33. How God Unexpectedly Led Me to My Husband Through Adoration with Bernadette Pohl

✨ What if the relationship you're holding onto is preventing you from receiving the one God has planned for you? 🤍

In this heartfelt and faith-filled conversation, Bernadette Pohl shares the incredible story of how she courageously ended a 5-year engagement, surrendered her future to God, and unexpectedly met her husband through Daily Mass and Adoration just one week before moving from across the country.

This episode is a powerful reminder that God's timing is perfect, His plans are always greater than our own, and true peace is often one of the clearest signs of His direction.

Bernadette vulnerably shares how discernment, surrender, and staying rooted in her Catholic faith helped her navigate heartbreak and ultimately create a solid marriage built on shared values, sacrifice, and Christ at the center.

In this episode, we discuss:

🤍 Why shared faith and values matter in marriage
 🤍 Trusting God when your plans fall apart
 🤍 How Daily Mass and Adoration helped guide her path
 🤍 The importance of choosing relationships that align with your deepest values and refusing to settle
 🤍 Finding peace through surrender and trust in God's timing
 🤍 Marriage as a path to holiness, sanctification, and growth in virtue
 🤍 Navigating suffering, loss, and uncertainty together as a couple
 🤍 The role of community, spiritual direction, and the saints in marriage
 🤍 How to live your life as a prayer

Whether you're discerning a relationship, healing from heartbreak, waiting on God's timing, or simply longing to trust Him more deeply, this conversation will encourage and inspire you to keep surrendering your plans and following His peace.

Books Mentioned:

He Leadeth Me by Walter Ciszek

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

Connect with Bernadette:

🎙️ Moving Mountains Podcast: Real Stories of Modern Day Miracles
📱 Instagram: @movingmountainspodcastak

