Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

What can we do as Catholic laypeople to end racism and support our Catholic brothers and sisters of color? Chenele Shaw asked just that questioned and started her own non profit, The Before Gethsemane Initiative, which seeks to educate on difficult topics with an authentically Catholic understanding of the inherent dignity of the human person. We’re so thrilled to be talking with Chenele in this episode!

Chenele is a former youth minister and theology teacher and a current young adult trying to live her life for Christ, frequent her therapist, and eat all the cheese! She desires to be her authentic self and help others to as well. Chenele has written for many Catholic publications including The Grotto Network and The Catholic Woman. She is a member of the board for The Human Condition Community which focuses on the integration of faith and mental health. Chenele is also working towards beginning her Masters education for clinical mental health counseling. In her free time you can find her watching reality tv, going to confession, and updating her Spotify playlists.

In this episode Chenele shares about the exciting new initiative she helped to form. She is so full of hope and passion for loving the Church by pursuing truth, justice, and unity in the Body of Christ and after listening we think you’ll have more hope, too.

Things we talked about in this episode:

The Pillar article about Before Gethsemane

Sponsor: The Little Catholic Box

The Little Catholic Box is a quarterly subscription box for Catholic women.  Each quarter, the owner Erica curates a bunch of fun, unique Catholic items around a spiritual theme.  It’s a delight for subscribers, and a blessing to the artists, creators and small businesses whose items get featured.

Their fourth quarter boxes are shipping to subscribers this month, and they have a limited number of single boxes available for purchase!

If you’d like to take a look, visit thelittlecatholicbox.com. You can order a single box directly from their home page.

While single boxes are currently available, new subscription signups are closed until December.

If you need a fabulous Christmas gift idea for a Catholic woman in your life, you can hop on their waitlist now so that you have early access when subscriptions are available in December.

New subscribers signing up in December will get their first box in February, but if you purchase as a gift, Erica will send a personalized Christmas card to either you or the gift recipient with a bonus gift, so that there’s something tangible to stick under the tree.

Get on the waitlist at thelittlecatholicbox.com/FOC to get access to the bonus gift when subscription signups are opened back up in December.

This episode is also sponsored by Happy Nest Home Goods. 

Happy Nest Home Goods celebrates doing small things with great love with their modern Catholic embroidery art, patterns, and kits as well as their line of beautiful sacrifice beads for the whole family. 

Sacrifice beads are the perfect spiritual stocking stuffer for everyone on your list, including those hard-to-shop-for men in your life.

Sacrifice Beads were used by St. Therese as a little girl to count small acts of kindness or little sacrifices made for love of others throughout the day. Each time you offer something up (being patient, stubbing your toe, doing a hated chore, feeling disappointed or hurt,) slide a bead towards the Crucifix and unite your sacrifice to Christ’s on the cross, making it a “little present” for Jesus as St. Therese did. This beautiful practice will help foster your ability to see opportunities to offer every moment to God. 

Sacrifice beads come in a wide variety of beautiful styles, including stunning ceramic floral and genuine olive wood beads from Bethlehem! There are even adorable peg doll ones for kids and they can even be used as a decade rosary.

Theresa of Happy Nest Home Goods also just released new beginner-friendly embroidery kits for Advent and Christmas that are perfect to gift to the crafter in your life OR for you to add a handmade touch to your Christmas gifts this year! She also has a wide variety of instant download embroidery patterns that are perfect for last-minute gifts.

Don’t forget to check out her whole line of gorgeous stickers, jewelry, and needle minder lapel pins featuring her original artwork!

Grab yours at www.happynesthomegoods.com and use code FOC10 for ten percent off your entire order over $35 through December 14th! You can also follow her @happynesthomegoods on Instagram and Facebook.

Connect with Chenele:

• Instagram
• Before Gethsemane

England Trip!

WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here.

