2026 Word Of the Year: Capacity

We record on a chaotic Sunday between Mass, naps, phone calls, and too many dogs, then get honest about what is stretching our marriage and our patience. We look back on “Take Root,” share why “Capacity” is our word for 2026, and talk about trusting God for the strength we need today. 
• peaks and pits from family visits, travel, and new parent life 
• the reality of overstimulation and managing a house full of dogs 
• why grandma’s 90th birthday feels like a witness of lived Catholic faith 
• what “Take Root” means after our fertility journey shifts into new life 
• learning that the only constant is change and faith is home 
• why our 2026 word is capacity and how it grows over time 
• surrendering control, daily manna, and carrying unexpected crosses 
• letting babies and parents be human instead of robots 
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Transcript

Morning Re-Record And Real Life

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey guys.

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome back.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

This is a podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

This is a podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

I'm Joe.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

I am Katie.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

And this is the Vine.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Welcome to the Vine.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Thanks for joining. It is Sunday morning. We just went to mass.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

We did.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

It's a good day.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Yeah. Baby's down for a nap.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

So how much time we are given for this is very unpredictable at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

It could be anywhere from We might only have like seven minutes because she's been sleeping for 23 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

And recently, well, not recently. Recently we've been doing better, but majority of her life, she has only really given us like 30 minutes now.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

So we were like, how about we record now? Because we did realize that so full transparency, this is recording number two. Take two. Take two of this podcast because we recorded last night. At like what, 8 30, 9 o'clock?

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Which we thought would have been fine.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

But we were both like we were too tired. We were tired. We were a little catty with each other.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

We were tired. We were snappy. Honestly, we should just share that so that you can see like the real tension.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

We also, I mean, we were rambling quite a bit about nothing.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

We were big time rambling.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Yeah. We're sharp. We're fresh this morning.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

We are fresh. I had my coffee. We're ready to go. The sun is up. That's a big part of it, too.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

That's true. That's good for you.

Peaks And Pits With Family

SPEAKER_01 1:28

But yeah, welcome back to the vine.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Yeah. Katie, what's your peaks and pit?

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Peaks and pits. Um peak. Okay, I'm changing it because every time I do this, I think about like short term. But yesterday after reading this, I realized.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

You better not steal what mine's.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

I'm not gonna steal yours. I am gonna say though, your cousin, Scott. Hey Scott. Oh yeah. What's up, Scott?

SPEAKER_00 1:49

And Joan?

SPEAKER_01 1:49

They stayed with us um a couple well last weekend. And it was just really nice. And they like they're from Maryland, so they drove all the way down with their little 15-month-old Amelia. And now now having a baby, we understand like the commitment it takes to like really go out of your way to spend to drive nine hours. Yeah, it takes a lot from us to like drive an hour and a half to visit our family. I can't imagine like the ordeal, but it just shows, you know, like how I just felt honored, honestly. And it was a good time, and it was nice as that was our first time meeting their baby, and they met MJ, and it was just a good, like, good time.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

We got to take them around downtown Greenville, they got to go to Christ on Maine, which was really cool. Yeah, that was my first time going too.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Um, yeah, it was a great time.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

That was a peak. Um, a pit of gosh, I think a big pit has lately has just been the dogs.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

If you don't know, which you probably don't because I'm just now sharing this.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Yeah. We did not talk about this last night.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

My family is gone for two weeks, and they have spent a lot of time here. We've had a lot of help, but as a result, we don't have any help, and we have to watch their dogs, which we love their dogs. Molly, Titan. I mean, they're the best, but all together with Oliver and Lucy in our little in our house just with a yeah, with a six-month-old with a baby, has been just a lot. So we have implemented mandatory quiet time where they all go in the crate when I'm overstimulated.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Well, and uh I'll step on it because this will be my it's my pit as well. Um, and it's no fault of of anyone's, but Titan does pee and poop in the house a lot because he's like 17. He's so old. And thankfully he does it on like the the hardwood, so at least it's like not on the carpets or anything. But like basically anytime we leave him alone for more than like I don't know, two hours, it's just it is chaos. Yeah, so anyway, but somehow overnight he's fine, like he sleeps downstairs by himself overnight, totally fine. But like we went to church this morning for like only an hour and a half, we were gone, and we made sure he went out beforehand. But he was like, Hey, check this out. I've left a tree for you. I left you two presents. How about that? Um, yeah, that's my pit as well. Um, my peak though, I would say, well, there's two because I do think that the one that you uh had last night was true. You had a great week just with MJ.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Oh, I forgot that I shared that last night.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

And yes, that was really cool for me because I travel and this was kind of the first time that you've done just me and the girl. Yeah, just you and the girl for what, was it three days?

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Yeah. Um it was so nice.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

And just hearing you gave that, hearing you say that gave me just so much confidence and knowing, like, hey, you know, I have to travel for work.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

So it let me spend lots of time together. Yeah. Just me and the girl.