Connect with Carrie:
Follow Carrie on Instagram @livingwholeandholy

Schedule a Free 1:1 Catholic Coaching Clarity Call with Carrie

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Welcome to the Living Whole and Holy podcast, where the Catholic faith and intentional living come together. I'm your host, Carrie Jane, a recent Catholic convert and Catholic coach, here to guide you toward a life that's rooted in Christ, centered in his love, and aligned with God's goal. Whether you're a convert, believer, critical Catholic or exploring the faith, you're in the right place. Join the Great Inspiring Congress. If you have a cooking, I don't have it, or renewing up your mind. If you're ready to discover and wine, integrate after light. I'm so excited you're here. Let's get started. I am thrilled to have a guest with you today. I have Bernadette Pohl. And I had the pleasure of meeting Bernadette through her Aunt Kathleen, who was on the podcast, one of my first podcast guests. And I met her on a retreat in a CC Italy. And she said, you have to meet my niece, Bernadette. She has such a great story. And I love great stories. And I love meeting, empowering women who are powerfully and boldly living out their vocation. So, Bernadette, welcome to the show. I would love for you to introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Thank you, Carrie. I'm so happy to be here to have a chance to share this story. And um yeah, about me. I am a mom, I'm a wife, we have three little kids, and we currently live in Alaska. Um, I'm from the Midwest. I grew up in Steubenville, Ohio, which is a very important place for Catholicism. So I guess our Catholic listeners might know where I'm from. I was really blessed to grow up there in a great Catholic community, which definitely is a big influence in the story that I'm gonna tell. Um I am also a podcaster. It's one of my favorite hobbies these days that I get to keep doing as a mom of three little kids. My podcast is Moving Mountains Podcast, Real Stories of Modern Day Miracles. And I was really excited when Carrie invited me on because I think we have very similar missions and goals with our podcasts, just to share stories that are very powerful and show the way that God's hand works in our lives in big and small ways every day. So I'm really excited to be here and to share this story. And I hope that it has a powerful influence in whatever way God wants it to. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Yes, I love that. And I am a Midwest girl at heart. I grew up in Michigan. And I know your story of meeting your husband began in an adoration chapel in Michigan. And yes, I was referring to the episode that you have called The Husband. I almost missed. And I was so intrigued by this episode because you know, we can get into relationships in our lives that fit some of the bill, but then there's certain things that just aren't right. And you had an experience, an engagement that you were in that did not work. And the power of God in this story is so incredible, Bernadette. And I would just love for you maybe first to share a little bit about your background and your solid foundation in Catholicism, because as I was hearing your story, you could really tell that by putting God first, that really helped you to get through this time in your life. So tell us a little bit about your background with Catholicism.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Yeah. So I was born and raised Catholic in Steubenville, Ohio. My parents are very faithful Catholics and moved to Steubenville for that reason, just to be in a really strong Catholic community. And myself and my four siblings, we grew up in a community where our friends were going to church. You know, we were going to church together, we had youth groups together. It was just very woven into the fabric of our lives. And I also will say we were very blessed to grow up in an area where I was homeschooled for the first couple of years. And for example, Scott Hahn and Kimberly Hahn are friends with my parents. So I was doing history club at their house every week, and we were doing skills, like our homeschool community was filled with tons of families of professors from Franciscan. My dad also was an adjunct music professor at Franciscan for many years. So that just really had a big influence in a way that I didn't know as a little kid growing up. Just knowing that we were learning about our faith in a very deep way that I think many people don't get to experience in this day and age. Just theological aspects of the faith and deeper understanding were again just woven into our childhood. And so I think that really, really carried me as I left Stevenville and became a young adult and just encountered the world and all the confusion that it can bring. So, anyways, whenever I tell this story, I tell it a little bit differently every time. So I'm never quite sure where to start. But I'll start with I was 25 years old and I was engaged to a doctor, and I lived in Philadelphia. I had met him playing adult recreational co-ed soccer. I just I loved to play soccer. So even throughout school, I went to Temple University in Philadelphia. I would just find pick-up soccer all over the city every night that I could. And this team saw me playing and said they needed another girl to join and invited me, and they just happened to be a Catholic young adult team. And so I ended up, this guy asked me out on a date, and the rest was history. Long story short, we ended up dating five years. We got engaged around when I finished school. And I, when I finished school, I had moved up to Michigan to be there during our engagement to continue discerning. And it just very quickly, about you know, a couple months after moving up to Michigan and um being in the same town where he was working at the time, I was actually rented an apartment with his sister. I went from having my whole life laid out before me to realizing this is not right. And just basically having my entire life crumble when I decided to hand back that ring and end the engagement. So I found myself basically, you know, a poor college kid. I was working as a nanny and I was working doing some part-time illustration for a little Catholic company. And I was just, I was kind of in the mode of my life is set up to be married in six months and probably to be moving to a different town. And then I just I was like, okay, I I have a blank slate. I'm starting over from square one. This whole plan is completely, completely off. And I don't know what to do now, Lord. So at the time, I I just knew through a bunch of my family's prayers for me and and just discernment, God had just put it on my heart so clearly that even though it was so scary, I had to leave that engagement. And when I did, I felt totally lost. But I I just had made a commitment to myself that I was never going to do anything or make a decision again that didn't completely align with my highest values and commitments. And I'll go into that a little bit more as to why that engagement wasn't lining up with those values and commitments. So basically, I found myself living with my ex-fiance sister in Michigan, needing to do a complete career change, decide where I wanted to go. I was in this temporary living state, in a state where I literally only knew my fiance and his whole family and sister. So it was just a really, really weird place to be. And while I was finishing up work up there and searching for jobs elsewhere, um, the months kind of rolled on, and all I knew to do was to go to daily mass whenever I could and to go to adoration a lot and just keep bringing it to prayer because I just was so lost. And yeah, it was just my life was completely turned upside down. It had been on track, you know. I wanted to go to school, find an amazing Catholic man, get married, have a family, etc. And then it was just gone. And it was really scary because I didn't know if or when I would meet someone else. And I just felt really, really discouraged because that engagement was kind of the end of a string of from high school on through college dating. What had happened again and again was when I would, you know, start dating these Catholic guys who I thought had the same values and commitments as me. And then over time I would realize, no, they actually don't have the same foundation and faith. They don't have the same values that I do, basically. The things that they care about are very different than what I care about. And I just found myself over and over again in all these dating relationships having to battle for what I believed to be true and to do what was right. And so at that time, I was feeling I was very, very sure that I didn't want to date again for at least two years after breaking off that engagement. And I was like, God, I'm just gonna tell you, like, I will, I will make that commitment. I'm not even gonna think about dating for two years. I just don't even want to have to face that again. And I just was feeling discouraged and I didn't want to, I I guess probably I was just scared, you know, looking back. I just didn't want to have to go through all of that again. And it was embarrassing breaking off an engagement and telling people the wedding was off, and you know, I had a dress, I had already like there was a lot of money into it. So while while I hadn't made that commitment and I was using my free time to go to daily mass, to