Annie Muller: Hello, welcome back to Fiat in the Mess. I'm Annie Muller. here with Hayley Skinner. How are you, Hayley?

Hailey Skinner: Doing very well, happy Easter Annie.

Annie Muller: Happy Easter! Yes, praise the Lord. Lent is over. It's always such a beautiful relief.

Hailey Skinner: Hmm, amen.

Annie Muller: This is so silly, but one of the things I gave up for Lent was heavy cream in my coffee. So it's one of those keto things, you know, I started years ago and then like could not ever go back to half and half or milk or whatever. And so I thought, okay, this would be hard. It was the hardest thing. I gave up other things that would arguably be harder.

Hailey Skinner: I bet.

Annie Muller: But every morning it was like this, OK, Jesus, I can do it because I didn't have my heavy cream. So it's like this new, beautiful awakening every morning when I don't want to get out of bed. think, ⁓ but Jesus is risen. I can put heavy cream in my coffee.

Hailey Skinner: It really is the little things Annie, it's those little things that keep you going.

Annie Muller: Isn't it? Yes, yes. Okay. Well in today's episode, we are going to discuss what it means that mother, the mother is the heart of the home. So we'll look of course at our blessed mother and consider her as the heart of the home for both Jesus and then subsequently John and all of us. But by extension, we want to spend some time just considering what does it mean that we are the heart of the home and then the wisdom of St. John Paul the second on this subject. And then we'll talk about some some practical ways that we can create the home we want and the home and the heart that we know we're called to ⁓ by the Lord even in spite of all the chaos and sleep deprivation and our failures. So we began with Mary's Fiat and the Annunciation and then immediately we're meeting her at the foot of the cross ⁓ a later. And in just two episodes, we've discussed the beginning ⁓ of earthly motherhood and the end. ⁓ And so ⁓ as reflect on Mary's Fiat from Christ's birth to Christ's death, from womb to tomb. We aren't given a lot of details, obviously, about Mary's daily life or Christ's daily life, but we certainly have a lot we can reflect on when we think about Mary as the heart of Christ's earthly home and then subsequently our home in her. So, Haley, why don't you take us through, you have a beautiful reflection and story from talking to your sister. Why don't you tell us about that?

Hailey Skinner: Yeah, I definitely want to give credit where it's due. My wonderful sister shared this insight with me that I think just beautifully ties together where we've been and introduces where we want to go. And she was sharing with me her reflections on the fiat of Joseph and the fiat of John, the two men to whom she got and trusts our lady to. And at these two very important scenes that we've discussed, St. Joseph, St. John. ⁓ Each of them giving their own yes to God precisely by taking Mary into their home And so right at the beginning of Matthew's gospel the angel Gabriel visits him and says Joseph Do not be afraid to take Mary into your home and later he wakes up from his dream He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and he took his wife into his home So what struck me was this question? ⁓ What is Joseph's home with Mary at the heart of it? Right. And then then later we know that's the home of the Holy Family. ⁓ There's so much we could say about that, and I'm sure we'll we'll reflect on that together throughout this season. But fast forward to the next scene at the foot of the cross, behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her into his home. So what is John's home like with Mary at the heart of it? So that kind of brings us to the topic of today's episode as of the mother, the mother, truly the heart of the home.