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Catholic social teaching is an important part of our Catholic faith–but do most of us have a sense of how its all connected rather than simply know about certain key issues? We need to understand the scriptural and magesterial foundation for how we care for vulnerable people, the essential demands of charity and justice, care for our common home, support for the family, and fighting the evils of exploitation and racism. Without understanding how it’s all connected, we won’t get very far! That’s why we’re so excited that Fr. Josh Johnson collaborated with Ascension Press (and some other great Catholic voices like Mari Pablo) to create a video course for young people that introduces them to Catholic social teaching.

Fr. Josh is the Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Baton Rouge and in this episode he shares his own vocation story with us (it’s a good one!). He is also the author of Broken and Blessed: An Invitation to My Generation, the Pocket Guide to Adoration, and the Pocket Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And he hosts a weekly podcast and YouTube show called Ask Fr. Josh.

In this episode Fr. Josh reminds us that as part of the Body of Christ, we have a responsibility to each other. Our talents, blessings, and gifts should be brought to serve God through serving the most vulnerable. He also shares about the importance of Eucharistic adoration and how prayer before the Blessed Sacrament can powerfully transform our hearts. This is a great episode so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Sponsor: The Little Catholic Box

The Little Catholic Box is a quarterly subscription box for Catholic women.  Each quarter, the owner Erica curates a bunch of fun, unique Catholic items around a spiritual theme.  It’s a delight for subscribers, and a blessing to the artists, creators and small businesses whose items get featured.

Their fourth quarter boxes are shipping to subscribers this month, and they have a limited number of single boxes available for purchase!

If you’d like to take a look, visit thelittlecatholicbox.com. You can order a single box directly from their home page.

While single boxes are currently available, new subscription signups are closed until December.

If you need a fabulous Christmas gift idea for a Catholic woman in your life, you can hop on their waitlist now so that you have early access when subscriptions are available in December.

New subscribers signing up in December will get their first box in February, but if you purchase as a gift, Erica will send a personalized Christmas card to either you or the gift recipient with a bonus gift, so that there’s something tangible to stick under the tree.

Get on the waitlist at thelittlecatholicbox.com/FOC to get access to the bonus gift when subscription signups are opened back up in December.

We are also sponsored by Homeschool Connections

HomeschoolConnections.com is an authentically Catholic resource for home educating families. Their mission is educating the heart, mind, and soul in the Catholic tradition with online classes for 3rd grade and above. They offer live interactive classes as well as unlimited access to recorded courses that are available 24/7/365 with top quality teachers.

If you’re a brand new homeschooler or a seasoned homeschooler, head over to HomeschoolConnections.com to see the great resource they can be for your student!

Connect with Fr. Josh Johnson:

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Podcast: Ask Fr. Josh

England Trip!

WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here.

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

St. John Henry Newman is one of the Catholic Church’s newest canonized saints but he’s been a huge theological figure for ages due to his brilliant writing and high profile conversion from the Church of England to Rome. What makes this saint extraordinary and what can we learn about his writings that can help us in our own spiritual lives? Dr. Ryan “Bud” Marr joins us on the show today to share about this English saint and his legacy.

Like St. John Henry Newman, Bud Marr is a convert to Catholicism (and he shares about his conversion story in this episode). He is the Associate Provost at Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa and is the author of Seeking God with St. John Henry Newman (Our Sunday Visitor, 2019) and To Be Perfect Is to Have Changed Often (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018). Before coming to Mercy College, Dr. Marr served for three years as the director of the National Institute for Newman Studies in Pittsburgh, during which time he was also Associate Editor of the Newman Studies Journal. He and his wife Rachel have been blessed with seven children.  

In this episode we asked Bud about Anglican priest St. John Henry Newman’s shocking conversion to Catholicism after his prominence in the Oxford Movement and former belief in Anglicanism as a “via media” or middle way between Protestantism and Catholicism. He also shares about Newman’s practical spirituality and where to begin with his writings (some of which can be very challenging!). Listen in and learn more about this saint in this episode!

