions of people but what I would hear was an awful lot of commiseration as opposed to solution, that a lot of people just like to hear the stories to say, oh yeah, I did that or I feel that or whatever, and it just seemed that that's where it would stop. And so for me, I needed something more and I did start easing back into my faith, into paying more attention to church, paying more attention to prayer.
Speaker 2:In my bio you read that I am also a domestic abuse survivor and breast cancer survivor, and one of the things that I've noticed is that I've been through multiple traumas and with each trauma I seem to get closer to God, and I know for a lot of people that trauma can tend to push you away. Maybe you think, oh well, there is no God, he doesn't care about me. But, as we just discussed, even though we didn't name it Holy Spirit at the time, we can look back now and say, yeah, god was there, god's hand protected me from this or saved me from that or prevented me from doing this over here. And so I think that it is my faith, the practicing of my faith, the deepening of my faith, that has enabled me to just 33 years. When you say you're going to quit, you don't even think about that. You don't think, oh, maybe one day I'll have 30 years without a drink. And no, it's just one day, and it literally is one day at a time.
Speaker 2:Life isn't easy. It doesn't get easier when you quit. Some things will get easier, but other things will get more difficult. You know when your friends still want to go out and drink or when your favorite band is playing at the local dive bar and you know it's not a good place for you to go. I think the main thing is just the progression of my faith, the deepening and getting more into it. It's more important to me now to listen to God and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit than it is for me to indulge in a glass of wine, or you know, I'm not going to lie, there are a few things that I miss. You know there's. You know they say.
Speaker 1:The scripture says like God says to St Paul, like my power is made perfect in your weakness. And I was just reflecting on something I think it was because of Holy Week that I was journaling about and I was thinking back to my darkest times too, and I was like it was in those really really dark times when I felt like God wasn't close, that he was the closest to me, and that makes me emotional, just to say that out loud. But it's so true. It's in those really really dark moments and again, like you so aptly said, like we don't notice it when we're so close to it. But then when we have that hindsight and we can look back, that's when we can remember God's goodness and his graciousness. And I think the enemy wants us to forget that. So we get so caught up in these things and we lose trust, like it happens to all of us. We're human and we lose trust, like it happens to all of us, we're human. But then God shows up again and we're like, yeah, that's right, he did it again and he did it before and he'll do it again. And I think that that's the hope.
Speaker 1:And I also went to AA for two years. It was great, foundational for me as well, and so it was that foundation, that learning. I think a lot of it was the like, the renewal of the mind. Basically, like you know, you have all those little sayings and you have all these things and you know you're thinking about things in this way and you're repeating certain phrases to yourself and you're working the steps and you know a lot, and the steps are very, at least the traditional steps. I know I've seen other steps, uh, for people that don't believe in God, but, um, the traditional steps are so Catholic to me and so it was very easy for me to do them and work through them and I loved it and it really did lay that foundation. But, like you, it got to the point where it's like I need something else now, and that's also where my faith springboarded. So, if there's anybody out there considering going to AA, definitely do it, get that foundational, but don't feel like you have to stay there. Once you feel ready, I equate it kind of to training wheels and then you can kind of take those training wheels off, not to go back out drinking but to like, just see, like okay, now I'm more involved with this, or, you know, this is how I'm reaching out to people and figuring out what works for you, but definitely inviting God into that and relying on him more and more.
Speaker 1:I put so much stock in the people at AA at first that I didn't have that trust and I didn't really lean on God as much, even though I was working through the steps. So it was kind of like a slow like less of them, more of him, less of them, more of him, until I could be all him. You know, and I'm not saying I came out of that and I was like boom, the best Catholic ever. I wasn't, but it was definitely the journey, right. So I think I don't know, like for me, and I want to hear what yours is, but for me I think the thing that has kept me sober for so long is that the life that I have now.
Speaker 1:I want more than alcohol, like yeah, it would be fun to go to a winery with my girlfriends, or like do this or do that, or you know whatever it is, but it could unravel everything that I have. And even in those early stages of sobriety I had a very strong why, and I think that's why I was able to really stick with it. Why do I want this Because the life that I was living is a life of destruction. I'm going to end up dead or in jail or homeless, and I want this life. I want to be a mom, I want to be a wife, I want to do things for God and for others, and that was, I think, me like the turning point. It was like I don't want this anymore and I had to let go of the fear of discomfort and step into it and my why was so strong that I was able to do that. What do you think was the thing that helped you when you made that decision? Really stick to it.
