Faith and Rosary Crafts With Kathleen

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast , the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives , women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason . I am your host , christi Walker . I'm a wife , mom and a joy-filled Catholic , and I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach , and I am so glad you're here . As Catholics , we know that the rosary is a powerful weapon against the enemy , but do you desire to pray the rosary more in an effort to turn to the Lord , yet find yourself turning to other things to distract or numb yourself , like alcohol scrolling or Netflix ? If you struggle with this , my next guest can help . Kathleen Borsch , the creative force behind Knots of Grace , crafts exquisite hand-knotted rosaries , blending artistry and faith for modern Catholic homes . Inspired by diverse cultures and fueled by a passion for creativity , kathleen's journey weaves together a tapestry of faith , family and the transformative power of prayer , all captured in knots of grace . Welcome , kathleen . It is so great to have you here .

Speaker 2 1:28

Thank you , christy . I'm excited to be here and I hear that and it actually brings some emotions .

Speaker 1 1:40

Well , why don't you just go ahead and walk us through the inspiration behind starting Knots of Grace and how your journey began into crafting rosaries ?

Speaker 2 1:54

Sorry that I started off with emotions , but you never know what's going to come up . Yeah , so yeah , thank you again for having me , christy . I'm excited to be here with you and your audience . So how I got started with Knots of Grace , oh goodness , in 2011 , I actually encountered a doorknob , rosary . Someone , a local parishioner , had made them , donated them for my daughter's at my daughter's school , and I thought , oh my gosh , this is just lovely . It's just such a simple thing that I can hang on my door , and she was just starting her primary school and I just wanted to bring some extra faith into our lives .

Speaker 2 2:37

We started on that journey , back into that journey , and so this was just like another thing just so happened around the same time , we got an opportunity to live abroad , and so we moved to Singapore and lived there for about three years and , based on timing , divine inspiration , whatever you want to call it that door rosary came with us , and so we lived in a small condo and it hung on the front door of our condo , like the door that we went out every single day , and you know , I saw it there , but after a while you don't know that you're seeing it , but you see it there and I started exploring different faiths because we were there and I'm curious and I'm just interested in people and loving diversity and my backgrounds , in human resources , so I mean it just is all the things . And so I went to I remember going to a Buddhist meditation thing with some friends of mine and because I'm like , well , let me see what this is about . And I went there and went a couple of times because I'm like you know , one time's not enough and just to see if it's something that I'm interested in . And it just was . It was beautiful , don't get me wrong , and I love the experience , all the women who are around me , but it just what it did was it said , no , you need to go and go down your path , which is , you know , get back into your Catholic faith . And so I had this rosary and I really truly believe that it was part of the journey that you know it was calling me back into learning more , you know , getting back into my faith . And so I was my daughter's CCD teacher while we were there . And then I was part of a beading group .

Speaker 2 4:34

We did I'm a crafter by nature , I have been for years and learning how to do different beadwork and I started making rosaries . And let me take a step back . Rosaries , I don't . I didn't know really anything about a rosary before I bought that first one for my door . I'll be honest with you . I had a bunch of them that were my grandmother's and I know my mom had a bunch in her jewelry box , but I didn't know how to pray the rosary . I didn't know what to do with the rosary . I didn't know if it was appropriate to wear it as a necklace . You know none of the things . All I thought was it was pretty , and so I started making them for missions Once we got back to the States I'm fast forwarding and then my daughter's school , the woman who had made them . She retired and I wanted these to live on , and so I started making them for her school . And then from there Knots of Grace was born . The actual name , knots of Grace , came from the desire .

Speaker 2 5:36

When I was attending craft shows and so many non-Catholics were at these craft shows and the first thing that they would say they were interested .

Speaker 2 5:47

They would see . Actually , this one is one that I've been making for years and it was hanging on my display and they would say oh my gosh , what is that ? First off , they thought it was a necklace how do I put it on ? And then , secondly , when I said , oh no , it's a rosary , then they would immediately there would be a wall and say , well , I'm not Catholic , I can't do a rosary . So then I had to explain to them that it's more than just that . It's a way to connect with God . It's there as a visual reminder of your faith , and if you want to pray the rosary , great , but if you don't , and it's there as a reflection of your faith , wonderful . And so I sat down because of this . I needed to find another way to describe them , and that's where Knots of Grace came from . So that's how it all started and fast forward to today . It's just been a ride that God put this entrepreneur business in my lap so that way I could get reconnected to Him .