Sponsor: The Little Catholic Box

The Little Catholic Box is a quarterly subscription box for Catholic women.  Each quarter, the owner Erica curates a bunch of fun, unique Catholic items around a spiritual theme.  It’s a delight for subscribers, and a blessing to the artists, creators and small businesses whose items get featured.

New subscription signups are currently closed, but you can get on the waitlist for when they open back up in December.

If you need a fabulous Christmas gift idea for a Catholic woman in your life, hop on the waitlist now so that you have early access.

Sign up for email waitlist notifications at thelittlecatholicbox.com/FOC and if you choose to subscribe to their box later, you’ll get access to a special deal they are offering to our listeners.

Visit thelittlecatholicbox.com/FOC and get on their wait list today!

This episode is also sponsored by Happy Nest Home Goods. 

Happy Nest Home Goods (by Theresa) celebrates doing small things with great love with their modern Catholic embroidery art, patterns, and kits as well as their line of beautiful sacrifice beads for the whole family. 

They just released new beginner-friendly embroidery kits for Advent and Christmas that are perfect to gift to the crafter in your life OR for you to add a handmade touch to your Christmas gifts this year!

Open-and-go kits are easy enough for total beginners (even kids!) and feature custom designed pre-printed fabric (so you don’t have to transfer the pattern yourself!) and they include everything you need from start to finish and ship for free!

Theresa’s new kit designs include: A set of 4 watercolor Advent Candle hoops, a gorgeous Madonna and Child ornament, and a set of 3 Scandanavian-inspired Snowflake ornaments.

Don’t forget to check out her whole line of gorgeous stickers, jewelry, and needle minders featuring her original artwork!

Grab yours at www.happynesthomegoods.com and use code FOC10 for ten percent off your entire order through October! You can also follow Theresa @happynesthomegoods on Instagram and Facebook

Connect with Bud:

• Twitter

England Trip!

WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here.

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

When a huge crisis hits like a devastating medical diagnosis for your child–how do you go on? Is it possible not only to live through this kind of suffering but to truly embrace your life with joy? In her brand new book, Kelly Mantoan shares her story as a mother with two sons who have spinal muscular atrophy. What she shares is vulnerable and real and she never offers the easy, dismissive, or trite answer. Her book Better than OK: Finding Joy as a Special Needs Parent is going to be a gift so many families.

Kelly is one of our all-time favorite people. She’s funny, she’s faithful, and she’s entirely authentic. She’s a mom of five with a popular blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum, where she writes about family life, homeschooling, her Catholic faith, and navigating care for her two sons with SMA. Her life is a witness to the idea that when life doesn’t look how we expect, it can still be full of beauty, joy, and humor alongside grief and difficulty.

In this episode we talk about the stages of grief that must be walked through in order to embrace the lives we’ve been given. Kelly also shares what friends and family can do to support special-needs parents (and what well-intentioned but hurtful things you should never ever ever say to them) as well as about the new ministry she has started, Accepting the Gift. Even if you’re not a parent of a child with special needs, this episode is full of Kelly’s incredible wisdom about embracing your life and how to walk the difficult road of finding joy and hope. We know you’ll love this conversation so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Sponsor: OSV’s Marian Consecration for Families with Young Children

Bring your family to Jesus through Mary with Marian Consecration for Families with Young Children. Featuring a traditional 33-day preparation for consecration, this book is written and beautifully illustrated to help children ages 3-7 to understand and grow in faith and Marian devotion. Each day includes an image of Mary, a short reflection, and discussion questions to spark faith-filled conversations. Supplementary material for parents helps you lead your family through preparation for the consecration at a pace that works for you. Marian Consecration for Families with Young Children combines magnificent, original Marian art and simple, child-accessible text to immerse your entire family in Mary’s love and care.

Use this book to place your whole family in the care of our Blessed Mother, allowing her to bring each of you closer to Jesus.