Speaker 2:I did not have the strong why that you have, I think for me at that point, it was literally just that I didn't want to do that again. Waking up in a place that I was not familiar with, I don't even know whose place it was, not knowing how I got there that scared me, and I never wanted to feel that fear again. I never wanted to get myself to a place where I couldn't remember how I got there. I think I started out fear, total, fear-based. I didn't know what I was going towards, but I was running away from and I think as I got further away and as I got plugged into other people who were living the same type of lifestyle that I was now living, it gave me more comfort. It gave me more confidence that I could do this and that I didn't need the alcohol. I think now what keeps me aside from my faith is that I don't ever want to go back.
Speaker 2:I will not sit here and tell you that I have a sunshine and roses life. I don't. I struggle. I have lots of things that I still struggle with. Sober, I went through domestic violence. Sober, I went through breast cancer and, yeah, it probably would have been pretty easy to numb both of those things away. I'll be completely honest.
Speaker 2:There was a time that I did tell myself that toward the end of my life, if I knew the end was coming, that I would start drinking again and just enjoy myself on the way out.
Speaker 2:But I can confidently sit here now and say that's not how I want to go out.
Speaker 2:There is a joy in my life now, and sometimes it's hard to reconcile, because I look at the struggles that I currently experience and that I have over the course of the 33 years and I still have a joy.
Speaker 2:I get sad, I get mad, I have all the normal range of emotions, but there is an underlying joy that I just know that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, or at least I'm walking toward what I'm supposed to be walking toward. And I don't want to screw that up, because I think I have now heard some things from the Holy Spirit that I know are the Holy Spirit, which I didn't before. So that is a clarity that I have that I didn't have 33 years ago. I can hear the Holy Spirit telling me to do something or to not do something. I don't always listen, but I prefer that to what I was doing before, while I had no direction other than not wanting to go back in the beginning. I now have a direction, and I still know that I don't wanting to go back in the beginning. I now have a direction and I still know that I don't want to go back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have that supernatural joy, a joy that surpasses all understanding. Right, it's just you're like why do I still have this joyful spirit, or how is it even possible? It's hard to explain to people sometimes, right, like you have to really experience it. But here's the thing I think that people don't think about when they are drinking, and I didn't understand it was that I wasn't just numbing pain or trauma or shame, or pain or trauma or shame, or you know, trying to be somebody that other people liked or whatever.
Speaker 1:By drinking I was actually numbing joy, I was numbing good times, I was numbing conversations that I was having with people. You know, I would not remember, remember things and even if it's not always just like so drunk that you pass out, even just being really buzzed can numb that too and numb those feelings. So once you remove it and you're able to feel that rawness of sadness, of joy, of anger, of happiness, of you know whatever it is and, like you so rightly pointed out, the ability to hear god's voice is, wow, you know it just, and it doesn't happen right away, like I tell people all the like, just because you and you don't have that other stuff like packed on top of it because it really is.
Speaker 2:It just like packs on top of an already really really tough situation exactly, yeah, and you you know if you are numbing a specific thing or a specific emotion, like you said, you're numbing everything else too, and you could be completely missing the solution to that thing that you're trying to numb Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thank you for saying that. So I want to talk about your podcast, warrior Words. So how did that come about? And I know about it, but I want you to tell my listeners all about Warrior Words, how you started it, why you started it, how you got the name and all the good things. Well, thank, you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for asking about it and for giving me the opportunity to share. Well, that's a Holy Spirit thing. I was recovering from one of my surgeries due to my cancer and I just sensed, heard getting back to those verbs I don't want to. And I just sensed, heard getting back to those verbs I don't want to, the Holy Spirit telling me that I was to be a podcaster and a public speaker. And, like Gideon, I responded with you got the wrong gal. And I ignored.
Speaker 2:I heard it and I ignored for a while and, like you said earlier, you know, god doesn't force himself on us, he invites us. And so I started to get invitations and somebody commented on something I posted and said, hey, would you be interested in being an intern? And I said no, I don't have time for that. And then, I think it was maybe a week later, somebody else in the same organization messaged me and said, hey, would you like to be an intern? And I said, hmm, that's twice. Whenever I hear something twice, sometimes I have to wait till the third time. But whenever I hear something twice, sometimes I have to wait till the third time, but whenever I hear something two or three times, I start to listen and pay more attention, and so what this actual invitation was was to be a blogging intern for a podcaster. In return, I would get free access to a course that taught me how to become a podcaster. So I said, okay, holy Spirit you win.