Speaker 1 6:52

Oh , that's so beautiful . Kathleen , thank you first of all so much for sharing your emotion and your story with us , because I know that sometimes I definitely know that going back and just kind of like seeing where we were and how far we've come , and then God's hand in all of that and the grace that he gives us and pours into us Like when you were talking about going into that Buddhist monastery or Buddhist temple , wherever you were , and you went just to see just as a seeker , and then went back , but then you knew within you no , this isn't for me . I need to get back to my Catholic faith .

Speaker 1 7:32

I had a similar experience . I was attending a Baptist church for a while when I was away and I loved it . There was great preaching , there was Bible teaching , there was lots of singing I love music and so I was like this is my jam . There was kids programs , there was Bible teaching , there was lots of singing I love music and so I was like this is my jam , like there was kids programs and all these things , and I was like this is where I'm at . And then they did a communion Sunday with like literal saltine crackers and little grape juices that they pass through the thing and I was like I can never come back here , like I couldn't . At that time I couldn't articulate why , but I realized later that my faith had been so watered down that I didn't even see the Eucharist as the true presence of Jesus the body , blood , soul and divinity of Christ . Thanks be to God , I did get back to that , but it know , it happens , right , we live in a world . We get all different kinds of messaging and if we're open to it , the Holy Spirit will just draw us back , and that's one of the things I love about what you do .

Speaker 1 8:39

Like you were saying , I know people , lots of people , who aren't even Catholic , who do pray the rosary . I know people , lots of people , who aren't even Catholic , who do pray the rosary . I know people who , like you , are saying they have all these rosaries from their grandma or you know , and they just keep them around and , like you said , they don't know what to do with them . And what you are doing is you are helping to increase faith but also teach people about the beauty of the rosary , and I think those sacramentals are so powerful and even if people don't realize it , they just keep being drawn to it and they're like I don't know why , but I'm so drawn to it , and then they just keep learning more and more and more . So I think it's always a good thing to have those around and use them and share them with others . So I love what you're doing .

Speaker 1 9:31

One thing so Kathleen sent me one of her pocket rosaries right , that's what this is . That you sent me . That's what it is , yeah , and first of all , it has a miraculous medal on it and I have a devotion to the miraculous medal , so I wear one every single day Actually , I have two and and it has the serenity prayer on it and I love it . But what I loved even more was just the information . Like , she has this beautiful card with information about it . But the thing that struck me struck me is your father-in-law helps you with make these rosaries . How did that ?

Speaker 2 10:06

come about . Well , he moved in , it's funny . So he moved in with us in 2016 and retired and moved from Nebraska to Georgia and he just at night , I would be this is when earlier stages . So I was making rosaries at night in front of the tv as we were watching whatever we were watching , and and so , after a while , him , he loves knots and , like you know , that was one of his things he likes tying knots and so he said what are you doing ? So , lo and behold , I showed him how to do it and he could do it faster , and you know . And so finally , I just was like you win , would you like to do this , you know , while you're sitting there watching your Westerns ? Because when he first moved in with us , for years , he would watch Western movies . That was his , his thing , and so while he was watching his Westerns , he would tie knots . He would tie all sizes .

Speaker 2 11:08

He became my only C-level employee . I'm not even a C-level employee in my company , but my father-in-law is . He's my chief knot tier . He still ties them to this day . He's out of town now . He goes and visits my other brothers-in-law , but when he's here , he ties , he ties the knots and it's a nice tie-in , not to play on words , but because all of my rope is sourced here . It's made in the US and most of it is from veteran-owned companies or veteran-operated companies , and one of them actually makes their own rope and he's a vet too . So it kind of like ties it all together in a nice pretty bow . And I keep using the word tie .

Speaker 1 11:56

Pun intended , that's wonderful , I love that . Yeah , that's so good . I really thank you for sharing that , because I think that that is that is so great that you're supporting . You know other things , not just people's faith , which is like huge , but also you know worthy causes , like you said , like veterans , and I just think that . So I think that's funny . He was so competitive , like who's going to ?