Annie Muller: Yeah, I love that. when you shared that, the first thing I thought was, ⁓ look at that. It's the two very distinct seasons of motherhood. Joseph brings Mary into his home and they have this infant son and it's the infancy of their family. And then with John, she's an old woman or older. mean, I guess she's not old old, but because she was so young when Jesus was born. But she's in the latter stages of her life and Christ. He's leaving. Well, first, of course, he dies. Resurrecting coming back to her and then in the Ascension having to say goodbye to him again and just the of course she had all the grace and wisdom to receive what that meant. But I still think there had to be human grief involved of he's not going to be right there with her to touch him and to be with him. And so I think it's beautiful that the Lord gives us these two distinct seasons of life. that we can observe Mary in her motherhood. What a beautiful question. I never really considered that. Like, what did that look like? What does Joseph's home look like because he brought Mary into it? And what is John's? How did John's home and life change because Christ gifted his mother to him and to all of us? So there is something so beautiful about us being the heart of the home, regardless of the season we find ourselves in. So in your season, The heart of the home is put upon constantly and is needed constantly and is not seen a whole lot or really well and is exhausted and the physicality of it is so difficult. And so the challenges of being the heart you want to be are many and varied. And then in my season of life. We are invisible in our own way because our children's needs are so different and they don't ⁓ involve our daily participation in the same way. And there's a lot of letting go and a lot of standing back ⁓ a lot of ⁓ God fulfill what he wants in their lives ⁓ letting him do that without our hands in the dough, so to speak, quite as much. but both instances, we have this beautiful opportunity to be ⁓ the place to land, to be the heartbeat of whatever season our children find ourselves in. So ⁓ with as our model, I think there's a lot of merit in considering. what it means that each of these men of God in these seasons of life were called to bring her into the home. that we are called to do the same, to bring her into the heart, to bring Christ into the heart of our home. So whether we're home all day long, whether we work full time or part time, we are the heart of the home. Whether we embrace it and recognize it or not, that's still what we are. So we need to see this as the design of a loving God, that we are a great and significant gift to our families and that we're uniquely chosen to be the mother of these particular children. I know we've said this before, but I think it bears repeating that The biggest lie the enemy tries to tell us as moms is that we're failing our particular children. You know, "you don't know what they need," or "you can't handle this cross or this thing." And we're so hard on ourselves as far as our ability to to juggle everything the Lord's given us. it's particularly important to remember that we were given these particular children for such a time as this when we're failing, when we feel like we're not doing a good job. ⁓ So we wanna bring up a little, we wanna talk about what St. John Paul II says about this because he's just ⁓ I mean, ⁓ like the patron of women and of mothers ⁓ he was so, attuned to gifts that the Lord has given women ⁓ the attack of the culture on women and on those gifts. So I love the way he he places the gift of femininity in its rightful context of self gift. So if we're looking at Moliere's Dignitatum that St. John Paul II wrote on the dignity of occasion of women, he says a woman's dignity is closely connected with the love which she receives by the very reason of her femininity. It is likewise connected with the love which she gives in return. The truth about the person and about love is thus confirmed. With regard to the truth about the person, we must turn again to Second Vatican Council. And he quotes the council here, that man who is the only creature on earth that God willed for its own sake cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of self. This is something that at Mighty is her call we quote all the time because this is where we find the deepest, most beautiful purpose of our vocation in ⁓ the reality of that sentence that our sincere gift of self is where we find most ⁓ our most fulfillment as a human, actualization is what God truly wants us to be. And so doesn't that change how we see our vocation? That if we see it as Christ living in us as we were created for self-gift, then there's like what better vocation to embrace self-gift than mother because it's forced on you whether you want it or not. There are other vocations where you can skirt it, you know, but motherhood you really can't from the very beginning. It is self gift. So again, if we look at Mary and the gift she is to Joseph in those early years of motherhood and then the gift she is to John in her later years, we know that those seasons are different, but the posture of her heart is the same and her self gift was constant. So, Hailey, I'm sure you have thoughts on that, especially because you're still in the phase where people can grow inside your body. So there's a lot of self-gift going on. So what are some supporting principles, I guess, that help us understand what it means that as an act of self-gift, we are the heart of the home. What do you think that means?

Hailey Skinner: Right. Right. I have so many thoughts about this, but I just want to start by pointing out what might be super obvious. And you were, you were touching on this, just on the physical level, a mother is kind of imposed upon, right? You're growing a life inside your womb. You are the first home. The mother is the first home, just on the physical level. And so connecting it back to Mary, we know that she's the first tabernacle, her womb becoming the first home for Christ on earth.