go to adoration, I was often going to this little chapel at Domino's Farms in Michigan for Mass at noon. And there were so many times that I would just look around myself in this tiny little chapel and I'd say to God, why can't I just meet a nice Catholic guy? Why can't a nice Catholic guy just walk up to me at church and say hello? And we start dating, and that's that's the one. So I would just kind of say that to God, not you know, not really joking, but almost flippantly, like that would be so nice. Why can't it just be like that? Like I know it's not realistic. And so I was at Daily Mass, and then right up the road is this tiny little um Adoration Chapel connected to Christ the King Parish in Michigan. And when I had time, I would go to Daily Mass and then swing by the Adoration Chapel because it was literally like a 15, 30 second drive up the road from where Mass was at Domino Farms. And I would pop in there. And one day I walked out. It was a week before I was finally leaving Michigan for good. I was gonna be separating myself completely from that whole situation. It was my heart was in so much pain. You know, I I loved the man I was gonna marry. I loved him so much. And I mean, to this day, I still pray for him. And there it was just a time of a lot of turmoil, but I was also so relieved getting so close to moving on to a new chapter. And so I walk out of the Adoration Chapel and I go to my car and I see there's a piece of paper sticking out of the driver's side window, just like shoved into the little crevice. And I thought, oh no, someone's telling me I had to have to get my old junky car off the road to say, like, this isn't safe to drive. I was really self-conscious. It was the first part, it was like a $3,000 1995 Honda Civic. Um and yeah, it was it was a piece of junk. So I was just, I was self-conscious about it. And I thought this is going to be a note saying, like, you need to get your bumper repaired or something. And so I opened up the note, and basically it was a note saying, hi, I saw you at Daily Mass and Adoration, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in going out to dinner or getting together. And sorry for this weird note, but I just thought I'd ask. And then it was signed, and a cell phone number was given. And so I was really shocked. I was not expecting that. So I called my sister immediately and I said, Hey, this just happened. That's like, what do I do? And we were just laughing about it because I told her, I haven't seen anyone at Mass or in the Adoration Chapel under the age of maybe 65 today. So, like, what if this is like an old falling man? Like, I just like who could this be? And I have to explain the chapel at Domino's Farms is very tiny. It's it's one of the chapels where the uh the congregants face each other. There's three tiny pews, they're almost like bleachers. The top one is the highest and then goes down to the center. I think there's only three rows, and then the altar is at the far end. So you're kind of accidentally looking at everyone the whole time you're in mass because you're literally facing each other in this tiny room. So I really, really didn't remember seeing anyone remotely close to my age. And anyway, we were just laughing, and my sister said, You're moving in a week. If he's a creep, he won't be able to see you ever again. But she's like, This could also just be God giving you the chance to be just showing you, listen, there are other people out there. It might just be a little gift saying, don't be afraid to let go. There will be other people who are Catholic, who are interested. And so she said, You really have nothing, nothing to worry about here, as long as you don't meet this person in private somewhere. You know, she's like, obviously be smart about it, but why not just text them or call them and find out? So I think it was maybe that night or the next day I decided to send a text back. And I said, I said something like, Thank you so much for the note. I'm not interested in dating right now. I just broke off an engagement and I'm moving to the DC area in a week. I said something like that. But the next thing I said was, I'd still be happy to meet up with you because I'm always interested in meeting other Catholic, you know, faithful Catholic men who are interested in going to daily mass and adoration too. So if you'd like to meet up for coffee or something this week before I go, I'd be happy to do that. And so he answered back, and we were just having trouble finding a time to meet up because I didn't know this, but this guy who's texting was also a doctor. Lots of people make fun of me for like, are you just a gold digger or something? I'm like, no, they just they come to me. Um so it just didn't seem like it was gonna work out. And to me, it wasn't I wasn't like, oh my gosh, I need to meet this person before I leave. To me, it was just very much like this thing that happened and whatever, if it worked out to meet up, great, if not great too. So the other side of the story is Kyle, the guy who had left me the note, he was finishing up his fourth year of residency at University of Michigan. And I don't know if most people know this. When you're in residency, usually you have a very, very crazy schedule. You're just working all the time, especially at the end. So it's just not a lot of flexibility. And as I know now, medicine can be just like a very challenging and weird schedule. So what ended up happening, which I didn't know, is that Kyle he had a house that he owned in Ann Arbor, and he rented out rooms to three other residents who were also his friends. And he was in the midst of trying to sell that house and finish up residency at the same time. And he had just signed a contract to move up to Alaska and work there that coming fall. So he had a lot going on, and basically the sump pump in the basement where one of the rental rooms was went out, and he got a call that his friend was standing in like a foot of sewage. He's like, uh, you have a problem. So he was allowed to go home from work and figure it out. And basically, he ended up having to be off for two days. I still don't really know how that worked out because that's not how medicine works. You usually don't just get to leave if there's a crisis. Holy Spirit. But they yeah, so they, yeah, again, it's all the Holy Spirit. It's all these little things that that just add up to, okay, this was orchestrated. So, anyways, however it happened, he ended up having two days completely at home and reached out to me. So Friday was the day that he had seen me at daily mass. And on Monday, he sends me a message, Oh, are you going to mass today at noon? And I said, Yep. Uh, yeah, I was planning on going. Oh, actually, I have to go back. There's one part that I missed. But when I went to that mass on Friday that he saw me at, I was in the midst of packing up to leave. It was late May, very hot. My apartment was hot. I was just sweaty and disheveled. And there's a mass at noon at Domino's Farms, and then there's one at 1210 in Ann Arbor. So I would switch between the two. And I looked at myself in the mirror that day and I was like, should I take the extra 10 minutes to spruce up before I go to church? And I like, nah, I'm leaving here in a week. It doesn't matter. So when I had gone to that noon mass, it was also a decision of do I go to noon mass here or do I go to 1210 there? And I found out later that Kyle rarely worked at Domino's Farms Clinic. It was just one, like he would do these random rotation days, and he was put at their clinic that day. And when he was there, he would have time to pop into noon mass, which was very short. He could go to Adoration for a few minutes. And so, anyways, I'll get back to that. So I I had made the decision to go that mass. And so he was asking me again that Monday, hey, are you gonna go to Mass? And I said, Yep. I'll and so he said, Well, are you free to just walk around Domino's Farms and chat for a little bit afterwards? So I went to mass that day, and I was just I I was nervous, but I also didn't want to be distracted the whole mass looking around, like, who is this guy? And so I I went and I sat in the front of one of the sides of pews and was close to the altar as possible, and I just focused on the altar. So I wasn't gonna spend the whole mass looking around, trying to see who is this Kyle guy. I'll just wait till afterwards. So, anyways, during mass, I was just very focused on the altar. And when it came to the sign of peace, I of course, you know, turned around to shake people's hands. And as soon as I look across from me, across the row, the pews that face each other, right? This guy is sitting directly across from me and he starts waving. Just this goofy wave, and he has this huge smile on his face. It looks like he knows me. And it looks like he's a couple years younger than me. He has super greasy, floppy hair, very pale, skinny, like this caved-in chest. He just looks like a college kid who's been gaming in the dark for like two years straight. And he had this crumpled pink polo shirt on and these huge bottled glasses. And I just thought to myself, oh my gosh, that is Kyle. Okay. Like, all right, this is Kyle. It's like not necessarily feeling attracted to this person right now, but I was like, okay, I'll just talk with him. This will be nice to meet someone today, and then I'll just move on. And so, like the whole the rest of the mass, I