Speaker 2 12:24

do it better . You can see him light up , and when I first started doing live videos on Facebook and YouTube , it was during the pandemic , and so he was home with us and I'd say , okay , bill , come on , come in . And he'd actually come on and he'd watch what was going on and , you know , didn't really know what was happening on the screen . It was so cute . So , yes , he's very much part of my business .

Speaker 1 12:53

Great . Yeah so it's family , a family affair .

Speaker 2 12:57

Yeah , you had mentioned before about like this , something you'd said made me think of small steps and and kind of going back to like oh , you're saying you know you have all these grandmother's rosaries and not knowing what to do with them . And one of the reasons why I was so attracted to the concept of a door rosary and it just being a single decade is because of my background in human resources . I loved climbing the ladder . I'll just tell you that that was a passion of mine and it was also a big distraction of mine as well . Also a big distraction of mine as well . It took me away from the Lord because I was so focused on that . But I saw this as a way for me to simplify . It was like it was that simple thing . You know , we're always looking for how to make things simpler , how to make things easier , looking for the easy button per se . And so I saw this and I went okay , if I could pray a decade . And so I saw this and I went okay , if I could pray a decade , I would feel like the most accomplished person in the whole world . And I think about it now . And it really was

The Power of the Serenity Prayer

Speaker 2 14:12

.

Speaker 2 14:12

I had to start with just a Hail Mary . It wasn't even a full decade , it was like a Hail Mary learning the prayers . I didn't even know all the prayers very well . I mean , I know our father and some of the other ones , but I didn't know the cadence of it , I didn't know anything where I was , and this is probably the only thing that my perfectionist didn't take over and be like you have to get this right right right now , and so just taking those little baby steps was so big , and so I offer that to people . Just , you know , pray a decade , pray one Hail Mary , see where it takes you . But anyway , that just it just came up in my mind as you were talking about that , so I wanted to share .

Speaker 1 15:08

Yeah , I'm so glad that you pointed that out , because I think that these give people permission just to pray a decade . Because if I sit down to pray just a decade on a full rosary , then I feel guilty if I don't keep praying , even if I don't have time . So then I don't even start it because I know what's going to happen . I'm just going to feel guilty . So either I wouldn't pray on rosary beads which you don't have to , you can use your hands , or you know whatever you have .

Speaker 1 15:38

But I just love this because you can do it and feel accomplished , and you can do it as many times a day as you want to or need to , and having it like within arm's length , just kind of you know , something comes up . It's really easy just to grab it and refocus yourself and pray that decade , ask Mary to be with you and for Jesus to be with you in that time . And I think it's so good and I know that they're all different and the one that you sent me has the serenity prayer which , as a woman in recovery , obviously that has strong significance for me but also for a lot of people . You don't have to be in recovery to find encouragement in that prayer . So what is it about the serenity prayer that speaks to you ?

Speaker 2 16:30

Yeah , that's great . So I don't know if I told you this before , but the reason I started making the serenity prayer , pocket rosary is I made it for a mother's group at one of our schools and when I saw the the cross and it has the serenity prayer on it and I didn't know anything about the serenity prayer . This is , this is how all of this stuff works . This whole business works for me is I'm learning as I go , and , and so I was reading it and I thought , oh my gosh , this is exactly what it's like to be a mom . You know , we have all these worries and all these concerns , and and we're just trying to do the best we can every single day .

Speaker 2 17:18

And to your point , this prayer gave me , gave me and allowed , you know , and through it was my intention was to allow the moms to have permission to not be perfect , because I knew a bunch of the moms .

Speaker 2 17:33

I didn't know all of them , but I knew a bunch of them and a number of them were , you know , from you know , working moms , dual income families , from you know , working working moms , dual income families , and so they were trying to play , you know , the multi hat which we all do , whether we work in the home or outside the home , or or you know that it's all wearing a lot of hats and we're all trying to raise our kids the right way and you know , just do all these things that quote , unquote right way .

Speaker 2 18:00

And so this prayer gave me and allowed me to extend the permission to just say , hey , god , this is all I got right now , and give me what you want me to know , and give me what you want me to do , and let me be free . It gave me freedom , really , and so that's what I see the serenity prayer is . It's a way to free yourself of whatever bonds or whatever's binding you from moving forward in your life , whether it be alcoholism or drug abuse , or if it's just trying to climb the ladder and make all the money you want in the world and you know , and something just distracting you and that's holding you away from having a relationship with God . That's what it is .