Annie Muller: Ha

Hailey Skinner: ⁓ know that none of us is Mary. I am not perfect by any means. ⁓ and we may or may not feel like we're the best homemakers and that's okay. That's really not what we're talking about. ⁓ but what is true for each of us and worth sharing is the simple reminder that you in your body first, and then in your heart, you are the home. And we see that we see that just in you bearing this life into the world. ⁓ I feel like I was kind of thrown into this realization at the start of my marriage and motherhood. think if I'm counting correctly, I think we moved a total of nine times. Like the place we called home in two years changed nine times. ⁓ We were constantly traveling for work. And so when I was pregnant, I really learned this that my womb is the sacred space where my child is nourished and fed and loved. so wherever I find myself in the world, whatever place I call home, he's safe and cozy within me. And so I'm his home. so this concept, my concept of home then and now is not just defined by the physical dwelling place or the building that we find ourselves in that I'm cultivating and part of my role that is to create order and beauty and structure and routine. ⁓ And I'm sure we'll find a time to talk about all of that. ⁓ But really what we're getting at right now ⁓ is that there's something deeper than just the physical building of the house. And it's the woman who fosters that sense of home. It's more about the communion of persons that's taking place within the house. It's my role as the mother to set the tone for that. It's the role of the mother to really prepare the environment for that communion of persons. And women have been given incredible gifts, unique gifts of, I think, emotional and relational intelligence to do this really well. And I think that's what John Paul II is talking about when he speaks of the feminine genius. ⁓ And another letter that he wrote to women, it's just called the Letter to Women, which I highly recommend you read and will attach links to all of these in the show notes. He said the following, necessary emphasis should be placed on the genius of women, not only by considering great and famous women of the past or present, but also those ordinary women.

Annie Muller: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Hailey Skinner: who reveal the gift of their womanhood by placing themselves at the service of others in their everyday lives. For in giving themselves to others each day, women fulfill their deepest vocation. Perhaps more than men, women acknowledge the person because they see persons in their hearts. So this is touching back to the quote you stated earlier, ⁓ kind of tying together John Paul's thought about the woman being so gifted at seeing the person. And he's talking about ordinary women just like you and me and how we are so blessed with this feminine genius.