just felt this guy looking at me across. And so mass ended, and I was just sitting in the pew and I was just saying to God, I was like, Lord, please don't make this painful. I was totally making, you know, judgments in my head. And so I get up and walk out, and I expect it to be this guy waiting for me. And then I see the actual Kyle there, he just stepped on. Leaving the little chapel, and he steps out from the side and puts out his hand and he says, Hi, I'm Kyle. And I just remember being like, Oh my gosh, I'm so relieved. Like he has such nice hair. Um, and so yeah, thankfully, it was a it was a different guy who I was like, okay, he does look around my age and is nicely groomed. He's attractive. Um, yes. And so we spent maybe an hour walking around Domino's Farms. They have it's like a medical clinic, but it's kind of set in the middle of some fields. They have some animals. It's just it's a it's a very random complex. Um, but Domino's Farms was is a farm. The guy who owns it is the one who started Domino's Pizza, who started Ave Maria University in Florida. Yeah. So Tom Monaghan. Anyway. Yeah, yep. So for about an hour, and it was so cool. I was like, wow, this guy just seems like a guy from like a good guy from Stevenville. He seems like the same type of guy as my brothers. He just reminds me of my brothers. And we just chatted and heard about each other's backgrounds. And he grew up in a small, like pretty Catholic town in Michigan. And anyways, I yeah, and I heard from him. He was like, Yeah, I I I'm not really looking to date either, I guess. I'm just finishing up residency, I'm moving to Alaska this fall. So it was very much like, okay, well, we met, but but it was not on my radar at all, like having interest in him from a romantic or dating standpoint. So it was a really, really nice talk, and we parted ways and said, Good luck. It was nice to meet you. So Tuesday was the second sump pump day, which I didn't know. And he ended up, well, I should say, Kyle, I didn't know this, but Kyle sent a text to his brother right after we had talked for an hour, and he said, I can't believe this. I just met a girl that I could marry. And he went back and screenshotted it to show me later. But it just seemed so like there's no way this would work out. I'm I'm moving to TC, he's moving to Alaska. But clearly it was on his mind, like, oh, this is someone that I would like to pursue. So on Tuesday, he was he wasn't at the hospital all day like he was supposed to again. And he said, Hey, are you going to mass again today? And I I was actually sitting at a mechanic shop because I had to have something done before driving all the way from Ann Arbor down to um Northern Virginia the next, like at the end of that week. And I was supposed to be doing work, but my laptop had died, and I was at a coffee shop across from the mechanic shop, and none of their wall outlets were working. So I had started a job remotely that I was I was working for actually a life coach in DC. And I was supposed to be getting work done, but thankfully I'd, you know, I had flexible hours. But I was just sitting there twiddling my thumbs at this coffee shop, and I got a text from Kyle asking if I was going to mass again. So I told him, I said, I'm actually stuck at a mechanic shop right now. I have no idea when my car is going to be done. And he said, Well, would you want me to swing by and pick you up? I said, sure. So I gave him the name of the auto shop. He and then he pulls up and he's driving a black Jeep Wrangler. And then when he hopped out and I saw it was him, I was like, no way. It's just so weird. I had, like I said, I had this junky car. And for some reason, for like six months, just been thinking, it would be so fun to own a Jeep. I just love how Jeeps look. Just such a random thought. It wasn't something I was planning on owning. And it wasn't a reality to me. It was just this thought of like, I would just love to have a Jeep. And he pulls up in this jeep. So I was like, this is so cool. I'm gonna ride a church in this Jeep. And we went to mass together. And then afterwards, I checked my phone. The mechanic still hadn't called. And he said, um, it it's crazy. We ended up living about like a mile apart in Ann Arbor. And he was like, Well, do you want me to drop you off at home or back off at the coffee shop? And he said, if you're comfortable with it, you're welcome to come over to my place. You can just plug your laptop in and work for the afternoon, and then I'll just drop you back off whenever, whenever your car is done. At this point, you know how you just get a sense of someone. I just I knew he was just someone who was like my brothers. And I knew his background and we had talked so much, and I knew he saw me at daily mass in adoration, and we had gone to math twice together. So I didn't think it was stupid of me to say, sure, I'll come and work at your house. So I said, sure, I'll come. So we went back and I plugged in my laptop and I never opened it. We just ended up talking for maybe like three hours, and I just never got this call from the mechanic. I don't know why. It was just took all day for them to work on my car. So it got to mid-afternoon, and it was again really beautiful weather, our first hot, beautiful spring weather of the year at the end of May. And he said, Well, I had this unexpected day off, and I was planning on going canoeing this afternoon. Would you want to go canoeing? And then I can still drop you off later. I was like, I love being outdoors, I love canoeing. Yes. So we went, we took his canoe, we went to the river in Ann Arbor, we canoed for a while and just talked and talked and talked and talked a lot more. And so eventually the mechanic called, we finished canoeing, he dropped me off. And again, it was like, whoa, it was nice to meet you. Good knowing you. Good luck. Good luck in Alaska, good luck in DC. At that point, I was like, yeah, this guy is really cool. And I was really feeling like God was just giving me a gift of saying, look, you're doing the right thing and letting go. There are other guys out there. You don't need to be discouraged that every Catholic guy is going to end up letting you down when it comes to his true values. And anyway, so I was just, I was feeling encouraged. I was really happy that I met him. But again, nothing else was on my radar at that point. And the next day, Wednesday, he did have a very busy schedule at work. He had to go back. But I went to Mass at Domino's farm again and I saw him there, but he left before Mass was over and didn't say anything to me. You know, like he had to go before it was over. And I didn't know this at the time, but he only had a very short break between patients or something. So he popped in for mass and then had to leave right after communion. And I didn't hear from him all day. So I was just like, okay, we saw each other, quote unquote, at mass, but I didn't hear, you know. So at that point, I was like, is he gonna reach out again this week? You know, I was just wondering because this we had just basically spent a whole day together the day before. Um, so he was just starting to be on my mind too. And on Wednesday, that was when I realized I was like, oh, I'm kind of disappointed I didn't get to talk to him after mass and he had to run out. And it was later that night he sent me a text and was like, hey, sorry I had to run out. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say hi to you. And I was so I was really happy that he said that. So obviously like things were starting to move in my heart too. And the next day, Thursday, I think, so I think that night he said, Do you want to get lunch together tomorrow? I think it was the first time that he like made a plan to do something together. And we ended up making plans. And so what happened? It's crazy. He had his day at the hospital, he had to give some presentation on a project he was working on that Thursday. And then we went to mass again together on Thursday, and he dropped me back off at the apartment, and uh he had to give this presentation and then was gonna have to stay and work more afterwards. But then his proctor just said, you can just take the rest of the day off after this. So wow, he ended up picking me up and we went out to lunch together, and we just talked and talked and talked. It was really like it felt like a date. And so I was sitting there having lunch with him, and then we walked down by the river, and I was like, this feels like a date. And so I was getting all these text messages. I was just trying to like when I had moved up to Michigan, I knew it was this temporary year-long thing while being engaged and before getting married and moving, and none of that happened. So I had gotten a bunch of Craigslists at the time, everything was Craigslist. I got a bunch of free furniture, and then I was just trying to get rid of it as quickly as possible. So I was getting all these messages about a desk and a bookshelf or dresser or something that I had posted for free. And I told him, I told Kyle I was like, I have to get back because I need to get rid of this furniture tonight. This was Thursday. I was moving Saturday morning, first thing. And Kyle was like, Do you mind me asking, is anyone gonna be there with you? And I said, No, my roommate, she and her family are gone. Which she, her family was my ex-fiance's family.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