Speaker 1 18:58

Yeah , thank you for that explanation . That's beautiful .

Finding Serenity Through Faith and Devotion

Speaker 1 19:01

And for those of you who don't know the serenity , prayer it's just God , grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change , the courage to change the things I can , and the wisdom to know the difference . And so I .

Speaker 1 19:14

Yes , for moms , that is such a thing , because there are things as moms , as women , as humans right , there are things that are in our control and there are things that are not in our control , and so we have to realize that there are just things that we have to let go and turn over to God , and sometimes that's our children and that can be the hardest thing , and sometimes it's a struggle or a disordered attachment that we have that we just are having a really hard time figuring out on our own and we have to invite God into it , into the space , through prayer and seeking guidance and , like you were saying , perfectionism that you struggled with being able to say you know , it's not always going to be perfect or there's much more to this life than climbing the ladder .

Speaker 1 20:03

At the end of the day , what do I want people to say about me Was that I was a successful person that made bunches of money , or that I was able to be obedient to God and change lives for His glory , which you are doing that now through knots of grace .

Speaker 2 20:22

Thank you . Thank you , and one of the things that I love about the pocket rosaries in particular , so the , the , the flagship um rosary of knots of grace , is the door rosary , um , but the pocket rosary is becoming a more popular item , and primarily because , literally , you can put it in your pocket and , let's say , you forget that it's in your pocket and it goes through the washer , washing machine , and it goes through the dryer , it will come out and it will look just as good as it did when it went in . So I mean it's durable and I've had so many people tell me that . So they carry it with them in their pocket and they have been in conversation with somebody and they've given it away , and so they've given it away to somebody , which I find the first time I heard that I was like , oh my gosh , that's the coolest thing . I need to figure out how to do something with that , but that's so cool .

Speaker 2 21:26

And so they thought they could be without it . But then they realized how much they relied on having just the presence in their pocket and being able to even just touching we touch our legs and whatever and you feel it in the pocket or you just know it's there , and then when you have those moments , sometimes it's a fidget toy . You're not even , you know , praying with it , you're just fidgeting with it , trying to bring in some calm , and so they would , you know , get another one for themselves . So that way they had it and it just I don't know every single story I hear is just such a blessing . It's just so great .

Speaker 1 22:06

Yeah is just such a blessing , it's just so great . Yeah , I love that . I was just when you were talking about like having it in your pocket and just holding it for comfort or security . I've heard people say that like having the rosary with you and holding it is like holding your mom's hand . So we're like holding Mary's hand , and I know that for years , especially when I was going through , I was struggling with some anxiety and some other things I would always have the rosary next to my bed and sometimes I wouldn't even pray it , I would just grab the rosary and put it under my pillow or hold it in my hand and I would fall right to sleep , or maybe I would start to pray the rosary and get like one Hail Mary in and be like asleep .

Speaker 1 22:45

But I mean , it was so beautiful and I didn't think of it that way until I heard someone say it like that , and so I was like , of course , because when you are a child and you need comfort , it's like you go to your mom and you , you know , curl up in her lap and she just makes everything okay , and so that just that's how I see the rosary now , which makes it an even more beautiful and meaningful devotion for me , but I will say I'm not good about doing it every day because I still get caught up in the busyness or get distracted , which you know , is something that we all kind of fight .

Speaker 1 23:24

But again , that's why I love what you're doing and what you're providing for people , because just having it , I feel like , makes it a little bit easier to at least get get some of those prayers in , so that we're not thinking like , oh , I should have , I should have done that , or yeah , and so some of the things , one of the things that the women that I work with really struggle with , is that you know , like you were talking about , moms get a lot put on us . We wear a lot of hats and we can start being really down on ourselves no-transcript , but really it's just a band-aid . It's just a band-aid , yeah , and so it just just a bandaid it's just a bandaid yeah .

Speaker 1 24:26

And so it just it comes back and then it's even worse because then you feel bad , because if you overdrank and then your kids saw that and that's not good , or even if you didn't get to spend time connecting with your spouse because you were kind of checked out or distracted and this isn't just alcohol , right , it comes with food , it comes with scrolling , it comes with , you know , like I said at the beginning , just watching TV , which is something my husband and I used to do all the time just veg out doing that , we weren't connecting

Tips for Turning Towards God

Speaker 1 24:55

. Do you have any tips for how to maybe turn away from that distraction and be able to turn more towards God ?