Speaker 2:And I did it and I learned how to podcast, and he gave me the name Warrior Words. I've always been into writing. I have an unpublished manuscript that one day I will self-publish. I have many more in my head that have to get out onto the digital paper now. And so words were important, and even Proverbs. I don't even know how many times in the book of Proverbs it tells us how important our words are and how our words can either give life or take life.
Speaker 2:And to combine the idea of writing and then the idea of podcasting because podcasting is auditory and, in our case, visual as well Writing is a completely different medium, so I can't just hold up a book on a podcast and flip the pages at least not an adult book, you know, a kid's book maybe. And so stories are important and stories are full of words. And so I basically married the idea of storytelling and the visual audio medium, and so I interview mostly women, but a few men I'm actually going to be having a few new men on the podcast soon but mostly women who have some kind of story to tell. And what I've learned in the first few interviews is that we all have stories to tell and many of us have more than one.
Speaker 2:Trauma is not a one-and-done thing. We go through multiple things that cause trauma in our lives. Storytelling just kind of became the way to do it for me. I, you know, I'm not going to ever be Joe Rogan, I'm not ever going to be, you know, that teaching podcast that everybody listens to. But for me, just sharing people's stories, giving them a voice, making their stories and their survival prominent, prominent, and then, lastly, having people rediscover the beauty in their lives, because even in the most traumatic experiences, we can look back and find something beautiful that either was there at the time that we couldn't see, or came out of it, was born, birthed from our trauma. And so at the end of my intro, I say your words are powerful and they are. So that's what I do I share people's words and give them voices and offer hope to others.
Speaker 1:I think that's so beautiful and it's really generous to do that because, I mean, I know it was a calling from God for you to do it. People just want to be heard, they want to know that they've been heard. But even more than that, like you were saying, when we share our stories, it kind of makes the suffering make sense a little bit, because then you know that you're helping somebody else, like you said, even in those very, very traumatic, hard stories that are really hard sometimes for us to listen to. But yet when you hear the hope after coming from that place to where they are now, even if it's not perfectly perfect, it's still so, I don't know, it's just so beautiful to see it.
Speaker 1:I think you have like wings as part of your. You know your logo and I just love it because it's you know the whole like butterfly, you know, coming out. Well, I'm not sure that it's a butterfly, that's on yours, but that's kind of what I think about that metamorphosis of like. Just you know, you see that little cartoon and you think, oh man, he's a goner, and then it comes out like this beautiful butterfly and for those of us who are Christian, like we can really use that to glorify God as well through our stories. So I thank you so much for giving people a platform to do that and I encourage all of you to go listen to Heather's podcast the way you like intro and outro and speak to your guests.
Speaker 1:You're just so like. You're this calming presence. You are so thoughtful in everything that you say and it's just so nice to listen to. And nice is like just a nice word, but it's just I don't know, there's so much like chatter and like noise all the time that, like spending an hour or so with Heather, you'll just feel like, even if you've just heard a really hard story, it's just so powerful, yeah, and I just love it. So I encourage all of you to listen to it. But even that like Heather, what would you say to if they're kind of thinking like maybe, maybe I need to think about my story or write it out so that they can then look back at it and maybe, maybe they've been having a hard time seeing where God showed up in their lives. But you know, once you write something like that out, I think you can see those really bright spots or the holy breadcrumbs that God has been laying all along. So, for those who may not be writers, do you have some tips for us?
Speaker 2:Well, because the other half of what the Holy Spirit told me was that I was supposed to be a public speaker and that one scares me more because you can't edit, live. And so, to begin that journey, I wrote a talk, and one of the components of that talk is that I discuss writing and I think it is so important. As you mentioned, you don't have to do it to publish it into a book, you don't have to do it to speak it, share it, perform it on a stage or a podcast, but it is so helpful when you can write out what happened to you or what you did or what you perceive your experiences to be, and then close it and wait and pray and then go back with fresh eyes. You can do this with a spiral notebook that you pick up from a local Staples or Office Depot during their back to school thing for 25 cents. You could do it in a fancy journal. You could do it on a private blog. There are so many ways that you can get your words out, but I think it's important to get them out and don't worry about spelling, don't worry about grammar, don't worry about whether your sentences have a subject and a verb and a predicate. Don't worry about the teacher red pen and don't become the teacher's red pen. Don't critique as you write, write it all out, type it all out and, like I said, close it and step away from it for a while.