They were at some like I don't remember what was event, but I was doing all the moving myself. She was out of town, which honestly was a blessing. Because it everything's lining up for this, it sounds like. Yes. So he said, Do you mind if I come over while this person comes to pick up this furniture? You just never know. He's like, We're so near Detroit, there are just a lot of weirdos out there. I was like, No, honestly, I'd be really grateful. I did not know how I was gonna get this huge oak desk and this dresser down the stairs. And so he comes over, whips his toolbox out of his vehicle, takes everything apart from me, carries it all down, has it out on the front walk of the apartment. And the guy who ended up coming to pick up the stuff was clearly hopped up on something. We was very high, clearly on drugs, and he was just a really weird guy. And so that was a huge blessing. I was so thankful Kyle offered to do that and just grateful he was there. So we basically ended up spending much of that day together as well. And I don't remember why. I think Friday was his actual day off that he was supposed to have off. So he was like, Do you want to go to mass tomorrow? And so we met up at mass, and then he was like, Well, do you need any help packing? Whatever. So he ended up coming over in the afternoon, and he helped me pack stuff up. And then that night, it was Friday night. I was moving early Saturday morning. I was just still in a really weird place with my ex-fiance because we had been together for five years. I knew his whole family. His friends in the area had become my friends. My fiance was actually in fellowship at University of Michigan, where Kyle was in residency at University of Michigan. So it's just kind of funny. They were working in completely different departments in the same hospital system. And anyways, he was having an end of the fellowship slash me going away party that night. So I was going to see my ex-fiance say goodbye. And his family was having this, I think it was a retreat day or something. I don't remember, but I went and said goodbye to his whole family. It was really hard. And then went to this party and was just saying goodbye to everyone. And it was hard and weird. Not everybody knew why we weren't engaged anymore or why I was leaving. Um, but it was just, it was a really, really hard time to be pulling away and closing that door. And at the same time, Kyle had just kind of appeared on the scene. So, you know, it was Friday afternoon, and I was telling Kyle, I was like, I'm going to this thing tonight. And it's just so many crazy emotions. It's just so weird to be closing out this door, and I want to go and say goodbye to everyone, but I'm feeling really heartbroken and it's just gonna be weird. So I said goodbye to Kyle, went off to this party, and yeah, it was just weird. It was really hard. My ex-fiance got super drunk, played super loud music, ended up, he's he was in an apartment complex too. And I was like, I just need to leave. This is it, you know. So I was like, I'm I'm gonna head out. I'm leaving tomorrow. And I looked at my phone and I saw that Kyle had sent me a text. He said, Hey, if you end up having time after you hang out with them tonight and want to swing by, you know, hang out for a little bit before you leave tomorrow, just let me know. So I was like, Yeah, I want to do that. I want to see him. I don't want to be here. And so I opened up the front door and the cops were there waiting at the floor of the apartment complex, waiting to get in. It was just this big sign, too, of like, wow, I know this man is hurting, but this is how he handles challenges and difficulties and pain in life. He's acting like a child. It was so embarrassing, but it just was this confirmation of I am doing the right thing and walking away because this man is not in a place where he's ready to be a husband, let alone father. And again, he was a good person. I don't want to degrade his character at all, but it was just that in that moment, it was such a sign to me of I'm making the right choice and walking away. And it was so painful. It was such a painful note to end on, but I think it was good to end on that note to have that clarity of like, yeah, I need to walk away from this. This is not what I'm looking for. So, Kyle, of course, he's you know, fourth-year resident, has barely slept in the past eight years after med school and residency. I sent him a text and didn't get an answer saying, like, yeah, I'd love to swing by now. I'm leaving, and tried to call him and he didn't answer. And I was like, I'm just gonna stop on by. It's a mile from my house. I'll just swing by and see if he's up. And so I went over and um this is actually embarrassing to share because I sound like such a creep. So I went over and um I knocked on the door and he didn't answer. So I was like, well, I've been at his house for a whole day now. So I was like, I'll just walk through the back gate. So I opened the gate and I walked around to the slider because I knew he was temporarily sleeping in the living room because he had given the guy, the guy in the basement, his room got flooded with sewage. He had given him his room. So Kyle's temporarily sleeping on a blow-up mattress in their living room, which is the backyard, had these big slider doors. So I go and I saw Kyle was just in there and he had fallen asleep. So I just opened the door and I was like, hey, Kyle. And he was really happy that I had come. And we ended up talking basically all night. And again, remember, I'm moving the next morning. I had some friends, and then my parents coming up from Steubenville to help me load everything up into a couple giant vans, and our neighbors were lending us their like 15-passenger van, which is the common vehicle for families in Steubenville. And then I was filling up my little car. So I was definitely not planning on staying up all night. But Pal and I just talked and talked into the morning, and we decided we should date. And so I went from breaking off an engagement in January to dating out of the blue a week before moving by the end of May. And it was just such a shock, but there was so much peace around it, and it had just the course of how everything had happened over the week, I just felt so at peace. And I felt like this was what I had been looking for all along. For a guy to literally see me at church, see me at adoration. And you know, he didn't walk up to me in person. He would have, which by the way, he when I went to mass that day and he saw me and left a note on my car. He was sitting, I think, at like one of the back, the top back ends of the pews. So he was furthest from the altar, which granted is still like 20 feet away from the altar. And I guess I was right in his line of vision, and he just the whole mass he said he just couldn't stop noticing me there. And he kept feeling like, you need to say hi to that girl. You need to say hi to that girl. And he was like, I don't know if this is crazy. I'm not looking to date, I'm about to move. But it was just this really strong sense that he had to introduce himself to me. And he he was like, I don't know if this is the Holy Spirit or just me, being like, I find this girl attractive. I want to say hi to her. And so he was like, No, this is I went mass edited and I just started walking out. He was like, I guess it's just not the right time. Because it is awkward to just walk up to someone out of the blue and say, like, hey, do you want to do something with me? So I walk out to the parking lot and he's walking out pretty close behind me, I guess, and he sees me get in my car. I'm parked basically right across from him, and I pull out, and as he's getting into his car, he just told himself, he's like, Well, I'm stopping in the Adoration Chapel. If she goes in there too, then I need to say something. And so he was literally right behind me on the road for that 15-second drive. And he, you know, he saw me pulling in and he's going in Adoration too. He's like, Okay, now I need to say something. And he was on a time constraint though. He was like, You decided to go all the way to the front. You know, there's maybe like five to ten other people in the Adoration Chapel. I'm sitting in the front row, and he's like, I can't, I can't say hi to her. I can't go up in the middle of a quiet adoration chapel and like tap a stranger on the shoulder and be like, Hey, can I talk to you for a second? The whole room would hear. Plus, you don't do that in Adoration. And so he had to get back to clinic and it was like, all right, gotta leave. And so he decided he knew what my car looked like. He was like, I guess I'll just leave a note on her car. Because he at this point he felt really strongly like, okay, if she I said if she was going to Adoration too, I need to say something to this girl. So he put that note on my car and then he started driving away and then was like, this is ridiculous. And he got out and took the note off and left again. And then he stopped his car and got out and put it back