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As we begin our conversation on life everlasting we’ll start looking at purgatory and hell, heaven, and what eternity looks like, as covered in CCC 1020-1029.
Keeping Sundays Holy
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The difficulty of keeping Sundays Holy, Steps for Aspiring Preppers, Self-Sufficiency, Prophecies, and not knowing the day or hour.
Catechism Class 029: Keys of the Kingdom
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The authority of the Catholic Church by means of the Keys of the Kingdom, and a sneak peek of Heaven via the Transfiguration. Covers CCC Paragraphs 551-556.
It’s time for Catholics to talk about trauma
For all the years we were on the radio and long before that as podcasters, the fact I had a mental illness was a taboo subject for us.
We did not talk about this.
EMDR and Other Acronyms
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Win a copy of Finish What You Started, Book Nook Publishing, and before and after discussions about Greg’s first EMDR therapy session.
Marriage Advice
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Our oldest son, Sam, got married this past weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, just days after a devastating derecho storm swept through the state. We’ve never seen so much destruction. Even with the difficulties of impeded travel, limited electricity, and other scarcities, the wedding was beautiful and we have a new daughter-in-law, Rose.
In this episode, we share our experiences from traveling in Iowa, the wedding rehearsal, giving Rose a present we’ve been holding onto for 17 years. Plus we share advice for married couples, both newlyweds and long-timers, reveal a new website for gregandjennifer.com, and much more.
Married with Married Children
Our oldest son, Sammy, got married last week.
We had a crazy whirlwind trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he lives now. None of us could have planned for the mind-numbing Derecho that tore through town on the Monday prior. Over 100,000 people were without power and destruction was everywhere.
This video (not ours) shows just how insane this storm was, and what we arrived to the day before the wedding.
To make matters more surreal, it was our first time on a plan post-Coronavirus. My brain can’t wrap itself around the idea that we have to stay at least 6 feet away from each other at Church, but it’s still perfectly acceptable to be squeezed in like sardines on a plane.
Our arrival was equally strange as cell-phone (and therefore GPS) reception was spotty. Nearly every traffic light was out, transforming most intersections into 4-way stops.
The roads were endlessly lined with toppled trees, roots fully exposed.
Grain silos were smashed like soda cans.
Electrical poles were either knocked down or leaning askew, as if an earthquake had rolled underneath them. Those, in particular, reminded me of the scene in the 1978 Superman film when Lois Lane drove through the desert as power lines fell all around her car.
When we finally arrived to our hotel – which we’d been assured was one of the few with electricity – we were instead greeted by a darkened lobby.
The desk clerk walked us through a pitch black staircase to an equally dark hallway on the second floor. We weren’t given keys as they card key system wasn’t working. Only the master keys from the desk clerk could get us in the room.
Inside, without air conditioning, we could only open the window a little less than two inches. It was stifling.
People had been already been dealing with these inconveniences for days.
We share more of the weirdness of arriving on episode 340 of Adventures in Imperfect Living. Listen here.
But despite the crazy weirdness, God still showed up.
There were too many-God inspired moments to list, including the moment we were able to give our new daughter-in-law a gift we’d been saving for over 17 years. (A video of this gift is available to our Patreon co-producers here.)
We’ll be processing this last week for years to come. But the most amazing thing to come from it is simply witnessing our son receive the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
The $2000 Lemon, Woes of a Veteran Podcaster, and Daddy Daughter Day
Ben and Tom turned 17 and 15 last April and now go to a high school that requires us to drive them 20 minutes each way every day. With Ben on an after school robotics team, there are days we make this trip 3 times, plus Tommy has to go to work four days a week. So to cut down on driving, we bought a secondhand car so Ben can finally get his license. It all goes down from there.
Plus, Mac and Greg’s new podcast “Watch a Movie with Mac and Greg” is off to a great start, but would be doing even better if Greg hadn’t messed up the recordings of three episodes so far.
Lastly, in an effort to give our kids one-on-one time, Lily planned a daddy/daughter day with Greg.
Enjoy the show? Join our Patreon co-producer community, make a one time contribution through PayPal, or pick up a t-shirt or coffee mug in the Swag shop!
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Does Meditation Really Help Mental Health?
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I’ve never really liked the idea of just plain meditation, in part because I never really understood why I should meditate on nothing, and in another part because whenever I meditated on nothing, I ended up either thinking of more items for my to do list, or I ended up just complaining to God.
That changed earlier this year, though, when I learned an incredibly simplified method of meditation that is not new age-y or overly distractive.
So in this episode I share with you a simple way to find more calm in just 5-10 minutes each day.
But I also want to share with you some of my own tricks for deeper prayer, because studies show that both meditation and prayer provide benefits to your brain.
Take a listen, and be sure to like and subscribe!
Links from this episode:
Article on Meditation and Gray Matter
More Than Mental Big Brain T-Shirt
How Then Shall We Dress?
The gang discusses preparing our hearts, minds, souls and bodies for Mass.
Start by leaving your phone at home!
We talk about how being deliberate about how you approach Mass with your minds and with your clothes will transform your experience of encountering Christ in the Eucharist.
