Episode 132: We Didn’t Plan to Have Seven Kids: Accommodating Life w/ Barbra Bottaro

Welcome to Episode 132 of the Being Human Podcast: We Didn’t Plan to Have Seven Kids: Accommodating Life w/ Barbra Bottaro

This week, Dr. Greg welcomes his wife Barbra (and their baby, David) to the show for a fun episode about the joys and challenges of the vocation to marriage and the call to be generous in love!

Discussed in this episode:

• Learning how to parent as a process of trial and error, learning from mistakes, and adapting;
• Relying on God's grace and others in one’s community as necessary when navigating the challenges of family life;
• How the spirit of generosity in love that Christians are called to is being eroded by the contraceptive mentality prevalent in our culture;
• Accommodating life rather than having life accommodate to one’s desires and needs;
• The family as a community and school of love and the natural progression of having children;
• The importance of trusting God to provide for what is needed for the lives He entrusts to one’s care;
• Love as a duty, responsibility, and challenge rather than just a good feeling;
• Striving to give 100% to one’s spouse in marriage rather than relying on a 50/50 split of responsibilities;
• The importance of being intentional in noticing and caring for each child's needs as a way to teach them self-worth;
• The necessity of working through wounds from one’s family-of-origin in order not to pass them along to one’s children;
• The great need for parental love in our culture and ways that couples can love others without being a biological parent;
• Complementarity between the married and consecrated vocations and how each vocation can benefit the other.

Resources mentioned or relevant:

• Letter to Families from Pope John Paul II;
• A Marriage Built to Last - Dr. Greg’s 8-part relationships course;
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