Dogs Chaos And Overstimulation

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Um, so that was a good peak. And slash tied along with that was um I went to the beach for work. I was traveling and went to Wrightsville Beach, and I got to take myself on a nice little date.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

And you know, we both had a lot of like solo time, which I think has been nice because I don't know why we talked about this the other day, but we were talking about how like when we're together, like we feel the need to like spend a lot of time together because like you travel. But recently it's just been like you've been traveling and then you come home and like we just kind of coexist. And it's been nice that kind of in a good way, not in not in like a we're not just like acting like roommates, we're like actually hold on, pause. Allie's calling me. I had to decline. Sorry, Allie.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Oh my goodness, and she's in Portugal.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

No, she's in Spain right now, and she probably wants to show me the views. I'm really sad now that I can't see it. Sorry, Ali, I'm calling you back. We can pause it, but anyways, no, we will not pause. Oh my goodness. We have to keep going.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

For the fans.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

We also don't know how much time we have, so we have to keep going.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

That's true, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

But, anyways, I in in a good way, like I say that because like the time before, like, we just felt like we never had alone time together and like couldn't like really have that time, so we would have to carve out time at the end of the day or whatever time we had to just like really catch up. Yeah, but lately, like there's no catching up to do. Like, we've we've talked on the phone, we see each other at home, and we just get to do like our own things together.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Well, and I think that you know it's a fine line because you know, like you mentioned, we don't want to be just roommates, like you know, we want to be involved in each other's lives, but it's also nice to not have the the pressure of constantly talking, talk well, like just entertaining one another, and like I think that's the you know the goal of a marriage is that you know there's there's already we are communicating, it's just indifferent yeah, we're not speaking.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Yeah. Um I just had an intrusive thought.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

What if Allie was FaceTiming me with like my celebrity friend that she's on the trip with?

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Oh gosh. This is this is a big sacrifice, guys. Okay, I mean I'm just gonna we can pause and then you can FaceTime her for like five minutes. I'm committed. I'm I'm committed. Okay. She's here for the bid everything. Basically, Allie's on a trip with one of like my favorite like Instagram influencers.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

And to clarify, gonna ouch you here a little bit, Katie calls people all of my influencer friends. Your friends, yeah. She's like, these are just my friends. We don't know her friends.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Yeah, they don't know her friends.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

It's called parasocial relationships.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I'm the one that told Allie about this trip. This is true.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

This is true.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Ashton Salisbury hosts a bunch of like travel groups um with like just like women travel group things. Yeah. And I'm the one that introduced Allie to her, and then Allie went on a trip with her, and now they're together, and now I'm just having this intrusive thought that maybe she's FaceTime me.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

Can I see your baby? Oh my gosh, we should be friends.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

But I think that was a side, that was a side chat. I just I'll keep you guys posted on whether or not I get to talk to her.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Don't worry, we'll let everyone know. All my other friends will know.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Um anyways, shall we get into the Wait, wait, there's one more big peak though.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

It was been a good couple weeks for us.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

You have to share this.

Grandma’s 90th And Lived Faith

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Yeah, so um my grandmother's 90th birthday was on as of this recording last Saturday. Um, and so we had two birthday parties for her. We had one which was all family, and so it was special because all five of my grandma's kids, so my mom and her aunts and uncles were all together, and then half of her grandchildren with their kids were all here. Um, and so in total, there was, and then I think her aunt and uncle, or excuse me, my mom's aunt and uncle were here as well. So in total, there were what like 30? Yeah, a little over 30 people.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Not even like half the family.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Yeah, and so we did the math because we also went to mass together as a family, and my mom and her siblings brought up the gifts, yeah, and my grandma was sobbing when they you were also sobbing. Yes, yes, I was.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Last night when we talked about this, Joe started to cry again. I did start to cry when we talked about it. Since this is the third time we're talking about it, he's not crying.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Yeah, I'm I'm mentally strong, resilient right now.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Um but yeah, that was really beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

And it was really cool just to see um, and a few people, you know, came up to either us or my mom and just mentioned that like um they just felt how cool it was. I know, I see the MJ's moving. Um, how cool it was to see grandmom's faith lived out, you know, and to see that clearly she had worked so hard on raising her kids Catholic. And I know that of course not everybody, you know, adults make their own decisions, but it was just cool to have a family go to church together like that. There's a lot going on.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

There is a lot going on, and I don't think this is meant to be.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

All right, well, we're gonna pause this. This will be our peak in Pit.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

All right, brief intermission is over.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

We are back. We are back for the fourth time, third time three hours later. And this is our second attempt at re-recording.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

It's been tough, guys. It is tough to record in the daytime, but as we had previously stated, nighttime is just like we're just not on our A game either. Like, there's just not a good time. MJ gave us approximately 35 minutes to get anything done for this first snap of the day.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

And we had to like set up the podcast, and then you had to talk to Allie.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

And then I had to take the FaceTime and not talk to my celebrity crush, but it's fine. And now we're in the room with originally all the dogs, but then this last time we attempted to redo this, one of them was making lots of noises and whimpering, and it was it I almost the one that does not belong here.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

I almost broke my my sanity for real.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

So that one has been secluded from the pack.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

So hopefully this will go to go a little bit better. But we were talking about peaks and pits, you were talking about your grandmom.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Yes. Um, so ultimately I think it was just really cool to see her live out her faith. You know, like it was such a tangible example of what are you laughing at?