Speaker 2:And I think what that does is it does two things. First of all, it gets it all out of your head. Think what that does is. It does two things. First of all, it gets it all out of your head because when it's in your head it can get confusing. The memories can start to jumble. You know like, oh well, did this happen first, or did that, or did I do this? No, just get it out on paper. It helps to bring everything into more focus. The second thing it does, when you put it away for a while and then go back is you can see those patterns.
Speaker 2:When you reread it you can say, oh, I didn't realize that this happened every time I had two drinks or more. Or I didn't realize this happened when I had Jägermeister. I don't want to throw shade at the company, I really don't, but that was just my cross that particular night. When you go back to read it, all that jumbled mess that was in your head can start to make sense and you can start putting the pieces of that puzzle together and see, well, does this cause this? You know what was it that I was doing and what can I change, and what? We go back to the serenity prayer. You know what can we change? What do we have to just accept? And how do we move forward?
Speaker 1:what do we have to just accept and how do we move forward? Yes, I love that. I love that you said don't be the teacher's red pen. That's something you just kind of have to let go of, because I have a tendency to edit as I write, but not when it's a journal, you know. So I think that if you notice like if you type something that you're constantly correcting yourself, maybe it is pen and paper to be best, or set a timer and just like write for a certain amount of time as much as you can get out of your brain, you know, at that within that amount of time, and that can sometimes kind of let help you let go of that perfectionism of like I have to get it out or I have to get it right. You don't have to get it right, you just need to get it out first, like you were saying. So that's so, so good. Thank you for that permission. Take her up on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and W-R-I-T-E, not R-I-G-H-T. We want to write, not be right.
Speaker 1:Yes, Very good, I love that. So I just was wondering to you in relation to your podcast then, like what do you want people who listen to it to really take away from these stories or from listening to it?
Speaker 2:I think the main thing is that there's hope. There's always hope, and the second thing is related to it in that there's beauty. There is beauty in even the ugliest of situations. I've talked to people who have had family members murdered and they have encountered forgiveness and they have encountered peace. I've talked to people who have had multiple miscarriages and they still now they love God, they love their family. You look at the individual stories and if you look at just the ugly part, then you wonder what's the point. But that's why we take it through to the hope and the beauty, because something good can always come from it, and sometimes you just have to let it and sometimes you have to actively do something. So beauty and hope are the two things I hope people get from the stories that I share.
Speaker 1:I've listened to several and I always come away with that. It's such a gift when people are that vulnerable and then they share their stories and there is always that thread of hope. It's just so encouraging. There is always that thread of hope. It's just so encouraging Like if this person can get through that, then maybe I can get through whatever trial that I'm going through at this moment. And, yeah, god's always with us.
Speaker 2:So I think that's it.
Speaker 1:Well, Heather, thank you so much for being here. Is there anywhere other than your podcast where you'd like people to find you? Do you have feel free to share any resources or anything at all with my audience the major platforms.
Speaker 2:I have a Facebook group, that is. I think if you just type in Warrior Words you'll get to it. Otherwise it's facebookcom forward slash groups, forward slash Warrior Words. I'm on Instagram, I post on Instagram, let's just put it that way. I don't do a whole lot of interacting, but I am there under Heather Gaffney, author and my warrior words. So those are the two big places I guess.
Speaker 1:Great. Well, thank you again so much for being here and for sharing your story and, for you know, taking up the call to share other people's stories as well.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you. I had fun chatting with you and, for those who don't know, christy has been on my podcast, so come over to your favorite player and find Christy's episode, and it's just been a wonderful time talking with you again, so thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Well, that does it for this episode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I would invite you to share it with a friend, who might also get value from it as well. And make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing. I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach, and if you would like to learn how to work with me or learn more about the coaching that I offer, visit my website, thecatholicsobrietycoachcom. Follow me on Instagram at the Catholic Sobriety Coach. I look forward to speaking to you next time, and remember I am here for you, I am praying for you, you are not alone.
