From Darkness to Light Online

Download On the Website Only

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 17:38:57 +0000

Thank you to all who have listened to this podcast or read my posts. It has been greatly appreciated. Even after over three years of completing this project, I still continue to get negative feedback from family members about it. I have decided to take the podcast down from iTunes and Stitcher. You can still download the episodes from the website. Thank you for understanding.

080 – From Darkness to Light – Thank You and God Bless

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 23:16:26 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– A few weeks ago I went on a weekend long retreat. Here are my photos.

– Journaling: What is it that my heart prays for most? What is my intention? What is your innate purity and essential nature? What is under your clay shell?

– This is what I have to say to you…

– Eye mandala: What is visible through your eye of presence in the now?

– “Gone Are the Dark Days” by Point of Grace – Lyrics

– Written messages added to mandala

– “Everything you’ve ever done, every person you’ve ever met, every experience you’ve ever had, is a part of who you are today. Adding interesting layers to your being, and colorful depths to your soul. Everything needed to be as it was, so you could grow as you did and do.”

– Clare of Assisi’s letter to Agnes of Prague

– Awakening Now by Danna Faulds

– The decision to end the podcast with episode 80

– Thank you for your support

– You are not broken or in need of fixing by Matt Licata, PhD

– Please stay in touch!

Thank you for listening and thank you for opportunity to be a part of your life for the past 80 episodes. It has been an honor and a privilege. Until we meet again, God bless.

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website.

Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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079 – From Darkness to Light – When Emotions Get the Best of You

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 23:59:45 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Many emotions clouded my experiences for years

– I spent much time “In my own little corner, in my little room”

– Through my healing process I discovered that I didn’t want to be invisible and hidden away

– Emotions are very powerful and have very lasting effects

– I am exceptionally grateful for the journey I have been on to break free from the darkness and bring back the color to my life

– There are elements of these emotions that remain behind and can creep up when you least expect or want them to

– But what about those emotions that hang around unsuspected? How do you know that they are there?

– Get perspective from an outside source

– Emotions can give us happy times and they can also give us extremely sad times

– Emotions can get the best of the you but they also can get the worst

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website.

Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Shout out to Beth!
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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

078 – From Darkness to Light – The Honeymoon

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 22:15:45 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– I have been married for almost two weeks!

– Events from the wedding weekend

– The honeymoon and the fun times on the trip: restaurants, Holy Hill, biking adventure, lots of photos!

You can find an album of my photos here.

– New social media avatar

– I look forward to many more wonderful days, weeks, months and years ahead and I look forward to sharing with you many more adventures in my married life.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word! You can find the show notes at fromdarknesstolightonline.com/74.

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

077 – From Darkness to Light – The Wedding

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 23:45:22 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– I’ve been married for a week!

– Rehearsal and dinner the night before the wedding

– Last breakfast as an engaged couple

– Running errands and then the real preparation starts

– Pre-ceremony preparation at home and at chapel

– Before shots with photographer

– The ceremony and trying not to trip!

– All the essential accessories

– Musician friend plays her heart out!

– Washing of the feet and sung meditation added in to the traditional ceremony

– A writing my husband wrote many months added to program

– Family formal portraits

– Wedding party portraits at nearby park

– Reception fun!

– Decorations and extra things made were lovely

– Mingling and great food and fun

– Saying good-bye

– Getting help to get packed up, off to continue the wedding night celebration

– It was a very enjoyable time with our guests and my husband

– Will share with you more about the rest of the first few weeks together next time

– Whether you were there in person or just in spirit and prayer your support means so much. I look forward to sharing with you more of my journey as a wife from this point on.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

076 – From Darkness to Light – Preparing for Marriage

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 11:26:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– I am a married woman! How did I get here?

– Two episodes to catch you up on my story: episode 55 and episode 65

– Work had to be done to get here

– Not a typical relationship journey

– Things to consider and discuss in marriage preparation: faith life, finances, children, household chores

– Surround yourself with a support system

– Best wedding advice: Don’t worry if something doesn’t go as plan on that day but just to enjoy every moment because it ends too fast. That sounds good to me!

Here’s to a happy marriage and a happy life!

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

075 – From Darkness to Light – Dealing with Negativity

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 23:33:49 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Topic from a listener: positive ways for dealing with negativity

– Possible reasons for negativity

Possible strategies:

– Genuine talk with me about the negative behavior
– Need to have strong foundation
– Realize what they are saying are just words
– Be energetic and positive, smile!
– Stop texting them, take them off your social media accounts
– If necessary, cut them out of your life completely
– Always take the high road
– Find support from other positive people

I hope I was able to give you some ideas of some positive strategies to try. If they work for you, I’d love to hear about it.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

074 – From Darkness to Light – Falling in Love with God

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 23:40:11 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Topic presented at a session of Theology on Tap I attended this summer

– What is Theology on Tap?