Annie Muller: Right. Yeah, and he was so wonderful about that, about being sure we understood. Like, I'm talking about you. I'm talking about you who think you don't matter or think you're not doing big work. And that he, it was all women. He had such an appreciation for the way God created us and that we are so essential to the kingdom of heaven, to the plan of salvation. So I love that line. I love when he says they see persons with their hearts. I mean, that's exactly what we're talking about. And we live in this culture that is constantly trying to tell us that men and women are the same, even going so far as to try to just erase the uniqueness of women altogether by saying it's a feeling or a construct or, you know, all the lies we're filtering all the time. But We talked last time about how women are the pinnacle of creation. We also know that as women, have this really unique and sacred ability to create life and then to sustain life. So this is a hugely unique gift given to us by the Lord. And even if our fertility is broken and there's something in the fallen world where we can't conceive naturally or we can't have as many children as we want or any children, what JP2 says, beautifully is that it is the heart of the woman. It's not about utility. It's not about how many babies you can have or can you have. It's God created you for this work and and your your vocation is to find how he wants to uniquely use your gifts and talents in this way in the feminine genius. perhaps our children come to us by way of adoption and And there's still all of those gifts of nurturing self-gift, of seeing the human person. That's all there. That's all still there. It's not contingent on our ability to reproduce. And then, of course, we have the beautiful example of women like Mother Teresa, who didn't have earthly children, but had thousands of earthly children that she cared for as they died, as they were sick in the poorest. you know, the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. So that's what we're talking about too, is that it's the heart of the woman and that we need to embrace that and we need to be grateful for it and we need to not let the world lie to us that what we're doing is small or what we're doing is less than or that it's not important. but that it is so Christ-like, because it is by its nature creation. It's by its nature gift. It's by its nature sacrifice. And so there's just so much there to be grateful for. it's just mind-blowing, really. And if you're listening and you think, I don't know if I'm the heart of the home. I'm a mess. I haven't showered in days. My laundry's piled up. The floors are dirty. I hate when my kids ask me what's for dinner. Just FYI, that doesn't really go away in my experience. I've been making dinner for 25 years. I still don't really ⁓ love that question. you know, self-gift. It's okay. I am grateful that I get to feed them. ⁓ you know, ask yourself, if you're doubting that you're the heart, ask yourself, who do your kids want? when they wake up? Who do they cry for when they're hurt? ⁓ Have you ever gone to the bathroom alone since your children were born? Probably not. I I remember when all my kids were little and I would just marvel that my husband could go to the bathroom and shut the door and people would just leave him alone. To the point of resentment where I'm like, I'm sorry, I don't understand. And I remember my boys being like, I'd be like, well, ask your dad. ⁓ dad's in the bathroom. I don't, that doesn't, and I remember this one time. was in, I mean, I'm sure this happened multiple times, but we can all relate. Where I was in the bathroom and like literally nursing a baby while trying to go to the bathroom. And there's like a toddler who's trying to get on my lap, you know, because there's so much room. And then there's like another toddler like driving his cars on the floor. And I just thought. I just wanted to cry and I remember this vivid moment. I still pictured this teeny tiny bathroom in our teeny tiny house and I felt like the Holy Spirit whispered to me, look how much they love you. They just want to be near you and they're at peace. And I had, I just started laughing because I had just been trying to have a prayer time like shortly before that and everybody woke up earlier than they were supposed to and you know, disturbed all my peace and ⁓ And in my scattered distracted prayer, I had been saying to the Lord, I just want to be near you. just I just want to be near you. I can't spend all the time I want. can't dive into scripture the way I want to. But just be near to me today. And then in that moment, when I was completely annoyed that I had no space, it was like the Lord was saying, see, they just want to be near you. That same desire, that desire in us. to just want to be close to the Lord. It's so reflective in our vocation because particularly in those years when they're all small, they just want you. We were in Easter mass, ⁓ my gosh, Easter mass, and there was this beautiful family in front of us. We haven't done Easter morning in a long time because as soon as my kids got old enough to survive a vigil, we went back to the vigil. And then this year I thought, let's do a Sunday morning. I think that would be nice. So there's this, and I was a little emotional. My son who's getting married was with us, and my other son was home from college. And I was looking around at all these little families and just kind of tearing up remembering Easter morning and knowing it was so hard to get there. It was so hard to take the candy away and get them in the pew. And there was ⁓ this family right in front of us, and the mom was probably eight months pregnant. and she had two other kids under three and they were all on her. Like she was holding the one year old, the two and a half or three year old was trying to sit in her lap of which she had no real estate because she was very pregnant. And I saw the dad look over at her like, I don't know, like he was trying to help her and they were like, I just need mom. That is how it is. They just want to be near us. And isn't that the reflection of them wanting to be in the heart? They just want to be near their moms.

Hailey Skinner: Mm. It's amazing.

Annie Muller: OK, so what if if we are the heart, are obviously. ⁓ further implications of what does that mean? Not just what does the Lord require of us, but what is available to us by the power of the Holy Spirit as we form these people. So, Haley, why don't you talk a little bit about that, of just like the immense power of the domestic church and what Christ is calling us to and the, not just the responsibility, but the the awe and the gift of being kind of the heart of what the Lord is wanting to do for the kingdom of heaven.

Hailey Skinner: Absolutely. Yeah, in the life of the family, we're seeing that the mother has this immense power, as you said. And really, what I'm struck by is kind of how daunting that is and how exciting that is at the same time, that that means that my virtues are gonna be on full display for my children and my husband and people who come into my home, God willing, my virtues.

Annie Muller: Mm-hmm.