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Just laughing at the chaos of our life right now.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

I know. Um but like watching her family and her five kids and then her grandkids and now her great-grandkids, you know, most of whom are still involved in the faith. It's such a tangible example of a lived faith, you know, and while we are called to believe in the faith, and I think it's incredibly important, of course, that we believe in the faith, watching it lived and um just seeing again that tangible representation of her faith and what that can do and where that can bring people, it was really special. And I think that's part of the reason why I got emotional. Um, was just like, look at this witness, you know, and there were a lot of people that came up and commented, and it was really cool to be able to say, like, yes, this is a lot of people, you know. We took up like three pews or four pews or something like that, but to be able to say, like, oh, this isn't you know, this is half of them, you know, and we can all trace our faith lineage back to her. You know, it's just cool, it was really um special, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Yeah, it was really special. And like you said, it does kind of relate to what we're talking about today. So this episode is a little bit late because it is now April and this you're probably listening to this and it's May.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Correct.

Reflecting On Take Root

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Um, but we are finally going to discuss our word for 2026 and kind of reflect on our word for 2025 or our phrase of 2025.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Our phrase, our two-word phrase.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Which would you like to say what it was?

SPEAKER_00 12:39

Take root. Yes. I liked it.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

It was a good it was a good year. It was a good word phrase for the year.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Um and if you listened to that episode, which if you haven't, go listen, stop right now. Stop from everything you're doing and listen to it.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Like, comment, and subscribe.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Listen to that. Um, we kind of dive into um you know what inspired us to choose that phrase and what our hopes were for the year. But as a little paraphrase, um the phrase was kind of inspired by Isaiah 11 10. And it says, On that day, the root of Jesse set up as a signal for the peoples for for the peoples, him the nation nations will seek out, his dwelling shall be glorious. Um and this I guess what we wanted to take with this and run is this idea of the root of Jesse's and the the stump of Jesse. Is that correct phrasing? Yes, the stump of Jesse. But when you think about a stump, um you think about a lifeless tree. Like it is a tree that has been cut off.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Um, and it is very unlikely that that from that stump anything will grow. And so what like we see in scripture and what we see and what we were hopeful for 2025 was that despite things feeling like at an all-time low, uh lifeless in itself, there was hope that like God would bring life to this lifeless stump, that God would nurture the roots and give life to it. And that's much more beautifully and eloquently said, I think, in our previous episode. That's why I said please listen to it.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Yeah. But as far as we talked about it the whole episode.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yeah. So as far as like how we have seen that in 2025.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Well, I think going back to it, you know, I uh I've mentioned this before, but that I'll never forget that conversation in in 2024. I'm flying home, I think I'm in one of the DC airports, I think I'm in like Reagan or Dulles, and you call me, and it's like midnight, I'm like three delayed flights, I'm not home. Uh I'm with a work partner, so I'm like two seats away from him, and Katie, you're having, I think, like that legitimately to me, like that was the low point on the f that phone call. You're like sobbing to me on the phone, and I think Take Root has shown that lifeless stump, you know. Um, until we've kind of were rediscussing what to talk about about this podcast. I hadn't even really considered, even though I was on the podcast with you, that you viewed yourself as the stump, right? Like in our fertility journey.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

I felt very stumpy.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Yeah. You were this beautiful stump.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Um that that like that phone call, I feel like signifies a very like peak moment of surrender for both of us.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

I think I just like allowed myself to feel the grief that I was trying to shut like shut out. Like I I wanted to be hopeful. I wanted to be okay. I wanted to, I didn't want to complain because it didn't felt like it didn't feel like I deserved to complain. All these things that I was trying to like put on this facade that I didn't feel the things that I was like feeling at my core. And then when we had that phone call, I think things just kind of came crashing down. Like I was like, nope, this is how I feel. It feels like the end of the world, even though it isn't the end of the world. I was finally like at my wit's end, and I remember on that phone call, like crying with you because I'm alone, you're gone, nobody's home with me. Um, having a hard time going to sleep. Shocker. I have horrible sleep anxiety. And you're just like, what can I do? And I said, fix it.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Fix it.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Even though I knew that was like an unreasonable thing to ask of you. Like, nobody, you couldn't fix it, I couldn't fix it. Like, only God could really provide me like the peace that I was searching for. And so, anyways, that was like the epitome of like the lifeless stump feeling that I was feeling. Yeah. And coming into 2025, I just feel like it was so fitting that like we chose this phrase because the minute that we chose this phrase, January comes, February comes, and we're pregnant. Like things just like happened so fast. So not only like I think I see a lot of like the hope that like that that verse in Isaiah is is trying to symbolize the hope of like Jesus bringing life to all this lifelessness in the world. Not only do I see that, but I also see it like in the way that God was teaching us how to live out our faith, kind of like you were talking about your family and what that meant in such a rapidly changing life. Like the the rapidly changing life that we are about to start living.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Yeah. But like overall, how did you feel about the word about the phrase? Like where looking back on it now, like I feel like that we we kind of explained why we chose it and where we were when we chose it. Looking back on it now, where do you see I mean very clearly with there was there's literal life in the stump now, right? But where else do you see it? You know, have you seen it in our lives over the last year?