Order Marian Consecration for Families with Young Children today at OSVCatholicBookstore.com or wherever books are sold.

We are also sponsored by Walking with Purpose

Walking with Purpose has just released a new Bible study titled “Reclaiming Friendship”–a 6 week dive into God’s purpose and plan for our friendships and we think that this is the perfect time to offer women a study like this.

Finding out what God has to say about friendship will help women to not only rebuild their friendships but do so in a way that will help them to make Jesus the center of their relationships and their lives.

For those of you not familiar with Walking with Purpose, it is a ministry seeking to bring every Catholic woman and girl to Jesus through their amazing Bible studies. Walking with Purpose is currently at over 400 parishes around the nation and reaches about 40,000 women a year.

Use the code CARROTS15 at checkout for 15% off your order of Reclaiming Friendship: shop.walkingwithpurpose.com

Offer expires October 31, 2021!

Connect with Kelly:

• Blog
• Accepting the Gift
• Instagram
• Facebook

England Trip!

WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here.

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi next and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The saints are one of the best things about being Catholic. But often, we think of the saints as cardboard cutouts and not real people who were very human, often messy, and struggling just like us. What if we all had friends in heaven that we found completely relatable because of their situation in life, personality, or ethnicity? If you had a friend in heaven like that, don’t you think you could imagine yourself becoming a saint? That’s just what today’s guest, Meg Hunter-Kilmer wants to help you do!

You might remember Meg from previous episodes on the podcast or as a speaker at our Raspberry Cordial Gathering in 2019. She’s one of our favorite people, a fellow Anne of Green Gables fan, and one of the most fascinating folks we know. Meg lives out of her car and travels the globe as a missionary, sharing about God’s love and the saints. She’s a highly sought after speaker, a longtime podcaster, and now, a published author. This year her children’s book illustrated by Lindsay Sanders, Saints Around the World was released and her book about the saints for grown-ups, Pray for Us: 75 Saints who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness is available for pre-order.

In this episode Meg talks about the importance of finding saints we connect with–be it because they are like us or because they reach out to us in some way. She shares about what it means to have relationships with the saints, what exactly it looks like to befriend them, how they find us, and how they help our spiritual lives. You’re going to love this episode!

Sponsor: The Little Catholic Box

The Little Catholic Box is a quarterly subscription box for Catholic women.  Each quarter, the owner Erica curates a bunch of fun, unique Catholic items around a spiritual theme.  It’s a delight for subscribers, and a blessing to the artists, creators and small businesses whose items get featured.

They only offer a limited number of subscriptions each quarter, and the signup window closes at the end of September.

If you’d like to try them out, visit thelittlecatholicbox.com/FOC by the end of September and get an exclusive free bonus only available to Fountains of Carrots listeners.

Sign up now for the next box that ships the first week of November!

We are also sponsored by Walking with Purpose

Walking with Purpose has just released a new Bible study titled “Reclaiming Friendship”–a 6 week dive into God’s purpose and plan for our friendships and we think that this is the perfect time to offer women a study like this.

Finding out what God has to say about friendship will help women to not only rebuild their friendships but do so in a way that will help them to make Jesus the center of their relationships and their lives.

For those of you not familiar with Walking with Purpose, it is a ministry seeking to bring every Catholic woman and girl to Jesus through their amazing Bible studies. Walking with Purpose is currently at over 400 parishes around the nation and reaches about 40,000 women a year.

Use the code CARROTS15 at checkout for 15% off your order of Reclaiming Friendship: shop.walkingwithpurpose.com

Offer expires October 31, 2021!

Connect with Meg:

• podcast
• website
• Instagram
• Facebook

England Trip!

WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here.

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi next and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Before we dive in to this episode’s details, don’t forget that WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here.

We’ve all found ourselves at the beginning of a new academic year–and we’re all still waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel. Things are not…ideal. We’re all facing another tough season. So how do we start anew and cultivate a new beginning even in difficult circumstances?