Hailey Skinner: Also, my vices will really set the tone for everyone else in the household, for the spirit, the culture, the atmosphere of my home. ⁓ So it doesn't really matter what your house looks like, how big or small it is, how clean it is, what country you live in. Really, we're talking about this interior state of the mother who demonstrates her love for her family or is really struggling, right? But her virtues and her vices, ⁓ will determine the rest of the culture, the atmosphere of the home. And so I wanted to share a story that I recently heard, and I think we learned this through the story of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I read this story from ⁓ book, actually, Motherhood, An Extraordinary Vocation by Dr. Roms ⁓ the theology of home you may have heard of. So in case you want to read more about those stories and more from those texts, we'll attach those links into the show notes. But I find her story so encouraging and in many ways relatable. Elizabeth Ann Seton was a wife, actually a young widow, a mother of five and a professional. She went on to open the first free school for Catholic girls that became the beginning of the parochial school system that we have in the U.S. today. And she's the first American born saint to be canonized. a wife and a mother. How awesome is that? ⁓ So there's so much to be said about her life, but the story I want to share today is about her making a home for her dying husband in his last two months of his life. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had also recently gone bankrupt. So they find themselves in this awful situation. He's sick and dying. Their family is poor. They have five young children. So Elizabeth takes him and one of their daughters.

Annie Muller: Yeah.

Hailey Skinner: from New York City to the coast of Italy to be in the warmer climate in hopes of him recovering or dying in a peaceful place. And because of his condition, they're quarantined immediately and given this tiny little room. And there's a quote saying that it consists of a brick floor, naked walls, and a jug of water. Tiny, gross little room.

Annie Muller: ⁓ my gosh, yeah.

Hailey Skinner: And her biographer says about Elizabeth, this is a quote from her biographer, her soul gave warmth to the cold room and her love of God throughout her trials provided hope. She was grief stricken and naturally anxious at times. How relatable is that? But not incapacitated or selfish. And only a woman blessed with the hidden virtues of humility, perseverance, self-control and peace could transform such a wretched room.

Annie Muller: You Hmm. Mm.

Hailey Skinner: into a place of domestic beauty where spiritual healing could take place. So I actually have chills just reading this quote out loud. But what an incredible story that shows truly a mother's ability to make a house and really make a shack into a comfortable, peaceful home. And it's her virtues on full display here that bless her husband as she helped him prepare for his death. And we also know

Annie Muller: Mmm. You

Hailey Skinner: that the opposite can be true in terms of a mother's vices. But here we see the life of a saint and her virtues on full display.