Hosted by Greg and Jennifer Willits from the Adventures in Imperfect Living Podcast and Mac and Katherine Barron from the Catholic in a Small Town Podcast.
We’d love to hear your comments and feedback!
Support our Work:
Greg and Jennifer's Patreon Page
Mac and Katherine's Patreon Page
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Interested in Spiritual Direction?
We have some really cool behind the scenes news we want to share with you. So let's get right to it:
Many Thanks!
First off, major thanks to you and everyone else who reached out and shared some kindness with our family a couple weeks ago after we had to say goodbye to our dog, Jody. It's been a strange couple of weeks getting used to her not being around. While we know not everyone reading this is an "animal person," we appreciated the prayers and kind words, nevertheless.
We never knew how much food we apparently drop on the kitchen floor until Jody was no longer with us!
Ever Wanted to Podcast?
Secondly, as we mentioned on this week's podcast, given his 15 years of media development experience, Greg has started developing a new online course to help others get a podcast up and running quickly and professionally, but still having fun along the way. The goal is to include not only the equipment and mechanics of podcasting, but also the many lessons Greg learned from hosting over 4 years of radio with Jennifer on SiriusXM. There are plenty of podcasting courses out there, but not a single one like what Greg is working on.
Before getting too deeply into development of the course, he's looking for a small handful of people who'd be willing to share with him their concerns, hopes, and struggles with podcasting.This includes people who have already launched a podcast, as well as people who have been thinking about it for awhile (whether for personal or business use).
He's already had several conversations just since mentioning it on our podcast, and the feedback has been INCREDIBLY useful.
Interested? If so, let Greg know right away (his email is greg [at] willitsworks [dot] com), or you can contact him directly from our website here.
Once he hears from you, if he's still looking for input, he'll send you his calendar so you can pick a time that works for you, and then he'll schedule a 1-on-1 video conversation (should only take about 20-30 minutes) to pick your brain (that phrase has always grossed us out, but you get the picture). It would be of great help!
Curious About Spiritual Direction?
Another area we're starting to explore is personally journeying with people just like you who want a deeper faith life, or perhaps just some objective feedback and guidance in life, relationships, and work.
To that end, we are now offering individual spiritual direction and life coaching.
You can meet with either Jennifer or Greg for one hour at a time via live video conferencing. We're "tip-toeing" our way into this as we want to offer this while also working on all the other areas of content development that we know bring value to people's lives. So we're currently working with our first clients while also gauging the overall interest.
So if you've been on the search for spiritual direction or life coaching, click here to join our waiting list. or just drop your name and email in the form below. We're currently reviewing applications for new clients, but new openings become available regularly. We'd love to help you experiencing a deeper faith life and more joy.
Our Next LIVE Video Chat
Thanks to our $5 and above co-producers, we're now hosting a monthly live and interactive video chat. Our third session will be on Sunday night, September 9, at 8PM EST. If you haven't yet signed up as a co-producer, you can do so here. For those of you who are already signed up at the $5 or higher level, be sure to mark the date on your calendar and keep an eye on your email for the exclusive link as the date approaches.
Happiness On Demand FREE Video Course
The response to our free Happiness on Demand Video Course has been fantastic! If you haven't yet had a chance to check it out, make sure to enter your info in the form below and you'll get INSTANT access!
We Need More Hate
Wait. What? Yeah, we know that sounds confusing, but "We Need More Hate" is the name of this week's podcast episode. In this edition we share the amazing co-producer news we woke up to the other morning.
Plus we talk about our daughter Lily's recent attempts at comedy, and wonder if she might genuinely have a talent for this and we also get quite transparent when we share some of our recent failures, how they've affected our family, and our attempt to pivot in yet another new direction. And lastly, in light of last week's Grand Jury report out of Pennsylvania, combined with the ongoing fallout of the McCarrick scandal, we share the pointed response from Bishop Morlino of the Diocese of Madison where he surprisingly calls for more hate in the Church, but not in a way you might think. If you haven't already checked it out, you can do so right here.
And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to Adventures in Imperfect Living and leave a review for it on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts!
And that's it for this week! Whew. That was a lot!
As always, we're so incredibly grateful to have you in our lives. If you think someone else may get something from this email, please feel free to forward it along!
ADV #240: We Need More Hate
A Co-Producer First!
We are VERY excited to share the amazing co-producer news we woke up to this morning. It was a huge blessing for us today, for sure!
Scandalized
In light of last week's Grand Jury report out of Pennsylvania, combined with the ongoing fallout of the McCarrick scandal, we share the pointed response from Bishop Morlino of the Diocese of Madison where he surprisingly calls for more hate in the Church, but not in a way you might think.
Lily the Comedian
Then, in a more lighthearted conversation, we share our daughter Lily's recent attempts at comedy, and wonder if she might genuinely have a talent for this.
Pivoting From Failure
We also get quite transparent when we share some of our recent failures, how they've affected our family, and our attempt to pivot in yet another new direction.
Along those lines, if you're interested in launching a podcasting and would like to help Greg as he prepares for a new course, make sure to drop us an email to schedule a 1-on-1 discussion with him.
Don't Miss Out!
And lastly, a reminder to make sure you sign up for our FREE Happiness On Demand online course before it's too late!
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