We knew just who to ask: our friend Laura Kelly Fanucci, a writer, speaker, and author who is wonderfully wise and who truly understands what it means to commit to a new beginning in the midst of trials. Laura joined us years ago to share her family’s story of losing their twin daughters, Maggie and Abby. Laura understands what it means to carry grief, navigate pain, and yet she always inspires us to thoughtful and intentional living.

Laura lives in the Twin Cities with her husband Franco and her five sons. She’s written multiple books including Everyday Sacrament and Grieving Together. And she has a nationally syndicated column for Catholic News Service. You may know Laura from the viral poem she wrote at the beginning of the pandemic or from her breathtakingly beautiful prose on her Instagram account. We love Laura for many reasons but especially admire her wisdom, courage, and tender kindness in the way she navigates the world.

In this episode we talk about new school years. bouquets of sharpened pencils, and why we’re all nostalgic at the beginning of the academic year. We get vulnerable about what makes this phase of the pandemic so hard, discuss cultivating hope while being honest with ourselves about pain, ways to intentionally turn a new leaf and why that matters and helps us move forward, and giving ourselves a lot of grace in the ups and downs.

We’re so excited to kick off our new season of the podcast with this episode. It’s a really beautiful conversation and we know you’ll love hearing from Laura!

Sponsor: Into the Deep

This episode’s sponsor is the new catechetical resource that parents have been looking for: Into the Deep!

The aim of Into the Deep is to not only help our children know about Jesus, but to know Him. So each lesson offers the child an opportunity to encounter the Person of Jesus Christ, and we always point to the sacraments. It’s a parent-led, open-and-go resource inspired by the Charlotte Mason and classical education philosophies.

This resource will help you teach your children about the Catholic Faith through beautiful art, music, poetry, nature study, and story. Each lesson is accompanied by beautiful original watercolor illustrations. Each lesson is based upon Scripture, immersing children in the Living Word.

Learn more and purchase at intothedeep.co !

Connect with Laura:

• Web site
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Substack: The Holy Labor

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi next and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Becoming a mom is an experience that changes you. Everyone knows this. But what exactly happens to women as they become mothers? New York Times bestselling author Abigail Tucker dives into what actually happens to our brains, how they change, and what it means for us in her new book Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct.

Abigail Tucker is the author of The Lion in the Living Room, named a Best Science Book of 2016 by Library Journal and Forbes, now translated into thirteen languages. She is a correspondent for Smithsonian magazine and she lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with her husband and four children.

In this episode we talk about Abigail’s new book, how our experiences as mothers confirm the scientific findings she explores in her book, and how understanding the way we change is a source of wonder and helps us understand our identity as mothers.

We cover a lot of ground, so grab a glass of iced coffee and enjoy the conversation!

Sponsor: Rooted for Good

Rooted for Good handmakes amazing premium all natural skin care products at affordable prices! Haley and Christy have both tried out the wonderful products and loved them.

From Coffee Exfoliators & Sugar Scrubs to foaming Face Wash, Beard Oil, luxurious Bath Salts, Premium Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils and everything in between, make Rooted for Good your source for all natural healthy living.

And more than offering premium all natural products and Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils, Rooted for Good is uplifting the poor around the world…. That is because every time you buy a Rooted for Good product, 10% of your purchase goes to help someone in need! How amazing is that?

Please use the Carrots10 promo code to enjoy 10% off of your purchases at RootedForGood.com. 

Connect with Abigail:

• Web site

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi next and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,800+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Today on the show we’re thrilled to have Amanda Vernon as our guest. Amanda Vernon is a full-time recording artist and author who shares the joy of knowing Christ through testimony and song. She has shared her music and message across the U.S. and in six foreign countries. Amanda co-authored the memoir When God Wrecks Your Romance: Orthodox Faith, Unorthodox Story with her childhood friend, Holy Cross priest, Fr. Matt Fase, CSC. Originally from the Midwest, Amanda resides in Phoenix, AZ with her husband and their four young children.