on. So it was just, you know, it's that inner battle we have. So it was just for him too, it was just this very, you know, small window of time where it ended up working out. So yeah, basically we started dating, and there was just so much peace from the start that even though it felt so ridiculous to be in a relationship like that just after breaking off an engagement with a guy that I'd been with for five years, I just knew in my heart God was able to answer that desire of my heart because I had turned away from a different relationship that wasn't totally focused on him. And again, the guy that I was engaged to previously, he's a good guy. But a lot of people that we encounter, even as Catholics who are also Catholic, just weren't raised the same way or they just don't care that much about their faith in the same way. Where it's like, yeah, I'm Catholic and I go to Mass every Sunday. And it's not like people say it out loud, but it's just not the most important thing in my life. So, for example, you know, in that relationship, we both loved soccer so much. For him, it was way more important to be on time for a soccer game than it was to mass, you know. Oh, the soccer game ends when you scooch into mass five minutes late and totally sweaty because soccer ran it, you know, it made it hard to get to mass on time. And, you know, daily mass just wasn't a part of his life or an interest and let alone adderation, you know, just very things that can seem so subtle when a relationship is just so fun at first, and someone is a fun person and you see the good in them, and they're a great person. But then over time, when you start having to look a little bit deeper, like for me, I really saw this. I'm having to fight for my faith in this relationship, even though we're both Catholic. And it's actually this relationship has been leading me into sin, not leading me into holiness and just leading me away from my values instead of leading me to stronger and stronger values and building better and better character. So that's really where that decision had come from. And I just I know in my heart that God couldn't, He couldn't put someone in my life who really filled that desire of my heart for someone who would truly share my faith. You know, Kyle has his struggles too. We're not perfect, but just someone who we're we're on the same level of values and commitments and what's important. So, anyways, I couldn't meet someone like that while I was still holding on to trying to control everything myself. And that's basically what I'd been doing for so many years in all my Relationships. I just was looking for love. And you know, I just had to get to the place where I was actually putting God first instead of being in relationships where that relationship ended up coming first in everything instead of God. Very subtly, but it happens over time. But yeah, by the time I had ended my engagement, I realized I was like, I'm crying most days. I'm not happy. There's something here. So, you know, for anyone listening who's in a similar situation, if you find yourself in a relationship and you realize there's something wrong because I am not totally at peace. I'm not happy. I'm not feeling like the best version of myself. Then, you know, maybe it's time to look at what am I holding on to and what do I need to let go of in order for something way better that God has in store for me. And, you know, I I do want to say for anyone listening to this story, it is really a miracle to me what happened in my life, where I came from to where I am now in this marriage, going from such a volatile feeling of life to such a sense of civility now. But I and I don't want to make it sound like, oh, and then there's happily ever after. It's like, no. Then I will share. I dated Kyle long distance. I moved the next morning after we stayed up all night talking. We decided to date. He kissed me for the first time. It was amazing. Um, the next morning, like two hours later, I went home. Two hours later, he shows up with ice giant iced coffee and helps me pack up the cars and everything when my parents get there and my friend from Studentville who was helping. So we said goodbye the next day and dated long distance for a year and a half before getting married. But that was the end of the May when we started dating, and we got engaged that December. So again, it was very short. All the things that I'm like, wow, if I were hearing about this from someone else, I would totally be judging them. Like, you just broke off an engagement in January and you're engaged again by December. It just sounds so wrong. But again, it was just like it, I didn't care what anybody thought because I knew I finally had that sense of peace. And God had answered that prayer of a man seeing me at church and finding me, someone who really reminded me of my brothers and who reminded me of the kind of faith and the strength and just the manhood that I was looking for. And so, anyways, we ended up dating, getting married the following August, and moving up to Alaska together, because that's where he was working. And I I don't want to make it sound like it was just this fairy tale story that ends with Happily Ever After, because what actually happened was that there was a miracle that I met a man who I could have a true marriage with, who I would grow stronger with, and we would, you know, grow to love each other more deeply through all the hard times and challenges. Because marriage has not been just a fun, easy ride the whole time. We've gone through so much together. We we lost our first two babies. We don't want to live in the same place. My husband loves Alaska. I love 90-degree weather. I hear you. And yeah, we've like we spent part of our marriage in Alaska and then we went down to Pennsylvania for a couple years or back up in Alaska. Now we don't know where home is long term, but it's just so amazing because regardless of all that, I know that God gave me that gift of a very, very close call marrying someone who would have not been able to handle how hard marriage is, and it would have been devastating for both of us. And I married a man who is the most selfless person and who is so strong, so that everything that we've been through and everything that we're facing, we're good. Our marriage is good, and we love each other, and I know that he absolutely just wants what's best for me. And I'm just so grateful for that because that's what I almost miss was being with someone that even when life is really, really hard and and not a fairy tale and not fun, I'm never worried about my marriage and all the everything has just brought us closer together over time and helped us to grow in deeper appreciation and love for each other over time. And I'm just grateful to be with someone who I can truly respect and who I love so much, even if parts of life are hard for us to figure out together. And I'm grateful too that God, like the challenges that we've been through, apart from what I've shared on this podcast, there have been some really hard things that we've been through, but I know that God brought us together for a very specific reason because our marriage has really what what the things that have been out of our control that we've experienced together, we have truly been forced to grow in virtue. And I know that's the whole point of marriage is it's a vocation, it's a path to sainthood. So it's just I am so grateful for him every day, and I love him so much, and and I just know I was so close to choosing a path that would have been leading me away from virtue versus a path where I know that whatever happens, it's me and my husband together. It's us, us versus the world, kind of, you know, it's and when there are challenges that we face, for example, this living situation of figuring out are we gonna stay in the last long term, are we not? I know it's me versus God's plan for me. It's not me versus my husband. Like it's just it's so every day, it still is such a continuing miracle to me that we have been able to grow the way that we have. And so all of it goes back, I think, to both of us having that Catholic foundation. And I will say my husband is he's like he's a true saint in marriage. He's so giving and he's such a wonderful husband and father. He he's like the only dad I know who forces me out of the house, sometimes for weeks at a time, to give me a break, to take care of our kids. He's so involved when he's home, and his whole purpose for work and life is to create family time and to be a good dad and a good husband. And if I had married that other guy, it just would not have been that way. It would have been a lot, a lot of heartache and pain and struggling to probably struggling to stay together. So yeah, that's my story of meeting Kyle. And there are so many little details that line up where you know God's hand was in it because this had to happen, X, Y, Z. So I know you've heard my story before. So if there's anything I forgot, feel free to mention it.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

