Mari shares insightful advice for women aiming to live a Christ-centered life in todays modern society. Mari opens by sharing her personal journey towards living a Christ-Centered life, emphasizing the joy and fulfillment found in surrendering to God's plan. She introduces 10 practical steps, touching on the importance of building a daily prayer life, seeking the sacraments, and surrounding oneself with a faith-filled community. Mari stresses the need to set up boundaries to avoid sin, educate oneself about the Catholic faith, and consume media that aligns with Christian values. She also highlights the significance of incorporating religious items into daily life, understanding Mary's role as a motherly figure, the power of praying the rosary, and ultimately, surrendering one’s life to Jesus. Through these steps, Mari aims to empower listeners to deepen their faith and embrace a fulfilling, Christ-centered lifestyle.

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mari-wagner_1_05-15-2024_093228:

Hey there, friend.

2

Welcome back to ever be.

3

I am so excited that you're here today.

4

If this is maybe your first time

tuning in, then hi, welcome.

5

I am.

6

I'm Mari and I hope that this episode

provides you with just some great

7

advice and some really practical

steps and tools for you to, , live

8

a Christ centered life and really

start slaying your Catholic girl life.

9

Speaker 2: Hey, I'm your host, Mari

Wagner, and you're listening to the ever

10

be podcast where faith meets lifestyle.

11

I'm so excited you're here, whether you're

a new listener or a longtime follower,

12

I know there's something here for you.

13

Pull up a chair and listen in for

insightful real life conversations

14

and actionable steps on how to claim

the full life God created you for.

15

If you're a woman desiring to live

a Christ centered life in today's

16

modern world, then this is for you.

17

Welcome to Ever Be.

18

mari-wagner_1_05-15-2024_093228: If you

have been following along for a while

19

this might sound a little bit familiar.

20

Um, so in January of this year, 2024,

I gave a breakout session talk at

21

the SEEK conference and it was called

how to slay the Catholic girl life.

22

Um, and I won't be giving

the full spiel today.

23

It won't be the full talk, but a segment

of the talk where these 10 practical

24

steps that I shared on how to really

live out your faith in the everyday life.

25

I think this is one of the top.

26

Ask questions that I get.

27

And one of the things I love talking

about the most because it's the most

28

fundamental part of your lifestyle.

29

Like if you truly are living a Christ

centered life, and if your faith is

30

truly the root in the center of your life

31

Then your life needs to reflect that

and your actions need to reflect that.

32

And so hopefully, um, if you feel like

you're in a place where like you're

33

stuck and you want to, you know, get

back on track on living your faith,

34

or maybe this is totally new to you.

35

And you're like, I think that I

want to do this, but I have no

36

idea what it looks like to actually

own my faith and live my faith.

37

I hope that this will be a helpful episode

or a good boost of encouragement for you.

38

mari-wagner_2_05-15-2024_093646: So

before we dive into the practicals,

39

I want to give you some context

as to how I got here in my life.

40

And if you want to hear the full testimony

story, go back into one of the first

41

episodes, I think it's episode two.

42

Um, but really there was a time

in my life where I wasn't living

43

super Christ centered -ly.

44

Um, but my heart, my personality

has always been, , passionate and

45

joyful and just having this zeal for

life, this excitement for life and

46

always desiring to live a full life..

47

And when I started to feel the Lord

really tug on my heart, like, Hey,

48

I didn't make you to live this way.

49

I made you for more.

50

I made you to live truly in

a Christ centered way and to

51

glorify me through your life.

52

And not even that, but I made

you to live an amazing full life.

53

When I started feeling all that in my

heart, my biggest fear was that if I

54

like fully dedicated my life to God and

fully like leaned into living my faith

55

as like the center of my life that I

would lose that zeal for life that I

56

would lose that passion and that joy and

that excitement that I wouldn't be This

57

like fun mari anymore , and i'm here to

tell you that none of that was true That

58

actually i've never been more joyful.

59

Uh, my life has never been

more fun fun, more adventurous,

60

more exciting, and more full.

61

, the Lord doesn't, , lack in his promises.