In this episode we talked about how Amanda’s father shared his love for music with her and how that connection paved the way for her career as a musician. We also had to ask about the story behind the book she co-wrote with Fr. Matt Fase and the challenge of discerning complicated and serious things like our vocations. It was positively providential that we ended up talking about Anne of Green Gables, too, because you know how we feel about Anne Shirley!

So grab a cup of tea and enjoy this beautiful conversation!

And we’re going to be giving away a copy of Amanda’s book in our podcast Facebook group so stay tuned! When God Wrecks Your Romance, is a co-authored memoir written by a newly ordained priest and a young married mother of four children. It’s the story of two kids who fell for each other as teens, and, spoiler alert, ultimately did not end up together. It’s pretty much the opposite of a quaint and dreamy Hollywood ending. Yet, it most certainly is a happily ever after.

Sponsor

Today’s episode is sponsored by House of Joppa, a Catholic gift shop that exists to share the beauty of our Catholic faith in our homes through a variety of home decor pieces, Catholic art, Saint candles, statues, paper goods and beautifully crafted jewelry.  

Why House of Joppa?

“What’s in a name?” as Shakespeare so famously asked.  House of Joppa is rooted in scripture.

Acts 9:36-42 tells the story of a faithful disciple named Tabitha from Joppa who was known for her good works and helping the poor.  In a few short verses, Scripture tells us the miraculous story of how Tabitha died and was raised to life again by St. Peter.  The story spread throughout the region and “many believed in the Lord.”  

House of Joppa is designed to inspire you to live your faith boldly in a world in such desperate need of beauty and that by doing so, many will come to believe in our Lord!

About Our Products

Every House of Joppa product is curated from artisans throughout the world, many of whom share our Catholic faith. They make wonderful gifts for special occasions or to simply raise the spirits of a friend who needs a little reminder of their faith.

Head on over to House of Joppa and get 15% off with discount code CARROTS15

And thank you to our mid-roll sponsor, Ignatius Press!

Discover your new favorite novel by following Ignatius Press on social media for a Month of Novels! During the month of June they will have giveaways, author interviews, and staff recommendations, and all novels will be 25% off at Ignatius.com. Authors include Eleanor Bourg Nicholson, Michael O’Brien, mystery writer Fiorella de Maria, Louis de Wohl, and many more! For the month of June, enjoy FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25 with the code CARROTS (some restrictions apply; shipping credit up to $50 on Media Mail or Ground shipping, US addresses only) at Ignatius Press.

Connect with Amanda:

• Web site
• Instagram
• Facebook

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Muriel Spark’s Memento Mori and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,800+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Are women’s lives and aspirations over when they have children? Of course not. Our culture seems to claim two options: kids or career. But there are plenty of women who challenge this narrative (and plenty of people on both sides who are threatened when it’s challenged)! In this episode Dr. Jennifer Frey shares about an amazing woman who inspires her: famous Catholic philosopher and mother of seven, Elizabeth Anscombe.

Dr. Frey is is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina, a fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America, and a fellow of the Word on Fire Institute.  Her writing has also been featured in Evangelization and Culture, First Things, Fare Forward, Image, Law and Liberty, The Point, and USA Today. She is also the host of a literature, philosophy, and theology podcast, titled Sacred and Profane Love. She lives in Columbia, SC, with her husband, six children, and six chickens.

Today we’re discussing attitudes toward mothers in academic programs, journalism, and even the Supreme Court! We explore what makes Elizabeth Anscombe such an extraordinary philosopher and an amazing inspiration. We touch on why role models who are so important to us as women and mothers and how expectations about parenting have changed dramatically since Anscombe’s time.

So grab a cup of tea and enjoy this lively conversation!

Sponsor

Today’s episode is sponsored by Evergreen Planner.