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Gosh, I think I see it in like the change, in all the changes.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Um I don't really know if I'm answering your question correctly by saying that.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Like you like you say changes like the like all the changes.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Like if you remember, we talked about buying a house. Buying a house, having a baby, um, and you know, we had family stay with us for a while. We still have family staying with us. Um, I changed like positions in my job to accommodate like having a baby, and and then whether or not we wanted to, we had to buy a car.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

At the end of the year, we did all these very big life-changing things, which in actuality, like, life might not be full of all these big changes. Like, we're probably not gonna buy a house every year. Gosh, I hope not.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Or we probably won't financially we will be ruined.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

We probably won't be buying a car every year because hopefully we will not be wrecking our car anytime soon. Um so it might not be like all these big changes, but what I think this year has taught me is that in the change, whether small or big, the only thing that is constant is our faith.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

And that is where the idea, the concept of take root comes in. Like, how can you take root in the only thing that is steady in your life, which is your faith?

Change Is Constant Faith Is Home

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Well, I think about um I think initially going into it, I had the idea of like take root in you know the things that we are doing, you know, to your point, we're in this new house. We have, you know, our strong group of friends that we have in Greenville, our our church community, we have our family, like take root in those things is kind of where I um envisioned it starting off in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But looking back on it now, I'm realizing that you know, to your point, so much is going to change so constantly, like the only constant is change, right? Um that we need to take root in our faith and in Christ, and that is where we take root, you know. That is as long as that is where we go home to, as long as that is where we, you know, find ourselves in these moments of change, then we we can weather that storm. You know, we have those roots dug down deep to to hold us through. Um, because ultimately, as much as it it stinks to say, like we will not live in this house forever. At least I can't imagine. We're going to move again.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

We will probably not go to this church for the rest of our lives. Sure. We will probably not be friends with the same people we are now in 20 years. Our family, you know, we love them. It's gonna look different, but it's going to look different in 15 to 20 years, you know.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Um like we can't get so married to this idea of like normal for us because that normal is changing. So what doesn't change?

SPEAKER_00 20:33

There's only one thing.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Your faith. Your faith.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

The Lord.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Jesus Christ. Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Well, and and to quote you from our podcast where we talked about take root.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

I know you had already read I can't believe I said this.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

And I love it. And I think I think it really, really underlines like what we're trying to say here and exactly this, me or Saint Saint Aquinas. And in exactly how I felt like 2025 went. But you said the reasons why trees don't fall over all the time is because their roots are dug into the ground. They are firm because their roots are they're firm and they can handle the storms. And we are called to handle the storms of our life, the trials, the tribulations. And when we take root, we can handle those things better, which you said. I also like the idea, the imagery that the roots are the basis for where the tree gets fed. So the roots are where the water comes up and shoots through the rest of the plant, allowing the rest of the plant to grow. And I think that's the same thing for us. Like if we're taking root in our faith, taking root in our relationship with Christ, then that will seep into everything else and help the rest of our life.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

I can't believe I said that.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

So symbolic, so granola of you, which I think we said last time.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Very granola of me.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

But yeah, gosh, I really feel like that is what I learned a lot of last year. Like I like you said, I think we went into the year thinking, like, oh, we're finally like settling down. Yeah. Like we're finally gonna start building our family. And what that looked like to us in the beginning of the year was like we're gonna really like plan our roots in this house, in this life that we we're Building, but community God, I think, is showing us very um rapidly that He is the only thing that does not change and to take root in Him. And yeah, in another way too, it's really cool being Catholic because like my family, if we haven't, I don't even know if we already mentioned this. I think we did that there but they're in Europe doing a pilgrimage and like they're doing like they're visiting all these like really cool church historic sites where miracles have happened. Yeah. And they're also going to mass, of course.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

And so like the fact that like we can go to mass here at our dad served in uh one of the crypts, yeah, in Lords.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

And the fact that like we went to mass this morning um in our little old town, Greenville, South Carolina, and they went to Mass somewhere fancy in France, like that. Even though we're on opposite ends of the world, like that is our home. Yeah. And we can find our home in the church.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

It's the same mass, too.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

It's the same mass, whether it's a different language, we can find our home in the church no matter where we are in the world. And I think that just like spiritually and mentally, oh your mom's calling.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

And you have your ring.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Why do I have my ringer on?

SPEAKER_00 23:15

I just turn it. I can't.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Holy cow. Katie looked like an old woman there trying to turn her phone off. Holy cow.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Sorry, mom.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

She's calling again.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

How do I make it stop?

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Just turn your phone on silent. Or is it your eyes at the computer?

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Oh, well, I mean, we're sorry.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Man, the most chaotic podcast episode ever.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

We're not meant to record this episode.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

But we're gonna do it anyways.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

That's right. Power curve. Um but no, I I completely agree, and I think that that is she knew we were talking about her. Probably. Um, but again, I I really do just feel like that is the um the root of our faith. And you know, the reason why you and I love it so much is that you universality, I believe is a word, maybe of the faith. Um, you know, I was talking to a friend recently who said um and he he's his faith has grown a lot in the last couple of years. He's um I don't know, I guess not denominational, I don't even know what what he would classify himself as. Um, but he was just talking about how he's not necessarily like a huge fan of organized religion, um, because you know, he doesn't want those barriers in between he doesn't feel like there should be barriers between, you know, yourself and God. Um and while I completely understand where he's coming from, um I think when you look at the history of the church, uh Jesus is our root and is our base, right? Um and so much more beautiful is it that we can all stem from that same root um and that same base and that is what allows our our church to flourish even more, I think. Um, because we're we're so we are many drawing from one.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Yeah, I mean, and not to say that there aren't people in the Catholic Church that are trying to like stand in your way. Yeah, I mean, there are bad Catholics. For God, yeah. It's just it like what the church offers at its core is genuine and it is pure, and whether or not people corrupt it, that is on people.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

And that's also the church is pure, not necessarily the people in there. Yeah.