Annie Muller: Yeah, that's awesome. I love that story. Just that warmth to a cold room. Isn't that what we hope we are? And it can't it can be a little scary when we realize how much we set the tone for our family because it is a pretty awesome responsibility and. You know, we're tasked with raising saints and making these selfish little toddlers into good people. And ⁓ obviously we could spend a lot of time talking about discipline or ways to do that. But that's not what this episode is about. So I think it's worth reflecting, ⁓ you know, as we consider these things. And I'm always I'm big on like, OK, what now? I, you know, I appreciate. all this these great ideas and all the feminine genius but what am I supposed to do about actually mothering these people you know what what do I do with I have vices they're coming out how do I handle the pressure of daily life and still hope that the Lord is doing these things so I think I think it's worth just stopping and reflecting on what What virtues do I want displayed in my home? Because of course, we want all of them. We want to be virtuous. But we all have certain strengths and gifts in particular areas. So there are going to be virtues that come more naturally. And I say, lean into those first. If you are a naturally patient person, then lean into How do we make my home a place of peace and patience? How do I model that for my children? Now, of course, if we're not naturally patient, it doesn't mean that we just forget the virtue of patience. But what I'm saying is I think it's important to start with your strengths and to just consider what do I want the mood of my home life to be? What do I hope people say when they leave? Is it a place of joy? Is it a place of peace? Is it a place of generosity and hospitality? And we can usually find those things by recognizing our own strengths and our own gifts. ⁓ I love using the fruits of the Holy Spirit as just a really good place to start, especially when it comes to little children and trying to kind of figure out, how do we help them navigate the virtues? Because you'll notice, I just spend a little time in Galatians, reading what the fruits of the spirit are. And subsequently, you at the beginning of that passage in Galatians, he talks about all the vices of the world first. So he talks about, you know, selfishness and fornication and lying and anger. And then he says, but, you know, we have the anecdote, basically. And then he goes into the fruits of spirit, love, joy, peace, patience. And so I love the way Paul does that because he gives us this perfect juxtaposition. Like you can live like this or the Holy Spirit is here and so we can live with these virtues with these fruits and then just find ways to highlight those. So one thing I always did when my kids were little. Now I am a person who loved charts and poster board and that might not be you and that is okay. You do not have to have systems. I'm a systems person. It's just the way God made me and the way my mother was. So, you know, some of it has passed down, but I, we would pick a fruit of the spirit every month and it was just, we would just focus on that spirit. So joy or peace or patience. And then I would just work very hard to find times to celebrate when my kids were showing that virtue or showing that. And then, and then also I would make sure that I was very realistic and took those opportunities to apologize and ask for forgiveness when I didn't use that virtue or that for the spirit. So if it was patience and I was impatient, then I would say, please forgive mommy. I am not being patient. And we have been asking the Holy Spirit to help us with patience and I just blew it. So please forgive me. And, you know, we can all move on together. So there are just those moments. that we have the opportunity. And even now, my kids are older and I'm, you know, we still, well, they still make fun of me a little bit for all my systems and charts, but they remember, they remember them. But we can, like, they have a habit of recognizing that virtue in other people. So they do it kind of as a joke sometimes, but they'll be like, ⁓ well, that was, he was being very patient. He should get a star, that was really hard, you know, so. just kind of fostering this appreciation for virtue. Because what virtue really is, is habit, right? Where we create these habits of responding in a way that is counter to our nature or the way we want to actually respond to people. And so in doing so, we're seeing the way our children need to grow and the way we need to grow as well. So we can. we can talk a little more about that, of like discerning what virtues we want in our home. ⁓ But I also thought it's worth pointing out if we're talking about kind of principles of mother being the heart of the home. So before you young mothers are like, I can't relate to anything you're saying, this all sounds too hard. ⁓ want to encourage you that a huge part of seeing ⁓ heart of your home grow. and be that warmth that we saw that we talked about with Elizabeth Ann Seaton is to have a heart of prayer and that that distinct principle the heart of the home in the sense that all it requires is the offering of your daily sacrifice. So I'm not saying when I say prayer, I don't want you to think, well, great. Now she's telling me I have to have a holy hour. So this woman's really out of touch. She forgets. No, ⁓ life is a prayer and your life, particularly with young children, is a daily sacrifice of prayer, that living sacrifice. And so just like back to that story of me on the toilet thinking, good Lord, I can't breathe, know, just remembering, okay, this is all about bringing my family nearer to Christ. And that's the desire of my heart. That's, I mean, that is the desire of all of our hearts. We want our children to know Jesus and we want them to get to heaven and we want them to be with us in eternity. And if we can get past the mess and the noise and the expectations and focus on that, we find a tremendous amount of peace.

Hailey Skinner: Annie, what you're saying just reminds me of last night and this morning in my home. My daughter is not sleeping through the night. She's up multiple times throughout the night just wanting mama. She's 10 months old now crying in the middle of the night saying mama, which is new. And I wake up exhausted multiple times and I hear my little daughter saying mama and all she wants is me. And like, how loved am I? I am desired. I am needed.

Annie Muller: you

Hailey Skinner: ⁓ I wake up and nurse her and then put her back in her bed and my little baby falls back asleep. it's such a joy to be needed by her, to nourish her, to feed her from my body, ⁓ comfort her, to help her back to sleep. ⁓ it's so beautiful, this analogy that you're drawing, like that is what God does for us when we're tired, when we're scared, when we're in the dark, when we want ⁓ mother, our father, like we cry out to God and he comforts us. ⁓ helps us back to sleep. He's present to us in the dark. ⁓ So I come to you today exhausted and very soon after we woke up my, you know, my son is potty training. So he runs to the potty screaming for help and his diapers or his pull up is on the ground and he's making a mess and my daughter is screaming and pee everywhere and I'm in the middle of cooking eggs and now my eggs are burning and you know, my daughter

Annie Muller: ⁓ it's hard. And there's pee everywhere.