62

He follows through and he means it when

he says that he wants a full life for you.

63

He says it in John 10, 10, I came so that

they might have life and life abundant.

64

And he means that for you, um, in

your life, he wants you to have the

65

most amazing abundant life ever.

66

And our world tries to get us to

believe the lie that if we live a

67

worldly life, that's where we're

going to find fulfillment and freedom.

68

And like, maximize our life

and have the most success.

69

And that's a lie, you guys, like

that's, that's truly a flat out lie.

70

And it's a tactic that the evil one

does to tempt us to, uh, paint a

71

picture that is false because he is

full of false promises, but that's not

72

the truth that the Lord has for you.

73

And that's not the truth, um,

that the Lord speaks up when he

74

speaks of an abundant life for you.

75

So.

76

These practical steps, this advice

that I'm going to share with you today

77

is something that I wish that I would

have learned way earlier than I did.

78

And that I just love sharing because.

79

It changed my life and

I hope it changes yours.

80

But you have to know that to actually

like be in the heart space and in

81

the head space to start living out

these 10 practicals, cause I have

82

10 practical steps for you today.

83

So you can't say that you've

never heard Any practical steps

84

on how to live your faith.

85

Okay.

86

You're going to get them all here today.

87

, but to actually, like I said, be in the

head space and the heart space to dive

88

into this, you need to come from a posture

of like putting Jesus first in your life.

89

And the reality is that it's a lot

simpler and you can start a lot smaller

90

than you think, , putting Jesus first in

your life looks like giving him a daily.

91

Yes.

92

And I think when we hear the statement,

put Jesus first, we mistake the essence of

93

what it means, um, in our everyday life.

94

Because a lot of times we think of

it as like, wow, look at this person.

95

Like they're going to go be a missionary.

96

Like they're They're really putting

Jesus first in their life, you know,

97

or these people, you know, this person

went to the seminary and decided to

98

become a priest, like he's really

putting Jesus first in his life.

99

And those are good and beautiful callings.

100

And if you feel those on your heart,

totally, totally pursue those.

101

but a lot of us are going to have much

more day to day opportunities to say

102

yes to the Lord and to put him first.

103

And it's a lot simpler

than those big callings.

104

And actually when we say yes to all

these little callings, it helps build

105

up our faith and our stamina in a

way to be able to say yes to him

106

when he calls us to bigger things.

107

So giving Jesus your yes, a daily yes,

putting him in first can look like putting

108

him first over your school or your work.

109

This means that Sunday mass

is an obligation, right?

110

You don't miss mass because, you

have a ton of work, , that you

111

didn't get done over the weekend,

or you have a test that you didn't

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study for that happens on Monday, or

there's, you know, sports obligations.

113

If you have kids in sports

or, you're traveling, you do.

114

Everything you possibly can to get

to Sunday mass every single week

115

because the Lord has set aside that

day and that one hour of the week

116

for us to worship and love him.

117

And the least we can do

is give him that time.

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So that is an example of

putting Jesus first over your

119

calendar, your work, your school.

120

Maybe it looks also like giving him

some more time during your week.

121

Maybe there's like a small group you can

join in your local parish or your school.

122

Maybe there's a Bible study, um,

or a group of married people that

123

you can make a marriage group with

and, meet either once a month or

124

once a week to read a marriage book

together or pray scripture together

125

or build each other up in the faith.

126

So besides just going to the bare

minimum of once a week mass on Sundays.

127

Also cutting out time during your

week to form yourself in the faith

128

and to spend time with the Lord.

129

Cause like we've learned in the past in my

episode, everything you need to know about

130

prayer, we know that your relationship

with Jesus stems from your prayer life.

131

So it was actually taking time to pray and

to give time to the Lord during the week.

132

Giving Jesus a daily yes, putting

him first also looks like putting

133

him first over your relationships.

134

So this means seeking friendships,

uh, relationships, people around

135

you that are going to build you up

in the faith and not tear you down.

136

Um, it's so true.

137

I don't know if you've heard this

thing before, but it's so true.