No, I appreciate you sharing so vulnerably. And I like what you said about marriage is not always fairy tales. I've been married almost 13 years to my husband, and we've been through a lot as well. And we were not Christian before we met, and that we ended up having a vision of Jesus together and became Christian and then Protestant and then Catholic. So we've kind of always been, thankfully, on the same wavelength with things. But you're right. I mean, having that person be that solid foundation and you being that solid foundation for them and having Christ at the center, I think is it sounds like that's how you guys started. You guys started in this adoration chapel, both wanting to go to daily mass, both going to adoration, and just all the ways that God lined up for you guys to see each other, his work schedule. And what strikes me so much, you know, when you're talking about values is all the little ways in such a short amount of time that Kyle's character came through. Him picking you up from the mechanic shop, offering you a place where you could do your work, making sure you were safe at your apartment when somebody came to get the dresser, taking down the dresser, helping you pack. I mean, that must have that must have felt uh so uh refreshing from maybe what you had experienced before, or just seeing a man so committed to his values. And I'm just curious what you guys consider your highest values, because you had said, you know, and it's true a lot of us, one, we don't know our values, or two, we just waver and we kind of settle. So I would love to know what your highest values are.

SPEAKER_00 53:17

Yeah. So obviously our faith is the number one value, just making sure that we are growing in faith, making time for a prayer time, making an effort for, you know, using the graces of the sacraments. But more specifically, we've had to get really, really clear in the past few years about okay, where home is, we don't know. And that's hard. Like I want to be rooted, I want home. And maybe it's in Alaska. Every day I tell myself, this is our home right now. But when we were last making the decision about where we were gonna live next, we sat down and we said, these are the three things that are most important for our family. Is one to be in a very strong Catholic community where we have friends who are around us doing the same thing, where we have a good parish, we have a good pastor, and we have amazing friends for our kids to grow up with. And then two, a place where Kyle has work that he loves, that he can wake up every day and be motivated and feel like he has purpose in his life. So for us, we're our basic life. It doesn't matter where we are. The number one thing is that our family is in a community that is going to lift us up and we're where we are going to be growing in virtue and faith, and our kids will be led in that direction too. And our oldest is five, so still very young. But yeah, at any age, we just want them to be surrounded by the faith, by good values. And then for us personally, no matter where we are or what we're doing, our our motto together is this is the will of God for us today, like whatever is happening. And we've had that motto since maybe I think it was 2019 when we lost our first baby, my first pregnancy. We read the book He Leadeth Me by Father Walter Chizuck together, who was in Soviet gulag prison camps for 20 plus years in solitary confinement for five years. And that is just an amazing, amazing book. And it really helped us to cope with our suffering and to look at what it means to live out your vocation in a new way. Yeah. So for us, it's just saying, like, no matter what's going on, whether we're actually in a time that we're satisfied and happy about life, you know, feeling quote unquote happy in the moment, um, just saying, this is the will of God for me today, and seeing that no matter what is happening, you can choose to live out what's in front of you. You can choose to live out your vocation that day. So for me right now, it's waking up every day and just fulfilling what I see are my duties as a wife and a mother in our home, in our community with my husband and kids. And so that just gives me a lot of peace and centering. And for Kyle, it's to provide for our family and to lead our family and also be a part of that community of faith. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:53

I love it. And I love peace. I love that you've you've mentioned that with him several times, is that that's the feeling that you got from him. And I think people don't realize peace is a decision and our circumstances are neutral, but what we think about them can create uh peace or pain. And you know, getting out of your comfort zone is what is required a lot when we make these decisions to leave something behind for something that we don't know is there yet in your case. Having this five-year engagement, you know, you've spent all this time with this person, got to know his family, was living with his sister. So there must have been a level of really stepping out of your comfort zone in order to say, okay, God, what's next? And right after you did that, Kyle shows up and then Adoration Shekel. So yeah. Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 57:57

Yeah, and I will say that I'm just so grateful again for that sense of peace being the thing that brought us together and has guided us through our marriage, because through anything that we've gone through, I have just always had 100% peace and confidence that I made the right decision in marrying him and that it was the right thing to do, and that God meant us for each other. And so having that foundation, no matter what has happened, no matter what is to come, is just so important for a stable marriage. And again, I'm so grateful to be Catholic where we actually see value and purpose in suffering and in choosing suffering and embracing it, offering it up, because I really don't know how you would survive the long term without that. And it's it's a blessing in disguise. Another thing we say to each other a lot is a severe mercy. That's another book that we both really enjoyed reading. It's you know, it's a severe mercy because the pain that you go through is really what deepens your own character and your own values and deepens your love for each other. And I'm just grateful for that Christian love where you're able to grow together, not necessarily just through good feelings, but through through the suffering.

SPEAKER_02 59:15

What do you think it's been that's helped you maintain that peace in your marriage? For anyone listening who's like, my marriage is not peaceful.

SPEAKER_00 59:24

Yeah, I will say we we have a really, really amazing pastor here. His name is Father Michael Shields, and he spent about, I think, 30 years of his priesthood in Russia. God called him to create a mission in the ruins of the gulags over in Magadan, Russia, and Siberia. And he has encountered real suffering. And he like his heart is there, but he basically got kicked out of Russia and has been back in Alaska for the majority of the time that we've been here. So I will say having an amazing spiritual director was so important for us because when we were in our first stretch together of just being really, really angry and full of grief and bitter and resentful of God, uh, particularly during the time when we lost our first two babies in a row, and just it was, you know, you're supposed to get married and then have kids and move on. And for us, it was just you get married and then have trouble getting pregnant and then lose a baby and then lose another. And it was just really hard, especially because we got married a little bit older, and everybody around us in our Catholic community is just babies left and right. So, and then on top of that, we were from the beginning facing the question of how long are we gonna be in Alaska? And that was a huge challenge of just our desire around where to live is so different, and it just has to this day, we can't really figure out what to do about it, and so we're very much just always listening to where is God leading us next. And anyways, it was very, very crucial having an amazing spiritual director who could have empathy for us and truly understand way deeper suffering than we've ever experienced. And he just gave us so much wise advice, and he really helped us to continue growing both personally and together. He really, really challenged my husband in ways that he said he just needed to be challenged and talked to, and for me, just was able to guide me in just coping with suffering. So, anyways, I would say finding a really strong spiritual director is an amazing tool, especially for any Catholic, but especially in marriage. Um, we had tried some marriage counseling and just wasn't helping. It was fine, but it was just like we don't need to sit here and just talk about stuff. We never felt like it did anything, but spiritual direction really did. And then also both of us just keeping that commitment of okay, no matter what we're going through, we're still going through the emotions of being Catholic, no matter what we feel like, whether we feel anything from it or not. So yeah, continuing to pray the rosary, striving for that daily rosary, which to this day I still miss days, but striving to make it to the daily mass in seasons that you can back to like where we met. That's you know, hey, we got to get to adoration, we've got to get to confession. So I think really if you are tapping into the graces that God makes available, then you're gonna experience that grace and he's gonna help you. But, you know, I I know there are many people who were in engagements like I was and actually went into a marriage where that's a huge struggle, where you're not on the same page. And I have a lot of compassion for that. But it goes back to this is the will of God for me today. And no matter what my spouse is doing or what he or she is committed to, I know I can wake up every day and fulfill my vocation. And I think there's just a lot of grace in that.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:14

Yes, yes. Were there any saints that you two particularly asked for intercession during your times of challenges or that any that are present right now in your guys' lives?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:28