Hailey Skinner: just crawling away towards the diaper that is on the ground. And you know how that story goes. That was my morning this morning, ⁓ maybe some of you can relate. I just think it's all so beautiful that God is just asking me to give that to Him. That is my prayer. I do my very best to sit still for a moment and to make a daily offering, have a prayer time.

Annie Muller: Sure.

Hailey Skinner: But ⁓ all honesty, my prayer this morning was, Lord, I'm exhausted. I give it to you. Lord, my children are crazy. I give them to you. And of as a concluding thought, ⁓ I just wanted to read this quote from John Paul the second, another quote from his letter to women ⁓ again about this feminine genius ⁓ and of wrapping up with our mama, ⁓ with We turn to Mary again. as our mother, as our queen, as, kind of the pinnacle of, of creation, but as, the model how to live our domestic life as mothers and as homemakers Here is a quote from ⁓ the letter to women. The church sees in Mary the highest of the feminine genius and she finds in her a source of constant inspiration. Mary called herself the Handmaid of the Lord. Through obedience to the Word of God, she accepted her lofty, yet not easy vocation as wife and mother in the family of Nazareth. Putting herself at God's service, she also put herself at the service of others, a service of love. Precisely through this service, Mary was able to experience in her life a mysterious but authentic reign. It is not by chance that she is invoked as Queen of Heaven and Earth. The entire community of believers thus invokes her. Many nations and people call upon her as their queen. For her to reign is to serve. Her service is to reign. So as we're kind of concluding these thoughts about the mother as the heart of the home, I think John Paul would agree that we deserve the title Queen Mother. Maybe this makes me laugh. ⁓ your story back to the toilet, like rain on your throne with your children in your arms.

Annie Muller: I just didn't see it then, but I see it now. Yes, that was it.

Hailey Skinner: Maybe that's too much. Queen Mother. But I think now's the time to start training my children to call me Queen, right? What do you think, Annie?

Annie Muller: Yes, it's too late for me, but I say you should do it. I think we should try that. Queen mama. Just get your husband to start doing it first and then we'll see.

Hailey Skinner: Absolutely. But how beautiful that my life as queen of this home, heart of this home, mother of this home is not to reign as a dictator, but to reign through love and through service, through self-gift.

Annie Muller: Hmm. Yeah. And it's so beautiful the way John Paul II ⁓ this particular dignity to women that ⁓ not because of course he saw the degradation of motherhood, the people moving away from it, speaking poorly about it. And he has this he's saying, no, they're queen. You're the queen of your home as Mary is the queen of heaven, as Mary is the queen of our hearts. And so ⁓ is just such ⁓ dignity in that and and a special calling and vocation. It's a it's a big job, but it's one that's so important and beautiful. So if if we are the heart of the home, then our greatest desire is that our heart is at rest. And we know, as Augustine says, our hearts are restless until they rest in the Lord. And so our primary goal is that we are at rest and at peace in the heart of Jesus and that we manifest that love and that peace to our family to pull them in to the heart of Christ. And like Haley has said many times and I today too, this is not about the state of your home. It is not about how organized you are or how clean things are. It's about welcoming the Holy Spirit. into your domestic church and being the place of rest and the place of peace for your family. So we're so glad that y'all joined us today. Thank you for coming. Please like and share. Send this to somebody who you think of as the heart of their home, who blesses you and blesses those around them. You can always reach out to us at Annie at Mighty is Her Call with questions or comments or topics you want to hear discussed. And we want to hear from you. We are praying for you. We're so glad you're here and we hope you can keep living your fiat in the mess. We'll see you next time.