138

You become like the five people

you spend the most time with.

139

Um, and so think about that.

140

Who are the people that I

spend the most time with?

141

Who are the people that I allow

to have influence in my life?

142

Are they people that have the same

values and faith and morals as me?

143

Are they people that are striving

to live Christ centered lives?

144

Are they people who are,

desiring to know and love Jesus

145

and serve him in their life?

146

Or not?, this doesn't mean

that every single person in

147

your life has to be a believer.

148

You can absolutely have friendships

with people that aren't Christians, but

149

those five core people in your life,

I encourage you to find the people

150

that are on the same walk of faith as

you and to encourage you and push you.

151

And especially in your dating

relationships, your romantic

152

relationships, um, if you are in a

season of dating where you are praying

153

for your vocation and trying to find

the one, keep this in mind, keep the

154

Lord first, in your life over these

relationships, seek out a man or a woman

155

who is devoted to their faith, who is

practicing in their faith, who will help

156

build you up in your faith and help you

raise a family of little saints one day.

157

And then lastly, I think this

might be the hardest one.

158

It takes a daily yes to put Jesus

first over yourself in your life.

159

And the reason why I think this

is hard is because I think we're

160

so used to trusting in ourselves.

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We're so used to being self

reliant and feeling like we

162

need to provide for ourselves.

163

Like we need to make it

happen for ourselves.

164

Like we are the only

ones that we can trust.

165

And that's just not, you know, Not

how the Lord wants us to live because

166

doing that means that we're trusting

ourselves over trusting the all

167

powerful, all loving, omnipotent God of

the universe, creator of the universe.

168

And when you say it that way, it

sounds a little bit crazy, right?

169

Like how could I trust myself, a sinful,

broken human being over the most perfect,

170

most loving, most good Father, creator

of the entire world and universe ever.

171

Like that makes no sense.

172

However, it's hard.

173

It is hard to put your full trust

in the Lord, especially because

174

the way he works in our life is

sometimes, in such intangible ways

175

and we don't see the physical fruits

immediately, but I encourage you.

176

To put your trust in the Lord,

177

and to trust in his promise of a full

life and sort of start to let go, start

178

to unravel these tightly gripped hands

that you have on your plan for your life.

179

Trust me, this is coming from someone who

Who likes to plan every inch of her life.

180

I have learned over and over again,

that tightly grasping onto our plan

181

actually just slows down the process

of getting to the best version of

182

yourself and the best version of your

life that the Lord has in store for you.

183

So surrender your life.

184

Put Jesus first over yourself, his

plan over your desires and start

185

unraveling that grip that you

have on your plan for your life.

186

So how do we actually lean

into this abundant life?

187

How do we actually put this

surrender, this Christ centered

188

living lifestyle into practice?

189

Let's get into the 10 practicals

that are going to help us do that.

190

Number one, build a daily prayer life.

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This is going to sound like

I'm beating a dead horse.

192

And the thing is, is I will never stop

talking about it because time and time

193

again, this just happened to me like

a few weeks ago again, where the past

194

few months have been super busy and my

prayer life has been totally out of whack

195

and not been prioritized in my life.

196

And then finally I spent a week of

daily prayer of the sacraments of

197

adoration and, it just felt like I

had so much more clarity and so much

198

more peace and so much more energy

enjoying my life that I was like, huh.

199

Yeah, I knew this.

200

Giving my time to the Lord

and surrendering my life

201

to him actually works.

202

So build a daily prayer life.

203

Perfectionism doesn't get you

very far in the spiritual life.

204

Just checking the boxes, just doing

things for the sake of doing them.

205

I think this is something we

fall into a lot as Catholics.

206

Like check the box.

207

If I went to Sunday mass, check the box.

208

Check the box.

209

If I went to confession, you know, like

these things don't actually, um, build

210

up our relationship with God and our

spiritual life as much as they could.

211

Don't get me wrong.

212

You'll still receive sacramental

grace from all these things, but

213

if you are desiring a true living

relationship, intimate relationship

214

with Jesus, just checking the

boxes, isn't going to get you there.