Choosing The 2026 Word Capacity

SPEAKER_01 25:26

And that's totally expected. But I think to solidify kind of our thoughts on 2025 and like what we're saying here in this moment, yeah, is coming into 2026 and like what that word looks like for us and what we have learned so far and what we hope to see in this year. Um, but all that to say, our 2026 word is It's one word. Actually, one word, and it's capacity. Capacity. And I feel like this is a good word, and where this word stems um is actually your sister. Shout out my sister, Katie Johnson inspired me to choose this word, and you kind of just went along with it because that's what you do.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Um, but yeah, this idea of capacity that we have the capacity to do the things that life throws at us.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

And I think that I especially was really struggling with feeling like I had the capacity to be a good mom. Yeah. And to do it well. And I remember watching Katie, I was like 38 weeks. No, that's I was 38 weeks when she was born. No, you were probably like six or seven weeks. Four weeks pregnant. I don't know. Something very and I were like I'm struggling to walk up and down these stairs because it is hot. We're at the beach, and I'm just having a really hard time. And I'm watching Katie just like so eloquently walk up and down these stairs with her five children one at a time, every like 30 minutes, it felt like. And she's just like there and she's just willing, and she's whether or not this child wants to go to the bathroom or like go upstairs to go to the pool or whatever it may have been, she just did it without really, you know, complaining, and just did it so well and so gracefully. And I just remember looking at her at the end of the trip and being like, Katie, I don't know how you do it with five kids. I don't even have the one yet, and I'm really struggling to carry myself up these stairs.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Yeah, yours has to walk around with you right now.

unknown 27:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

And she just kind of looked at me and laughed and was like, you know, you aren't like you don't start with five kids. Yeah. Like your capacity grows with each child. And then she reminded us of that again because one month into having MJ, we were both kind of down bad, struggling, trying to figure out why she's crying. Like, what do we do? How do we like how do we be good parents? And we texted her and we were like, Katie, how do you be a chill mom? Like, how do you do it? Yeah. I truly felt like that was gonna be me, and that was just not me.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

And again, she said, your capacity grows with each child. You just choose your battles.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

And it's okay for it to be hard because it is hard right now. Um, and it doesn't get easier because the kids get easier, it gets easier because you get more confident.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

Um, and so that just really stuck with me. And I was like, you know what? This is a recurring theme, and I need to trust that God will give me the capacity to do this well because clearly we were trusted with this life.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

And we were chosen to be her parents.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Correct, which is really cool to think about. It is really cool. And I think that there's a you know an awesome saying that um God doesn't call the qualify and he qualifies the called. Yeah. Um, and I just think about that in in terms of capacity because ultimately, and and you know, another saying that uh is common in our lives is when Jerry says all the time is, you know, God could have called rocks, but he called you instead or called us instead.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

And um I just think it's so cool that we're given the ability to say yes. We don't need the ability to speak or the ability to go out and evangelize, or the ability to go out and, you know, save the world. We just need to say yes. That is that is the that's all we're required to do. God then gives us the capacity to do the rest. To do the rest, you know.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

As long as we're willing and as long as we're open.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Yes, because we're drawing on his capacity, not our own.

Parenting Confidence And Daily Manna

SPEAKER_01 29:08

And any time that I have felt actually good about parenting as of the past seven months, is when I kind of just am like, okay, well, clearly she's crying, so something is wrong. God, like, what do you what do you want me to do? And anytime like I just kind of surrender and like just give it up to God, it it does feel so much easier. But the days that I'm like, well, I said I was gonna make sure she napped at 12:30 every day, and we did it yesterday, so surely we're gonna do it again today, and that doesn't happen. That is when I'm like in the most distress because I'm like I am trying to dictate how that day goes, and I'm realizing this is a recurring thing theme in my life. It just feels so much more prevalent because like I'm responsible for this child. Before it was just myself, so who cares? So much more raw me. Yeah, and and and it affects more people, like knowing that it not only affects like myself, it affects like my child and like my husband and the people around me feels yeah, it feels very vulnerable, and it makes you want to lean into it and heal whatever is causing like that wound in my heart. Um and so yeah, every day, just like choosing that to trust that I have the capacity, and like you said, like this stems from um the idea that the Lord will give you manna each day. And I actually found that verse, it is Exodus 16, 4. Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not. But like every day he gives you the manna to do whatever it is he calls you to do for that day. And this obviously applies outside of having children. I think that Mary Jo has just put this at the forefront of our hearts, but I'm realizing, and maybe you are too, yeah, this applies to literally everything, like your career, your um friendships, your family, your friendships, your family, the crosses that you choose or choose or do not choose to bear, like all the unexpected things in life, whether or not you feel prepared, and I am like the queen of needing to prepare to study, to know what's gonna happen, to know my next move. You literally, if you watch me closely, don't watch me closely because it's embarrassing. I will be like rehearsing what I'm going to do before I do it, especially at work, guys. If if you are a coworker and you're listening to this now, I'm embarrassed. But if you if you just like watch me and I'm like standing at my computer and I'm like about to handle, I don't know, a new situation. I'm just gonna be talking to myself.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Well, and I realize rehearsing how to do it. You are a preparer, but not a planner, which is interesting like a interesting, yeah. Like yeah, yeah. I don't plan. You wanna you don't you don't like planning, but you love preparing. I like to do it. You know, which is so interesting. Because I'm the exact opposite. I love planning. I hate preparing. Which is why we make such a good couple.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