The Evergreen Planner is not only fully customizable—it’s thoughtfully engineered to organize your mind, cultivate a working memory around your priorities, and increase your productivity.

It was developed by work-at-home-moms who needed a planner that would empower them to make progress on their biggest goals in a way that blessed their homes.

From building household rhythms, to tracking business projects, to planning homeschool lessons, the planner’s usefulness is truly limitless. They are passionate about getting the planner into the hands of as many women as possible, knowing that God has put each of us on this earth with eternal purpose.

The Evergreen Planner system has a minimalist aesthetic and is comprised of three unique pieces:
● An Annual booklet where you can see your year at a glance with plenty of blank space to make it your own.
● A Monthly booklet with space to plan both your week and each day in a completely customizable way. The Monthly booklets come subscription-box style each quarter with curated planner accessories.
● And a genuine leather Cover that binds the booklets into one cohesive unit.

From now until June 10th, the doors are open on their planner subscription box. Use the code “fountainsofcarrots” to get their Annual booklet for free when you subscribe to their Monthly system at EvergreenPlanner.com.

You can also find them on Instagram @EvergreenPlanner.

Connect with Dr. Frey:

• Website
• Research
• The Virtue Blog
• Book: Self-Transcendence and Virtue
• Podcast: Sacred and Profane Love
• Twitter

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Muriel Spark’s Memento Mori and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,800+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Why is New Age spirituality so appealing to millennials (and other generations!)? What is it about human beings that makes us wired for spirituality and a desire to know that we are significant in the universe–even when we reject religious faith? We’re chatting about everything from looking to the stars for meaning to looking to personality types for meaning and what’s at the heart of these longings with Matt Nelson!

Matt is a full-time Fellow of the Word on Fire Institute. He is the author of Just Whatever: How to Help the Spiritually Indifferent Find Beliefs That Really Matter (Catholic Answers Press, 2018), and the forthcoming book On the Far Side of Reason (Word on Fire Press, 2022). In 2019, he moved from Saskatchewan to Texas with his wife Amanda and their three children–(and Christy and Haley got to meet Amanda at the Raspberry Cordial Gathering!) .

In this episode we dive into a thought-provoking piece Matt wrote recently about New Ageism and we chat about Madeleine L’Engle’s take on the subject. We also discuss why we’re all fascinated by personality types like Myers-Briggs, the four temperaments, or the Enneagram–and how to be aware of the limits (and potential pitfalls) of these ways of understanding and categorizing ourselves. And we talk about how to evangelize a culture that rejects organized religion but is still drawn to spirituality.

So grab a cup of tea and enjoy the conversation!

Things we talked about: The Vatican’s document: Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life

Sponsor

Today’s episode is sponsored by House of Joppa, a Catholic gift shop that exists to share the beauty of our Catholic faith in our homes through a variety of home decor pieces, Catholic art, Saint candles, statues, paper goods and beautifully crafted jewelry.  

Why House of Joppa?

“What’s in a name?” as Shakespeare so famously asked.  House of Joppa is rooted in scripture.

Acts 9:36-42 tells the story of a faithful disciple named Tabitha from Joppa who was known for her good works and helping the poor.  In a few short verses, Scripture tells us the miraculous story of how Tabitha died and was raised to life again by St. Peter.  The story spread throughout the region and “many believed in the Lord.”  

House of Joppa is designed to inspire you to live your faith boldly in a world in such desperate need of beauty and that by doing so, many will come to believe in our Lord!

About Our Products

Every House of Joppa product is curated from artisans throughout the world, many of whom share our Catholic faith. They make wonderful gifts for special occasions or to simply raise the spirits of a friend who needs a little reminder of their faith.

Head on over to House of Joppa and get 15% off with discount code CARROTS15

Connect with Matt:

• Word on Fire
• web site
• Twitter
• Instagram

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’ll be reading Muriel Spark’s Memento Mori next and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,800+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.