215

a daily prayer life, a committed prayer

life is what's going to get you there.

216

So my recommendation is truly

at least 15 minutes a day.

217

And that's the bare minimum.

218

I mean, I recommend 30 minutes a day.

219

That's my honest number

one recommendation.

220

If you can work up to 60 minutes a day

and maybe do a holy hour in your adoration

221

chapel in your parish, or just in the

church at your parish, , or just in

222

a little prayer corner in your house.

223

I highly, highly recommend that you do so.

224

I, I promise you it will change your life.

225

Number two, seek the sacraments.

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You guys, this is like math.

227

I say it every time, just

like one plus one equals two.

228

And that is the answer.

229

Every time when we seek out the

sacraments in our life, when we

230

frequently seek out the sacraments, we

just are filled with supernatural grace.

231

It makes your soul stronger.

232

It makes your faith stronger and it

makes the spiritual life just that

233

much easier and that much sweeter.

234

I love, love, love St.

235

Faustina and I've been

reading her diary for years.

236

It's a really, really big book.

237

So it takes a while to get

through, but one of the things

238

she says in there, so, so St.

239

Faustina was a mystic and Jesus would

appear to her and give her these messages.

240

And one of the messages that she wrote

down that Jesus spoke to her was that

241

he has so much grace and mercy to

give and wants to pour it out upon us.

242

But a lot of times he can't because we

don't ask for it or we're not open to it.

243

We're not open to receiving it.

244

And we're not even putting ourselves

in a position to receive it, or

245

we're not even realizing our need

for it and asking God for it.

246

So seek the sacraments.

247

You guys put yourself in a position

where you can receive his grace,

248

where you can receive his mercy,

where you recognize your littleness

249

and your need for the Lord.

250

Try to attend mass during the week.

251

If you can maybe pick one more day

or two more days during the week when

252

you can go to mass or pick one day

a week Where you can sign up to do a

253

holy hour in adoration at your parish.

254

A lot of the times parishes are

looking for people to sign up for

255

a weekly hour for adoration so

that they can keep Jesus exposed.

256

So do that, or go back to confession.

257

If you haven't gone back in a while,

, the sacraments are just an avenue

258

of grace that we need in our lives.

259

Number three, set

boundaries to root out sin.

260

Okay.

261

So it is not realistic for

us to think that we are never

262

going to sin again, right?

263

It's in our human nature, but we can set

boundaries in our life to help us root out

264

sinfulness and to help us seek holiness.

265

And this is going to look

different for every person because

266

we all fall in different ways.

267

We all have different temptations.

268

, and it's going to look different

depending on your stage of life, right?

269

Whether you're in college or

you're in the working world,

270

you're newly married, you're a mom.

271

, things are going to look very different.

272

So just know your heart, know

where your temptation lies and Be

273

proactive and set up boundaries in

your life to help you root out sin.

274

So for example, if you're a college

student and you know that you are

275

surrounded by party culture all the

time, maybe set a boundary of how

276

many drinks you're going to have so

that you can make sure that you're

277

drinking in moderation and you're not

actually falling into drunkenness.

278

Maybe you are in a relationship and

chastity is really hard and you know this,

279

, set up boundaries in your relationship

where you don't hang out in each other's

280

rooms, or you don't hang out when you

don't have other roommates or friends

281

over at the house, or you have a curfew,

you don't hang out past maybe 10 p.

282

m.

283

or something like that.

284

Or if you do, you have to

be out in a public space.

285

, setting up these boundaries

in your life are going to help

286

you to strive for holiness.

287

Actually live the life that

the Lord has in store for you.

288

That's going to bring you so much more

joy and peace and purpose in your life.

289

Or maybe you're married or you're

a mom and, your way to de stress

290

is screens, but you find yourself

really stuck in scrolling or turning

291

to, Netflix or YouTube or whatever

it is to keep you busy, to have

292

noise in the background to distract

yourself, to escape from the stress

293

that you have during during the day.

294

Maybe it's time to set

boundaries around that.

295

Maybe you have a passcode on your

phone that only your husband knows.