I didn't really think that those two could be different, but you're right. Now that you put it into perspective, you're totally right.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

But no, I and I think that um, you know, one of the things you mentioned there was the um the carrying of our cross, right? Like we just we will have these different crosses that we carry throughout our lives. And we went to Mass um at St. William's a couple weeks ago, um, one of our favorite little parishes, when we go visit your parents, and the priest there gave a great homily. Um and one of the things that he spoke about, and I think we in our last episode talked about the the two Peters when we talked to your dad. Um the two Simons. The two Simons, yeah, sorry, not the two Peters. Simon Peter and Simon of Cyrene. Um, but the other thing he mentioned was that you know Simon was not expecting to carry that cross. He didn't wake up this morning and say, Hey, you know, I thank goodness I've been doing these push-ups, I'm shredded. I can help this strange man carry this cross up to the hill. Um he wasn't expecting that, you know. And he still, though, was called to carry that cross. But God gave him the strength to walk with his son. And I think that when you compare that to our own lives, like so often we're given these you know, oh, I'm dealt a quote unquote bad hand. Like, oh, I'm I'm so unlucky. And and truly, there are so many people who, you know, do have more crosses or harder crosses to bear than well, certainly than you and I do. Um but there no matter who you are, there are going to be times in your lives where unexpected problems come up. A family member family member has a terminal illness, um, you know, there's a a bad career change, there's a struggle with a friendship or a relationship. Like no matter what, you're going to experience these unwanted crosses.

SPEAKER_02 33:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

Um, and if you're not relying on God's capacity to help you through that, it's going to make it so much worse. Whereas if you turn to Him, you will have that capacity to carry that cross.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

I don't know. That's that's been like heavy on our hearts and on mind specifically. I feel like you just kind of let me let me do what I do. And you're like, yeah, that's how I feel too.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

What do you mean? What do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 34:13

Because I chose this word, I chose last year's word.

SPEAKER_00 34:15

Well, I to be fair, this was the first year that that I like I suggested a few words, and you said, It's capacity, we've already decided it. And I said, What? And you said, I had told you this, you know, I did tell you this. I'm sure you told me like we I was half asleep, and you're like, hey, you know, I've been praying about it this morning. I know that No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

I bet the conversation went like, hey, like, I really like this word. What do you think? And you're like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Well, and then I probably thought about it, like, what about a few other things?

SPEAKER_01 34:43

And you're like, No, no, no, you were already thinking about it because you didn't even remember you said it.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

That's probably true. No, but I did I did suggest some words this year.

SPEAKER_01 34:51

You did. You did suggest some words, but I was pretty set on this word.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

See, yeah, because like what's the point? Because I what I have to do is incept it. Like, if I really want a word, I have to like make you think that it's my words. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:06

Well, and to be fair, Katie inspired it, but I also came across um like an Instagram post that really like put it together for me. And I do want to share that because I need to give her credit. Her Instagram is Hain Lane King. Um I don't know how to say that right. Um, and she said, and she's the one that talks about like your capacity grows. Um, and I she had a really long caption explaining it, but she says in there, it wasn't that I wasn't supposed to feel the overwhelm, the exhaustion then, or the stretching of my capacity now and feeling such things. I get the privilege of surrendering and offering them. I get the joy of looking back at what the growing pains led to and excitement for what lies ahead and all that I might learn. How beautiful to think that day by day my capacity of all I can bear and offer will indeed grow. And I just thought that was a really I do really like that. Really, really cool concept because I'm here I am thinking about how less I am, like how how much I don't have to offer.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

How how it's not true, you're amazing.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

Well, I know that's what I'm saying. Like here I am being a Debbie Downer, thinking like I have so I don't have enough to give. I'm not good at this. I don't have the patience, I can't handle her cries. It I don't have that maternal instinct. All these like yeah, all these things that I can't do be gone, Satan. But like how beautiful it is to turn that around and be like, how awesome it is to know that I will grow. Yeah. And these things will come to me. They're not here right now.

SPEAKER_02 36:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

But they will come. And it's okay to feel overwhelmed. It's not like and I love that she just kind of like addresses the fact that you need you need to feel those feelings.

SPEAKER_02 36:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Kind of like back with the Washington phone call. Like I finally felt those feelings, and things took a turn because I felt like I was no longer denying how I truly felt, and I was just letting it come over me and also letting like the grace of God wash over me with that.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

The the phrase that stuck out to her reflection to me was the growing pains, right? And part of expanding your capacity, which is going to happen, is there are growing pains, right? It doesn't just happen seamlessly.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

Sure.