– First step: Invitation to Follow, likened to falling in love, how it relates to my journey

– Second step: Invitation to Mercy, very challenging to go through, how it relates to my journey

– Third step: Falling into Communion, likened to jumping off the high dive, being “all in,” how it relates to my journey

– Song: Made to Love by TobyMac

– Five techniques to maintain step three

– All of us are on our own journeys and it is difficult to tell where another person is on their relationship with God

– We are all on our way to falling into communion, but it takes mercy and love to get there

– Supportive email from a listener!

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website.

Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word.
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073 – From Darkness to Light – The Storms of Life

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 07 Sep 2013 23:55:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Literal storm inspired today’s topic

– Storms in my life in the first months of 2011

– Haikus I wrote in this period are found in episode 5

– Storms can strike without notice although signs are there

– Life events can come out of nowhere too

– First sessions in counseling

– Taking my baby step forward, first discussed in episode 3

– Storms that arise in our lives can be vicious and overwhelming

– Storms based on negative past experiences, emotions, health conditions

– Calm comes after the storm

– Storms come in many forms, but have the same kind of structure

– Sometimes we have no choice but to accept that storms are going to come

– If your storms are more than you can handle, seek help from a friend, a family member, a professional counselor or even on your knees in prayer

– God is always there. We just have to allow him to lovingly take our hand and walk with us on our journey through the storms and the sunshine.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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072 – From Darkness to Light – Trust in a Time of Frustration

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 23:16:10 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Topic being revisited and was last discussed on episode 59.

– Continuing to stay “open” despite setbacks

– Frustrations in my job search

– Focusing on the many blessings

– Proverbs 3:5-6

– Jeremiah 29:11

– Letting God lead me on the journey

– The Master knows the plans he has for us and these plans will give us hope and future if we just trust with all our hearts. Through faith and trust, the path will be made straight.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website.
Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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071 – From Darkness to Light – Pruning and Growing

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 23:25:34 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Soul Circle from June of 2013

– What Soul Circle is and what it means to me

– Theme: – “When Less is More”

– Reading – a reflection on Psalm 1

– Song – “Full Circle” by Linda Hirschhorn

– The mandala process

– Creating my mandala based on this question – “What of your life and spirit has been pruned for new growth?”

– God has been doing a lot of pruning in my life and my spirit in the past 2.5 years

– My mandala

– Sharing my image with the group, how it relates to my journey and big news

– Song Afunga Alafia by Libana.

– Are there things that have to be pruned away for new fruit to grow or is your tree already ready for another season of growth? Will you let that fruit weigh down your tree branches, or will you allow that prosperity to be shared with others? Whatever you do will green and prosper.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

070 – From Darkness to Light – Life is a Sacred Journey

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 23:32:35 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Labyrinth retreat from May of 2013

– What is a labyrinth?

– What do you need to leave behind today?

– First Walk – Song: “Oh Spirit Guide Me Now,” Reading: “Guiding Star”
What does LIFE hold before you in this time or phase of your life? How do you want to live life with HEART in light of what LIFE has presented to you?
Song “Illumine Me”

– Spiritual director leading an older woman through the labyrinth

– Second Walk – Song: “I Will Not Leave You,” Reading: “God of My Bitter Hours”
Who are the most significant angels (or pains) who have accompanied you in life?
Angel cards
Song “Holy Angels”
Written reflection

– Third Walk – Song: “Be Still and Know,” Reading: “The Guest”
Welcome the spirit of God as your Divine Guest
Song “Beauty of the Dancer”
Written reflection

– Closing circle and readings: “I Will Not Die an Unlived Life,”

– Retreats are good!

– Your life is a journey. Enjoy the ride.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website
Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

069 – From Darkness to Light – Breaking Through the Walls

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 23:06:10 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– To get unstuck I had to break down my walls of protection

– Endured a lot from others over the years

– My walls were my coping strategy

– Walls were very detrimental to my development

– Imagining my wall

– Taking steps towards healing

– My relationship helped the process

– Having a partner be with me throughout the process was amazing, our connection grew

– As our connection grew the walls didn’t seem that important anymore

– Teaching each other how to love

– Becoming the best version of myself that I could be

– Being ready to make a lifelong commitment

– Being free, happy and embracing life

– If you have walls in your life for whatever reason, knock them out and move on

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

068 – From Darkness to Light – What TV Shows Taught Me About Life (Part 3)

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 21:40:33 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Continuing to share about the TV shows that impacted my journey. Listen to part 1 and part 2.