296

, and you only have one hour of phone

time a day or social media time a day,

297

or maybe you have a cutoff time where

after 8 PM there's no more screen

298

so that you can give your body and

your mind a break before you actually

299

wind down and go to bed and and

you give yourself space for prayer.

300

for reading, um, or just

unwinding and caring for yourself.

301

Number four, form your mind and soul.

302

It's important you guys to actually

know why we believe what we believe,

303

why we practice what we do in our faith.

304

And I think this is also a common

shortcoming in the Catholic faith,

305

where a lot of us go to Sunday school

through grade school, and then we kind

306

of drop off the face of the earth when

it comes to catechesis in our life

307

and forming ourselves in our faith.

308

And then we get to be adults.

309

And a lot of us are like.

310

Why do we do this as Catholics?

311

Why do we believe this?

312

Why do we do what we do?

313

And you guys, it's so important, not

just to be able to defend our faith,

314

the beauty of our faith, the richness

of our faith, but also to increase our

315

own faith and have confidence in why we

live out our faith the way that we do.

316

And to learn where it's come from

and to learn that Jesus Christ is

317

the true founder of our church.

318

Our church Is the fullness of truth.

319

, and the more that you can learn about

the richness of our teachings and

320

the tradition that comes from, the

thousands of years that our, our

321

faith has been passed on, or from the

tradition of scripture, it's going

322

to build up your faith so much more.

323

And that knowledge in your faith

is going to strengthen your soul.

324

Number five, , find community.

325

I can't stress how important this is.

326

Even Jesus did not do his walk alone.

327

Okay.

328

He had 12 guys that he invited into close

friendship, close community that he prayed

329

with and walked with and did mission with.

330

, and we are called.

331

to have the same type of community.

332

We need people in our life who are

on the same path, who are going

333

to build us up, who are going to

encourage us, who are going to pick

334

us up when we're down, who we can

pour into and evangelize to as well.

335

, so find community, whether this is a

Bible study at your parish, or maybe it's

336

one or two more friends that you know,

share the Christian or Catholic faith

337

with you that you can meet up for coffee

with once a week or every other week or

338

once a month, or, you know, people that.

339

Believe what you believe that have

the desire to live the way that

340

the Lord is calling you to live, to

live a Christ centered life, find

341

those people and stick with them.

342

And it is okay to distance yourself

from the people who aren't doing

343

that for you or who are actually

drawing you away from your faith

344

and drawing you away from the Lord.

345

And this goes for social media to you

guys, unfollow accounts that you feel

346

like are drawing you away from your faith.

347

, we consume so much and just like we

become the five people that we spend

348

the most time with, we also are so

impacted by the things that we consume.

349

And we'll talk about that in a little bit.

350

, but.

351

In social media, there is an avenue

to find faith filled community as well.

352

, so there are amazing, amazing Catholic

content creators on Instagram that are

353

showing an example of a faith filled

life of how to grow in your relationship

354

with Christ, how to respond to our

culture in a Catholic worldview, how

355

to practically live as a Catholic and

Christian witness in your life to others.

356

So find those people.

357

Find those people online and

follow them and get rid of the

358

people that you feel like are not

drawing you closer to the Lord.

359

Now I will say this with a caveat.

360

, if the Lord is calling you to invest

in people who are not in the faith,

361

that is good and beautiful too.

362

I want you to hear me when I say

like, I'm not telling you to live in a

363

bubble of Catholic or Christian people.

364

Like the Lord was where the sick were.

365

The Lord was where the prostitutes

were, where the sinners were, where the

366

Pharisees, where the tax collectors were.

367

He spent time with the people who didn't

know him and didn't know their faith.

368

And it is important to share

our faith with those people.

369

However, if we don't already have

a foundational community around us,

370

that's going to strengthen us and

pour into us so that then we can.

371

pour out to those around us.

372

That's, that's what I'm talking about.

373

You need those people

as well in your life.

374

Okay.

375

Number six is clean up

the media you consume.

376

I already started talking about this

in the last one with social media, but

377

this also goes for the type of music

we listen to, the type of movies we

378

watch, the type of shows that we watch.