Speaker 2 26:12

One of the things that we've done recently is just making me it's easier said than done Everything that I might say and that everything's easier said than done , but there's , there comes a point and there was came a point for for me recently where I just had to make a decision and a decision to say , okay , instead of we still sit in front of the TV , we enjoy our TV , but we wanted to have more connection , and so we go for a walk every evening , and so just that , taking a break away and going in and doing that other thing and going for a walk whether you can do it , you know , with or without your spouse or by yourself just taking that time away and them being okay with it and you being okay with being able to take that time away , and and so a lot of times for me it's it's getting to that point of giving myself permission , because I still struggle with perfectionism , I'm I'm not cured , it's an everyday battle and so I just have to take it . And one of my things is , when I get really anxious , my go-to is the surrender prayer . You know , it's just , it's super simple . Everything in my life I'm trying to make it simpler and you can even pray that with your rosary , because if you do it 10 times , lots of 10s in our faith and lots of decades . And so by going through that and it's simple prayer of I surrender myself to you , you know , jesus , I surrender myself to you 10 times the meditative quality of it , the each time you're saying it , whether you are 100% in or you're saying I'm trying to do this , jesus , I really want to do this Each time , in that 10 time repetition , by the end of it , at least for me , I feel like an overwhelming sense of calm . Feel like an overwhelming sense of calm Because even if I'm just trying to do it , it's better than me not doing it at all . And so I guess my tip is like trying to just try to do .

Speaker 2 28:43

If you want to say the rosary , just try . I mean , start with your Hail Mary , or start with something , start with the , our Father , and then just leave it and say here , god , I don't know what else to do with this . I have no idea what else to do with this . What do you want me to do next ? And then leave it . There is , you know , the offering , and literally like putting it out on as an offering and just saying I don't know what to do with this . Please take it from me so that way I can move on with my time .

Speaker 2 29:25

Um , I don't know if that's what you were looking for , but that's where it came to me . And so you were talking about , like after work and things like that , one of the things that I used to do , and I just and I'm so glad that I made the decision to not do this anymore but when I was in human resources , I used to think that I needed wine to write the best emails and write , you know , get those creative juices flowing , especially in the evening . And what it really was was I was tired and at that time I knew I had to get the work done and I felt like it was my way to get the work done . And had I known about the meditative qualities of praying the rosary , I probably would have done that before . You know , because it's doing the same , not the same thing . I'm not trying to say that , but you can get that meditative and like peaceful quality and be able to be calm through and like calm your mind down if you just pray a decade of the rosary .

Speaker 1 30:27

So , anyway , yes , thank you . Yeah , and that was what I was looking for and I appreciate your tips and I appreciate that you also said like we still watch TV , because I have clients that it's not that they don't want to drink anymore , but they want to be able to be in control , to be able to choose it instead of feeling obligated or feeling drawn to it . It's out of their control , they just can't fight that urge . And what you were saying about 10 , we learn as parents before you react , count to 10 and like calm yourself down , and so there's really something to it . And , as you were talking about that and even just saying , you know , like Jesus , I trust in you , jesus , I praise you . You know , whatever Short prayers , you don't have to always pray the rosary on a rosary .

Speaker 1 31:28

You don't always have to pray the rosary on your pocket rosaries . We use the rosary right for . As for the divine mercy , chaplet , you can pray St Michael chaplet , you can pray a lot of different things on these same beads and even if your prayer is like what St Teresa of Calcutta said Mother Mary , come bea mother to me now , or however she said it , I totally butchered it . It was probably way better than that . But it was very simple . I need you here with me now , just very quick . And so I think that if we can do that and , like you were saying , say that 10 times , then that gives our nervous system time to kind of settle .

Speaker 1 32:14

Because we're usually in this state of anxiety Our bodies are tense , our minds are racing and we're thinking I got to stop this now , because maybe you don't want to feel the emotion , maybe you don't want it , you're afraid you're going to get angry and say something . Maybe you're just like you were saying you're tired or you're hungry . Halt is something that I talk to my clients about , like are you hungry , angry , lonely , tired ? I also add in , bored . Are you just bored and you just need something to do ? Um , and so just checking in with yourself is huge and then being able to just say you know what ? I just need to take a moment for myself , take a deep breath for yourself and then just kind of start praying and you'll find that you feel better and you didn't need to turn to whatever it was that you thought you had to have .