– My college experiences

– More shows I watched during college: Gilmore Girls, Alias

– Shows I watched after college: Friday Night Lights, Parenthood

– What I gained from watching each show

– The months of binge watching of 2009: Firefly, Veronica Mars, Freaks and Geeks, My So-Called Life, Arrested Development, Chuck, How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory

– How I became a TV podcaster

– TV shows taught me a lot about life, but they also say that they also helped me get my life back

– TV shows gave me the foundation to a wonderful future

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

067 – From Darkness to Light – What TV Shows Taught Me About Life (Part 2)

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 23:22:02 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– This is a continuation of the series I started in episode 66

– Watched shows where there were loving parents and families, less than ideal real life childhood

– Another family show: Full House

– What I gained from watching each show

– High school settings: Saved By the Bell, Beverly Hills, 90210

– My history with daytime soap operas

– More WB Shows: Dawson’s Creek, Felicity

– Other big shows in the 90s: Friends, Roseanne, Seinfeld and ER

– Next episode I will continue the series with more shows from my college years and young adulthood

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

066 – From Darkness to Light – What TV Shows Taught Me About Life (Part 1)

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 23:39:56 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Today’s show is inspired by a listener email – the TV shows that impacted me growing up

– The kind of household I grew up in, TV an important part

– Gravitated towards family oriented programs – 1980s and 90s filled with them

– Grew up in what some would consider the golden age of quality TV shows

– Watched shows where there were loving parents and families

– Shows with loving African American families with parents who were successful in their careers

– Characters with their own style

– Family shows: Boy Meets World, Step By Step, Home Improvement, 7th Heaven and Growing Pains

– What I gained from watching each show

– A few others I will highlight next week as well as shows from the 2000s

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

065 – From Darkness to Light – Our Story

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 23:49:28 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Today’s show is inspired by a listener email – a more detailed picture of my relationship

– We met 8 years ago, where we were in life

– Relationship began 6 years ago, similar walks of life and experiences, initial dating experiences, my mindset, my walls were up

– Various conservations and experiences through the years

– How the marriage conversation changed over the years

– “Red flags” in my behavior

– Seeking additional help to heal

– Through counseling: letting go of the hurt, abuse, insecurity and shame that was so real

– Through the relationship: teaching each other how to love

– Feeling the confidence and light that I had never experienced before, planning for the future

– Changing feelings about marriage and children

– Starting to heal from my pain and learning to accept and give love so that I could stop being stuck and make plans for a very bright future

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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064 – From Darkness to Light – Reflecting Upon the Last Year

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 22:47:26 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– One of the big steps in my journey was having my fiance move in with me last Spring

– I chronicled the whole process in episode 32

– Many, many positive things have happened for both of us

– Over the past year we have both made a lot of progress

– The past year has been a time of preparation

– Why this decision was right for us

– Self reflection is very important for me and for many

– Ignatian practice of The Examen

– Whether it’s this prayer, journaling or some other pathway, I hope and pray you have the opportunity to reflect and let God be part of the process

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website or the FB page.
Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

063 – From Darkness to Light – Choices

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 22:44:27 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light – a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Choices are a part of everyday life

– Some of the choices I have made – church job, grad school, spiritual director, counseling

– My healing journey started with one choice, but others followed

– Transformation is still astounding

– Starting this podcast was a choice – why did I do it?

– The choice of good vs. evil

– Choosing to continue to live the way I brought up

– Choosing to start to heal

– How and why do your choices define you and should they? Are there other choices that you could make to live your life the best way you can? How can the choices that you make affect your path?

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website

Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

062 – From Darkness to Light – What Being a Musical Geek Taught Me About Life

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 23:24:30 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– I am a self proclaimed “musical geek”

– My history with musicals

– Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

– Rent

– Lessons learned from Rent

– Wicked

– “Defying Gravity” – lyrics, song on iTunes, lessons learned

– “For Good” – lyrics, song on iTunes, lessons learned

– This lifelong musical geek actually learned something along the way

– I pray you have something like musicals that you are passionate about and it blesses you

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

061 – From Darkness to Light – My Vocation Story

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 23:24:34 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Topic is inspired by one of my friends who is preparing to enter a cloistered monastery

– I have also been seeking direction about my vocation

– Growing up I considered being a nun

– The first few years of my relationship I didn’t know yet if it was right

– Started counseling and things started to change

– “Gone were the dark days that had me so confused” (reference to this song by Point of Grace)

– Better understanding my true vocation

– I’m not being called to the cloistered life and that’s okay because my friend is

– Everyone has a different vocation that they have to discover through discernment

– Letting go of many negative things in my life in order to prepare myself for my vocation

– Could not have made it without God pushing and guiding me along the way

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

060 – From Darkness to Light – The Flowers in My Life

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 23:59:13 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Soul Circle from March of 2013

– Homework assignment to look up what the plant skunk cabbage was

– Skunk Cabbage is pretty awesome

– Poem by Mary Oliver called “Skunk Cabbage”

– Upside of Down by Chris August

– Creative process: “Are there ‘flowers’ in your life that appear strange or unusual but are blossoms nonetheless?”