379

Um, I know when I first heard someone tell

me this, I had so much resistance to it.

380

And I was like, I am not affected

by the things that I watch.

381

I can watch rated R movies or rated

R scenes and not be affected by them.

382

Like, I'm an adult.

383

It doesn't matter.

384

But the reality is, you guys, our mind,

heart and soul absorbs everything that

385

we consume and just like we don't want

to fill our bodies and our like stomachs

386

with like trash food, you know, like if

we just ate out at McDonald's and Wendy's

387

every day, like, wow, our body would.

388

definitely decline in health.

389

Same with our soul and

our mind and our heart.

390

Like if we just fill it with trash all

the time, we can't kid ourselves and think

391

that it's not going to be affected by it.

392

So fill your media, your social

media feed, the things that you

393

watch with things that aren't

trash and that aren't depicting a

394

life that is not Christ centered.

395

, this is also going to be a kind of

a different point of discernment

396

for different people, I think,

because again, we're all tempted

397

by different things, um, and have

more temptations one way or another.

398

So just keep that in mind.

399

, but really I challenge you to take a look

and take an inventory of the things that

400

you consume and make decisions about like,

What is actually helping me get to heaven?

401

What is actually forming me

to be a Saint and what's not?

402

And what should I let go of?

403

Number seven, fill your life

with faith filled items.

404

Now I might be biased about this because

I own a Catholic lifestyle brand where we

405

literally provide faith filled products

for you to have in your life, but the

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reality is, The reason we have this brand

and the reason I believe this so strongly

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is because I know the impact that it has

and the impact that it's had in my life.

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I especially am so drawn to beauty and

I have seen it in my life and in so

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many others, how beauty draws us to God.

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Beauty reflects a deeper reality of the

Lord and, and reaches for something in

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our soul that makes us want the Lord.

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So the more that we surround

ourselves with faith filled beauty

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in our life, the more we desire the

Lord and the things of the faith.

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So invite Jesus into the space that you

live in, into the items that you have in

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your home, whether it's just a beautiful

rosary or a holy water bottle on your

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entryway table or on your nightstand,

or maybe it's a piece of Catholic art

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or faith filled jewelry, apparel or

lifestyle goods, whatever it is, I really

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encourage you to fill your life with

faith filled items and to have those

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daily reminders of your faith and whose

you are and what you are truly rooted in.

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You know where to find those goods.

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Westcoastcatholic.

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co is the number one place that I

will recommend to go find those.

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Number eight, get to know Mary

and lean into her motherhood.

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I love Mary so much you guys and the Lord

has just Always put it on my heart, um,

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to share about his mother and to share

about her love for you and the impact

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and the power that she has in your life.

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The bottom line is Mary is your heavenly

mother, and she wants to wrap you up like

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her little baby and protect you and carry

you to the foot of the cross and just

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offer you and your whole life to the Lord

so that he may bless it in abundance.

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And Jesus said this himself in the

hour of his death on the cross.

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He turned to the disciple of John

and said, John, behold your mother.

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And he turned to his mother and

said, mother, behold your son.

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And in this moment, he entrusted

Mary to humanity and entrusted

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humanity to his mother.

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And so there is a very special place in

Mary's heart for you, her child, her son,

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or daughter, , and her mission in her life

It's to intercede for you, is to pray for

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you, to help you know her son more, to

help you lead your life towards her son.

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That's her mission.

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It's not about her.

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It is always, always, always about Jesus.

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And what a gift that this mother is

that we have, because sometimes it

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can be intimidating to go straight

to Jesus, depending on what your

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relationship was like, maybe with your

father and where your relationship is

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at with God, um, it can be intimidating

to go to the father and to bear

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your heart and soul and your sins.

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And, and sometimes we

just need a sweet mom.

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I don't know if you ever had this

experience, but when I was little,

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sometimes I knew that if I really

wanted something that was going to

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be a little bit tough to get, I would

go to my mom and I would ask her to

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talk to my dad for me and sweet talk

him and you know, put in a good word.