Speaker 1 33:16

But again , it's not always bad , it's just is it ? Are you choosing it because you're feeling chaos and is it causing even more chaos ? Or are you deciding to have whatever it is , or watch or scroll ? Because I scroll on my phone too , but I try to make it like this is the time that I can do it . Am I perfect at it for sure ? No , I am not , but I try and that's that's all we can do . And if we plan for these situations , because we know that they're going to come up , if we plan like , if this happens , then this is the protocol that I'm going to take and this is what I'm going to do . It's a lot easier to do the thing we want to do instead of like St Paul tells us the thing we don't want to do , and so it just helps us make good choices and then we just feel better in the long run and we have that sustained peace instead of that bandaid quick fix which , when we rip it off or it's gone , that we feel even worse than we did before .

Speaker 2 34:23

Or if you're like me and you're getting older and any , I still I drink . So I don't , I don't , I don't drink to write documents anymore or things like that . But I've found , as I've aged too , that my body doesn't like it as much , and so I have to say there was a moment where I had to say , okay , this is weird , and just go with it . And this sounds even weirder . I had to learn to enjoy feeling good . Does that make sense ? Like the lack of it and going , oh , this feels really good . I want more of this , I want more of the feeling good . I like this feeling good , and so it's that desire to continue feeling good that you know . It's like well , am I going to have a drink or am I not going to have a drink ? Do I want to feel good tomorrow or do I not want to feel good tomorrow ? And I know so many other women who say the same thing . It's like okay , because sometimes even one glass of wine can get you to feel not good the next day .

Speaker 1 35:31

Oh , absolutely yeah . And I actually have a guest that's going to be coming in a couple of weeks and she is a like midlife health expert , and that's what we're going to be talking about because you're absolutely right , as our bodies . You know , one of my , one of my other guests I'm in perimenopause , so I'm I've got menopause kicking down my door , but she was saying , as our what did she say ? Our bodies are redesigning , and I thought that was so , so beautiful . So I was like , oh , I'm going to think of it as that , like I'm not falling apart . My body is redesigning into something else .

Speaker 1 36:09

But as we're changing and our hormones are changing and everything we do metabolize alcohol differently and the hormones react differently , and as our some hormones are lessening and some are not , in , you know , it's like this whole thing . So you're not , it's not crazy , it's a real thing , it's science and it's our bodies . And I tell people too , like sometimes we are so used to feeling bad that we forget

Maintaining Good Health and Spirituality

Speaker 1 36:41

what it's like to feel good , and then , when we feel good , we're like , oh my gosh , this feels really good .

Speaker 1 36:47

I don't want to feel bad again . I have the same thing Like if I eat ice cream . If I choose to eat ice cream , I know I'm not going to feel good , but maybe I do decide . I want to choose to have it and maybe I do it in moderation or I choose not to have dairy ice cream and that's a little bit better . But I think it's the same with alcohol , right , it's like you know , you're probably not going to feel your best the next day . But if you're choosing it from a place of peace and you've prepared yourself that you're probably not going to feel great the next day , you know , then that's one thing . But if it's something where you don't feel like you have the choice anymore , that's when it's certainly worth looking at , examining and deciding . Is this serving me or is this just taking too much of my life ? Am I spending too much time worrying about when I'm going to drink , planning when I'm going to drink , drinking and then recovering ? If that's your life , then that's probably worth looking at and reexamining and refocusing .

Speaker 2 37:58

Yeah , and it's very similar to prayer life . I've found in my own experience I didn't really have a what I could consider to prayer life . I mean , I would pray , but it was more of a . You know , I need this God . You know , help me with this .

Speaker 2 38:17

Granted , I still have a lot of those , but now I have a more routine and , granted , not every day do I pray the rosary . There are days that I don't , but I can tell you , on the days that I don't , and days in a row , that whole feeling good thing , I can tell that I'm a little off , and to me it just always sounds weird when I say it , because it was not something that was ingrained into me as a child . It was ingrained into me , you know , as a child , even though we were , you know , devout Catholics and everything , and we went to church and I was active in the community and all of that . I wasn't praying like I do now , and so when I don't pray , I don't feel as good , and so it's that same kind of . I long for that feeling good , and so , however I can do , that is is something I look for , yeah .