Yeah, so oh, there are so many, so many good saints. I'd say right now we are really getting into Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane Francis de Chantelle because of being parents of three small children. I we have not realized what angry people we are. It's just like there's nothing to test your patience, like three toddlers. And so they those saints are just amazing because they went from super harsh, angry personalities to like being known for their extreme gentleness. So they have been really powerful for us. Also, my husband has always had a particular devotion to the sacred heart, so that's always been one of our devotions together. It's hard to even pin down. That's our snapshot right now. But I will say one thing that has probably helped strengthen us over time is doing spiritual reading together. So we'll sit down in the evening when we have time. Some seasons we're doing it every night, other times it's once in a month, but we'll pick a saint that we want to learn more about. Or, you know, Walter Chizak, he's a servant of God. We ask for his intercession all the time, which if you read that book, you will too. He's amazing. So he's one of our favorite. For us, we're continually trying to learn more from the wisdom of the saints because we know we need it so badly. We need to grow on virtue so badly that we're constantly just trying to soak in more information that will help us, you know, help us grow in the areas where we are weak. And yeah, so we Saint Tres of Lesoux and Saint Daily and Saint Louis Martin, Saint Francis of Assisi.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:14

Yeah, there's so many. And we're the same way. We're always like the saints are the people to aspire to be. And you know, it that goes back to who you surround yourself with and being in a community, like you said, one of your values is making sure that you're around other people of virtue and that your kids grow up in that kind of environment. Because that's kind of like where you guys grew up too, and each of your own groups around that kind of community. So who better to learn from than the saints? I think. I love to ask my guests what it means to you to live whole and holy. And I would particularly love to know what you think it means to live whole and holy in your marriage, since we've been talking about your relationship so much in your marriage.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:01

Yeah. Living whole and holy to me is first living out my calling as a Catholic woman to be tapping into our belief and being a good Catholic. So one is facing my day-to-day life around God, what whatever season I'm in. So I've had many different seasons of life. And at this point, for example, I I wake up usually to a screaming child who wants to eat immediately. And then it's a long day of not being alone or having, you know, I can't sit down and read my Magnificat without, you know, of getting interrupted about five times per sentence. And it's just a phase of life that I'm in with the little kids. I know it's just a season and it'll change. But for me, living whole and holy means mm striving. I'm not good at and still not good at it and have my ups and downs. But whatever season I'm in, just making my life a prayer. So whether it's doing the dishes for my family, keeping up with the laundry, figuring out another week of meal planning, being on my feet another two hours when I just want to sit down and rest, getting up in the middle of the night. So just slowly, slowly over time, the things that are challenging for me or that I tend to want to complain about or resist or avoid, recognizing those things and slowly changing my attitude and my response to let's offer this up or make it a prayer. And I would say in marriage the same goes. Living whole and holy in marriage is taking anything that would be a criticism and would be me trying to control instead of letting my husband lead, etc. It's been a great growth process for me in marriage where we are married almost nine years at this point, and I have just really learned the value of silence. We have so little silence, but yeah, just respecting my husband as the default instead of not giving the benefit of the doubt, making assumptions. And yeah, so I think whole and holy from a marriage standpoint, again, is just living out my vocation, making everything a prayer, things that I might have a gut reaction to, stopping that and giving time and space and silence. And that has really, really changed our marriage and changed me because I can't tell you how many times if I would, you know, go off about something and I would realize later, oh, now that I have a different perspective, I see how I was wrong in this way or that way, or how that didn't make any sense, or how that was unnecessary. But I love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:59

That's making your life a prayer. That's beautiful. That's beautiful. And you have a lot of opportunities with those three cute little kids. Well, Bernada, uh, please share where people can find your podcast or any other places you want to share. Link the book, He Leadeth Me. But if you want to share where people can find you, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:21

Yeah, if you want to find us on Instagram, our handle is at Moving Mountains Podcast AK, as in Alaska. Or you can find us on any major podcast streaming platform under Moving Mountains Podcast. And our little logo is a mountain, and it says real stories of modern day miracles. So, yeah, if you want to hear some more really cool miracle stories, uh, hop on over and give a listen. So I think our latest episode, which was with a man called Taylor, is one of the craziest stories and most powerful I've ever heard. He went from a childhood into young adulthood being convicted of crimes to the point that as a minor, he was placed in a high security prison. He's a hardened criminal and never even heard of Jesus and had this crazy, crazy conversion experience. So, yeah, if you want to hear that, I think that was the latest episode we posted.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:22

Yeah, it's a it's a great podcast. I really enjoy it. And one of the things that I did when I experienced my conversion is I listened to a lot of miracle stories, conversion stories, and it really bolsters your faith and just shows you how amazing our God is and how He is a God of miracles. So I love what you're doing, Bernadette, with the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:43

Thank you. You too. Um your story's amazing. And I'm just I'm grateful that you have this platform as well to share stories because I know people need to hear it. So thanks for giving me the chance to share this story with more people because you know it's vulnerable, it can be embarrassing sharing parts of it. But at the end of the day, if there's something that could touch someone's heart and lead someone closer to God, then I want it to.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:09

Yes, that's always my prayer. And people who need to find it always do. So I'm so grateful for that. Well, thanks for being on. Bernadette, if you wouldn't mind leading us in a closing prayer, uh that would be great. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:23

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord, thank you for this time with Carrie today. Thank you for her amazing conversion and for putting a fire in her heart for sharing your grace and your power and your love. And I just ask that you would bless this podcast and anyone who is listening and just help us all to grow in deeper faith and trust of you. Help us to surrender our lives, whether we are in one of the seasons that is feeling really peaceful and right or a challenging season full of confusion. Please just help us to trust in you and to continue moving toward you with our whole heart, with all of our highest values and commitments. And we just pray that you would bring us all home with you safely in the end. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:17

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:20

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:21

Thanks, Bernadette.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:24

You're welcome. Thanks for having me on. God bless.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:36

Welcome to the Living Whole and Holy podcast, where the Catholic faith and intentional living come together. I'm your host, Carrie Jane, a recent Catholic convert and Catholic coach, here to guide you toward a life that's rooted in Christ, centered in his love, and aligned with God's goal. Whether you're a convert, revert, cradle Catholic, or simply exploring the faith, you're in the right place. Join me each week here inspiring conversations, including conversion and reversion stories, I want wisdom from the church and practical Catholic coaching tools that help you deepen your faith and Christ, cultivate Christ-centered habits, and transformed through the renewing of your mind. If you're ready to discover and align the beauty and what's integrated Catholic life, you'll find your heart.