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And more often than not.

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Dad can't resist mom, right?

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Like he can't resist mom when she

comes to him and says, sweetie, our

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little girl was asking for this.

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I think that we should, you know,

give her this or blah, blah, blah,

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whatever it is that you're asking for.

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The heart of a mother just

melts the heart of a father.

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So Mary is here for us to intercede

for us to be that liaison in a

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sense when we feel like we need our

prayers to be sweetened to the Lord.

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So this leads me to number nine.

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Pray the rosary again.

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I've said this so many times, but

I've experienced the graces in the

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rosary a hundred fold in my life.

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The piece that it brings is.

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Not really comparable to

a lot of other things.

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And I don't know why it's also like math.

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It's also like one plus one equals two.

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It just works.

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The graces of the rosary are so

effective and are so beautiful.

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And I think that there's so much

stress and anxiety in our culture

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and in our lives, and we need to

combat it and we can combat it

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with the rosary at the very least.

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Um, it takes 15 minutes.

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You guys, I used to think that the

rosary was like, would take forever

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and it doesn't, it takes 15 minutes

of your day, um, to reflect on Jesus's

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life in scripture through these

meditative prayers, these Hail Marys,

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um, and to entrust whatever your

worries are to Jesus through Mary.

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I promise you it'll reduce your stress.

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It'll reduce your anxiety and it'll

just bring more clarity to your life.

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So pray the rosary.

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Lastly, surrender your life to Jesus.

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This is number 10, this is the

all encompassing, practical step.

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Um, and it actually takes a moment of

prayer where you go to the Lord, where

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you open your hands in surrender and you

say, Lord, I surrender my life to you.

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I don't want to play God anymore.

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I don't want to be in control of my life.

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I want you to lead.

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I want you to be Lord of my life

and Lord over everything of my life.

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And if you have trouble with this, if

you have something in your heart that

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you're like, I want to, But I just

can't get myself to truly surrender.

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Then pray for that grace, pray for

the grace to desire that surrender.

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That is a prayer that I've

prayed a lot of times in my life.

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When I know the Lord is calling me to

let go of something and I don't want

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to, I'll be like, Lord, give me the

desire to even desire to let go of this.

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Give me the desire to

desire your will over mine.

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And that will soften your heart

and the Lord will hear that prayer.

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Okay, friends, those are my top

10 practical tips on how to live

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a Christ centered life and totally

slay the Catholic girl life.

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I hope they were helpful to you.

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I hope that you got the boost of

encouragement that you needed to keep

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going in your walk of faith and to

maybe restart that conviction and that

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energy and that commitment to Jesus and

the way that he's calling you to live.

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Last thing I want to leave

you with is persevere.

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You guys persevere in

the journey of faith.

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It is not an easy one.

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It is not for the faint of heart.

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, and just start small.

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So these 10 steps, it's a lot, right?

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Work up to the 10 steps.

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Just start with the first five.

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Okay.

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Start with those and start

implementing those into your life.

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And once those become habits, then

increase to the next steps as you feel

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like the Lord is calling you to do.

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But most importantly, persevere.

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Um, sometimes when we get into these

spurts of like a faith high or retreat

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high, things are really easy and then

it crashes and then we get discouraged.

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It's okay.

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There's going to be discouragement.

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There's going to be trials.

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There's going to be difficulty that evil

one likes to make it difficult for us.

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And the Lord tests our faith as well.

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It's not always going to be easy in our

faith is strengthened when we persevere

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through the hard times., so keep going.

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You are doing amazing.

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Just you getting to the end of this

episode shows your heart and your

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desire to know and love the Lord

and live for him and serve the Lord.

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So know that I'm praying for

you, , in your journey of faith.

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And I hope that this was so helpful.

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It was a blessing to you in your life.

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, and if it was, please pass this episode

on, bless another friend in your life,

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share this episode and drop a five star

rating or a review on here, Spotify,

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Apple podcasts, wherever it is that

you're listening today, and know that

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I'm so grateful for each and every

one of you in this amazing community.

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We'll see you next week.