Speaker 1 39:18

Yeah , yes , yeah , and I'm so glad you made that comparison , cause that's true , cause I feel the same way or if I'm like reading scripture and I'm really in scripture and I am have been really good about , you know like studying it , especially when I'm working on like a Bible study , and I just feel good and I just have all this inspiration .

Speaker 1 39:42

I feel like I can hear God's voice more clearly , everything is jiving . And then , um , summer comes and I get lazy because I don't have to prepare for my Bible study , or you know , it's like it kind of the goodness begets more goodness . So when I'm doing a Bible study , then I'm seeking even more of that in other places or I'm noticing it in other ways . But as soon as I kind of like shut that part down , or I'm not opening the Bible as much as I was , I just kind of get , get out of that habit , and then I feel like everything . It's like a trickle down effect and it affects my prayer life , it affects everything , and then I don't feel as good . And I think that that's true with our health too . If we're not , if we're not feeling good the next day because we over consumed alcohol , then we're probably not going to want to eat really good .

Speaker 1 40:35

We're probably going to want something , that's you know fatty or oily or whatever it is , and then we're probably not going to feel like exercising because our stomach is off and our head hurts , and you know so . It just is like the spiral effect . Head hurts , and you know so , it just is like the spiral effect . And I love that you've compared that to prayer , because that is definitely a good comparison and something that I've experienced myself and I'm sure a lot of people listening have as well . So , okay , kathleen , this has been such an amazing conversation . I'm so thankful that you came on and I really would love it if you would just tell people all the things and where they can find out more about you and about your rosaries and anything else you want to share .

Speaker 2 41:21

Well , thank you , I've enjoyed being here too . I could talk for a lot longer , for sure , but you can find me and knots of of Grace over on knotsofgracecom and that's K-N-O-T-S-O-F-G-R-A-C-E , and I have a video blog that I do every Monday and you can actually join our Inner Circle of Grace community , our VIP community , and get that blog , that video blog , in your inbox every single Monday morning at 7 am Eastern , and what it is , it is a weekly devotion and it's between five and eight minutes every week and what I do is I share a devotion and then allow you to take that , take it to God , as our way to kickstart the week on a positive note , use that as a framework to get the week started . And so if you join our VIP community , our Inner Circle of Grace , you can find that as soon as you go to knotsofgracecom , you are going to be asked if you want to join . And if you join , you also have the luxury of a 12% discount of all Knots of Grace products year round , and that's only offered to our inner circle members . And the reason we offer it all year round is because , well , you never know when you need a gift and a lot of our products are used as gift giving , and so I want you to have that opportunity to have a discount when you need it .

Speaker 2 42:50

It doesn't mean that I don't offer discounts at other times , which , for example , I would like to offer you and your community a discount through Father's Day .

Speaker 2 43:00

So through June 16th , I'm offering 15% off your purchases at notsofgracecom . All you have to do when you go there is you just go , you put all the things that you want in your in your cart and shipping them to each location that you ship to , you would have to do a new order and you just type in sober 15 , um at the checkout and you'll get your 15% discount at the checkout at that point . And so I hope you get to enjoy some of our products and give them , test them out , see if it's something that brings you some joy and helps you take that next step in your journey with our Lord . And then you can also find me on Instagram , facebook . I'm on YouTube . I'm on Pinterest . I'm kind of all over the place because I like to scroll too , so you can find me there at knots of grace shape being here . I'm so glad that I got to spend time with you , christy .

Speaker 1 44:00

Yes , thank you so much for being here and for that coupon code . I'll make sure to put all that information in my show notes and I'll be sending out an email to my list and I'll include that code as well . Again , it's sober15 , and that goes through Father's Day , june 16th . Thank you so much , kathleen . I just look forward to where Knots of Grace goes from here on out .

Speaker 2 44:28

Thank you so much . God's taking me where we're supposed to go , so I appreciate it .

Speaker 1 44:32

Take care and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing . I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach , and if you would like to learn how to work with me or learn more about the coaching that I offer , visit my website , thecatholicsobrietycoachcom . Follow me on Instagram at thecatholicsobrietycoach . I look forward to speaking to you next time . And remember I am here for you . I am praying for you . You are not alone . Thank you .