Growing Pains And New Thresholds

SPEAKER_00 37:13

And there are going to be growing pains. You know, I think about um I don't know why rock climbing is what came into my head right now because I've been climbing a lot. Well, less recently, but you know, over the last, you know, 18, 16 months, whatever, I've been climbing a lot more. And I think about how hard it is when I'm trying to like go up a level. And it's so challenging, you know, my arms hurt, I'm falling all the time, I'm scraping up on the wall. But once I finally do it, it it it I have boosted that capacity, and then you break through and you can you know like okay, all these climbs at this level I I do have the ability to do, you know? But it's not like I just went up to the wall without failing a bunch and just climbed right up it. You know, I I had to I had to work through that those moments, those growing pains to get there. Um you know, they I can't believe we didn't talk about this um last night. See, our minds weren't sharp. But there is um have you heard of like the five-minute mile barrier? So I can't even remember when people are gonna yell at me, but I think it was in like the 80s or maybe it was even earlier that, like the sixties. It used to be thought it was impossible to run a sub five-minute mile. Right? It just everybody, there was this barrier, maybe it was four minutes, I can't remember, four or five minutes. There was just this this subconscious barrier that everyone had that you simply no human can run faster than this.

SPEAKER_02 38:37

Right.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

And then somebody broke it. I don't know who, uh you know, credit to them. Uh, you know, and once that first person broke that what again, I can't remember, four or five minute mile barrier, then all of a sudden people were breaking. People were breaking left and right. And they realize that we do have the capacity to do these things, but it just has you have to believe you have to meet that threshold and you have to say yes. Ultimately, we don't train for it. Yeah, but well, and not even training for it. Ultimately, you can train to run as fast as you think you can, but unless you actually say, Yes, I'm going to do this, you're always going to cap yourself. Um not that I've been working out because I haven't, but I also saw this, which is something I really liked. Um they said this uh guy I was listening to was talking about counting down your reps instead of counting up, and how much how many more reps you'd be surprised at how many more reps you can do of a workout when you count down versus counting up.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

I think I always count down.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

Really?

SPEAKER_01 39:39

But I I don't get how that's like I'll start or start at 10, so then I I'll go 1090.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

But instead of trying to do as much as you can, you say, I'm going to do 16. And then, you know, maybe you've only done 14 before. Yeah. But instead, instead of trying to count up one, two, three, four, five, when you count down from sixteen, it feels not as bad as counting up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:00

But I mean, I do do that. I don't know if I did that subconsciously.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

Well, maybe you're so you're just a workout queen.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

No, not a workout queen. But in in the same vein, I I think you know, climbing is at the forefront of your mind. Our baby is at the forefront of mine all the time. I'm constantly thinking about like her nap schedule, when she needs to eat, what kind of developmental things could be happening. Is she teething with all these things? Because I'm trying to problem solve and I and sometimes can't solve the problem because there might not be a problem, anyways. The the idea of growing pains, like she is quite literally growing every single day. Like she's gonna grow more in her life in this first year of life than like all of these. And that's what I'm saying. Like, no wonder she's constantly changing, like, no wonder like there's always something happening, and in the same way as she changes, I do feel like I feel those changes in myself. Yeah, and when she regresses, guess what? I feel like I'm regressing too.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

I'm like, why are we both spiraling? Well, because I finally adjusted to something that felt normal for once, and then she just wanted to, you know, flip the script and try something different.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

Per cow.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

And we're both struggling because it's new for both of us. And in a way, I think what's really, really like I we've like, I feel like I'm tempted. I was talking this too with a friend, but I'm I'm tempted to treat her like a robot, and I'm sure a lot of new moms out there feel the same way. I'm t I'm tempted to to like implement these times, these these schedules that are just like not feasible because she is human. And then I realized I'm tempted, I'm tempted to treat myself like a robot in a lot of ways too. And I don't think I really would have put that together without having had a baby. Like I didn't realize how much I was trying to operate like a machine, yeah, and not a human.

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Well, and you know, again, going back to the word capacity, uh, what's interesting, this is such a better conversation than last night. So much better than last night. We were like at each other's throats last night. Uh a machine has a limited capacity. Oh, yes, that's so good. A car can only go a hundred, you know, whatever your spedom. It's not you can only floor your gas so much, and then the car can only go so fast. Right. As humans, we do not have there is no cap on our I mean, I guess we can't fly, but like the you know, for our capacity, speak for ourselves, but ultimately we made airplanes, right? Like we figured it out. Right. I almost said a bad word. Um uh like we we are untapped, we have so much potential, we have that capacity for everything because we can pull from an infinite source.

SPEAKER_01 42:39

Yes, um, yeah, no, and I just I really did not realize I was treating myself like that. Like I was like, I you know what? Like somebody put it into perspective as far as like advice for MJ. They're you know, like probably my mom, like she's not a robot, like follow her rhythms, like see like what she needs, like let her tell you.

SPEAKER_00 42:57

She's always late, MJ. She's always late on, she's never on time.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

Like, uh Nap was at 1230. What is she doing? But um, in in the way it just like hit me, like, wait a minute. I I'm also not a robot. Yeah, like I cannot be putting these expectations on myself to do things a certain way perfectly or whatever, because I like I'm not a robot and I'm human and I have like different needs every day. And um, and I just this idea of allowing giving her the space to be human, learning her as a human while also giving myself the space to be human as well. Like giving myself that same grace that I'm learning how to give her. And I don't think I ever would have done that or recognized that without her.

Marriage Meeting And Dog Trivia

SPEAKER_00 43:41

Yeah. So well, pray for us in our capacity that it may grow.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Every day we're we're trying, we're growing a lot, and that's exactly what this podcast is. So 2026, guys. Um Capacity is infinite.

SPEAKER_00 43:54

Oh my goodness, it is, isn't it? Um, so I have uh A marriage meeting for us. Great. Um, so I have to come up with a couple new questions because like like we said, we tried this. We tried this yesterday. Um, but I think the topic is still relevant. Um so we have four dogs staying with us, so I thought it'd be fun to do some doggy fight. Sacrifice? Oh yeah. Sacrifice. Just kidding. Sacrifice.

SPEAKER_01 44:21

Just kidding, we love it. Crucify them.

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Crucify them. Um, yeah, so alright. So my first question um, how old was the oldest dog?

SPEAKER_01 44:32

I'm gonna go with 25.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

You're pretty close. 31. Poppy.

SPEAKER_01 44:38

Oh, what kind of dog was he?

SPEAKER_00 44:39

You're gonna love, you're gonna love the dog.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

Oh my goodness. He's a big dog. I kind of expect.

SPEAKER_00 44:46

Like a 30-pound dog.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

But I expected it to be like a little bot a little dog. What kind of dog is that?

SPEAKER_00 44:51

I don't know. Some dog from Portuguese. From Portugal. From Portuguese. Uh that's something I would say. He's a Rafiero de Alejanto, a livestock guardian dog. Look at this picture of him with his little certificate as the oldest dog.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

I hope like he can even sit at 31.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

I mean, yeah, I hope he can sit.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

I mean, I just figured if you're that old, like you're just kind of just like rolled around.

SPEAKER_00 45:21

What kind of dog was Airbud?

SPEAKER_01 45:25

A golden retriever.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

Okay. Oh, oh. You said you sounded offended there.

SPEAKER_01 45:29

Because you know I love, like I loved all the dog movies. Like Lassie.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

Did you really? I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 45:33

I had like all the DVDs of Lassie.

unknown 45:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

The black and white movies.

SPEAKER_01 45:37

I was obsessed with Lassie. Um Airbud, yeah, all the dog movies.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Alright, let me see if I can find some more dog facts real quick.

SPEAKER_01 45:44

Threw you off there. I knew both of those. Oh, it just I know.

SPEAKER_00 45:47

I thought I'd be I thought you'd have a long a little bit longer. Um, alright.

SPEAKER_01 45:51

Ooh, how about this? I'm turning this around on you. Marriage meeting tables have turns. Oh my goodness. Who was my first dog?

SPEAKER_00 45:59

Oh, not Zoe, right?

SPEAKER_01 46:01

No, not Zoe.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

Fido? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

What kind of dog was he?

SPEAKER_00 46:04

Pitbull? No, no, I'm sorry, sorry. Uh bulldog. No. Frenchie?

SPEAKER_01 46:09

No.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

No idea.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

Pug. You're very close. He is of the Wrinkly kind.

SPEAKER_00 46:13

Didn't he um like because he couldn't breathe?

SPEAKER_01 46:18

Overheated.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

Yeah, he was hot, right?

SPEAKER_01 46:21

He was too hot. Um what um what other exotic animals have I had?

SPEAKER_00 46:28

You had a bird. I did. That was an easy one. You had a bunny for a little while. Yes. Um oh wait, well this is all right, here's this will be our last little fact, but this is sad because it reminds me of Lucy. Aging dogs often get new nighttime fears.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Wait, what new nighttime fears?

SPEAKER_00 46:46

If your senior pup suddenly seems anxious after dark, it might be more than quirkiness. They often sleep more or develop new fears, typically at night, because their vision may deteriorate. Lucy does get a little stressed at night now.

SPEAKER_01 46:59

I you think so. I I also reminds me of just like in general, like even like older people.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

Just get anxious at nighttime.

SPEAKER_01 47:06

Well, they start sundowning. It's called sundowning. I mean it's like for you know, like patients that have dementia, Alzheimer's, like when the when the sun starts to set, they like turn into like werewolves? Kind of.

SPEAKER_00 47:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:20

Well, it like they get a little bit more like anxious. They get a little bit some of them get a little aggressive.

SPEAKER_00 47:26

That's how that's gotta just be coded in the DNA, right?

SPEAKER_01 47:29

Like nighttime is danger, so like we're like it'll be like a sweet, pleasantly demented lady, and then all of a sudden nighttime comes and she's like throwing chairs at you. Like not all of these ladies do that. Well, yeah, I imagine it's not that it reminds me of like if so dogs, I guess, also sundown.

SPEAKER_00 47:46

Lucy's sundowning. Sorry, Lou.

SPEAKER_01 47:49

She's not that old. You've been talking about her being old for like years, and she's she's six. She's only six, but you have to have been having these conversations since she was like four, so we need to stop like talking it into a dog.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

But six in big dogs.

SPEAKER_01 48:02

One day she's actually gonna be like ten, and I'm gonna be like, Well, how why do I feel like we've been talking about her being old for like five years? Let's try and talk about her being like middle age.

SPEAKER_00 48:11

Oh, yep, there's Molly.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

There's Molly, and that is our sign to be done.

SPEAKER_00 48:15

Yep. Molly said she's done listening to us.

SPEAKER_01 48:19

But thank you guys for listening. This conversation turned out a lot better, and I'm glad that this is the version you're hearing, even though it was still chaotic. Yeah. And shout out. Yeah. What did we say?

SPEAKER_00 48:30

I don't know. You got it.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

Let's keep growing together. Bye, guys.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

Bye y'all.