My mandala:

– My thoughts on the flowers of growth in my life

– Courageous Women by Jan Novotka.

– Skunk Cabbage Alley by The Preserves

– No matter where you are in your journey, no matter how much fighting you had to do to grow out your roots, the woods and the other plants around you can lead you onward

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

059 – From Darkness to Light – A Decision Made

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 20:58:47 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Sharing more about my struggles in my teaching position

-Principal throws me a curveball in mid-April of 2013

– A decision made, support follows

– Letting go

– Leaving with dignity

– My faith in God and the support received were vital

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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058 – From Darkness to Light – Spirit Spa Reflections Part 3

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 25 May 2013 23:48:15 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– The rest of my experiences on the Spirit Spa Retreat in March of 2013

– The Wise Self

– The Authentic Self

– Play time at the pool!

– Wrapping things up on Sunday – sharing our Zentangle creations and reflections

– Personal check in

– Choosing an oil to explore and alternating adding salts and oil until we had filled a jar

– My creation!

– Song “Beauty of the Dancer” by Velma Frye

– Saying goodbye and transitioning into real life

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833

Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app or in the Zune Marketplace.

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057 – From Darkness to Light – Spirit Spa Reflections Part 2

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 19 May 2013 02:27:37 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– More experiences from the Spirit Spa Retreat in March of 2013

– Cleansing from events of Friday night

– The Powerful Self

– The Loving Self

– The Worldly Self

– Quiet and Free Time

– Creative process: Zentangle

That wraps up the first day and a half of the Spirit-Spa retreat and I look forward to sharing with you about the rest of the weekend next time.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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056 – From Darkness to Light – Spirit Spa Reflections Part 1

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 11 May 2013 23:44:59 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Spirit-Spa in March 2013

– Lodge a major improvement over the last one

– Time for relaxing before dinner

– Personal check in with the group

– Friday night happenings

– Foot soak, necklace and cards

– Guest teacher makes a return to teach about basic and creative self

– Middle of the night smoke detector craziness

That wraps up the first night of the Spirit-Spa retreat and I look forward to sharing with you about the weekend next time.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website.

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055 – From Darkness to Light – The Story Thus Far

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 04 May 2013 23:23:38 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

Whether you are tuning in for the first time, just started listening or are a long time fan I thank you!

– The title of the episode tells it all!

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054 – From Darkness to Light – Spring Cleaning for the Soul

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:59:06 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full. My name is Stephanie and I am here once again to continue to share my story of healing.

Welcome to new and continued listeners! Please check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website.

– Soul Circle in February of 2013

– Focus on the season of Lent and spring cleaning our souls

– Introduced to the life story and writings of a mystic named Jessica Powers (S. Miriam of the Holy Spirit) with her writing “House at Rest”

– Different kind of creative process

– Threads that connected my responses to each question to each other

– Writing is still very effective for me in communicating feelings

– I encourage you to express yourself in whatever way you can

– Also encourage you to think about your soul-house and how it can be at rest

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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From Darkness to Light Promo

Thank you Professor Alan for your shout out in the Book Guys podcast (ep 76) for our 50th episode!

Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

053 – From Darkness to Light – Perpetuating Negativity

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 23:23:08 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Abuse leads to accepting negative behavior as acceptable

– Abuse scarred me in many ways for many years

– Perpetuating negativity

– What we hold to be true is usually always on display to others, can also be very well hidden

– Love helped me learn what I was doing to be start to heal

– I protected myself from other people but did finally let other people in

– Negativity and a poor self concept are very powerful

– We must always be aware of what we are taking in through our senses

– You can choose to be negative or to be positive, but the choice is yours

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. In conjunction with our one year podiversary, I produced a new promo. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

052 – From Darkness to Light – What Camp Taught Me About My True Self

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 02:25:06 +0000

– Worked at a summer camp for 7 summers

– Always issues with my communication skills with other staff members

– Conditioning from childhood

– My camp experience was an important part of my history, still was not a good communicator

– It took me a long time to discover what my true voice and my true self was

– Going to camp to alumni events

– Winter Fun Day experience

– I’m a completely different person than I was back then and that’s a very good thing

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. In conjunction with our one year podiversary, I produced a new promo which can be found here. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

From Darkness to Light Promo 2013

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 23:34:47 +0000

Have you ever pushed people away because you were afraid they might hurt you? Have you ever struggled with accepting yourself or trusting others? Have you ever been paralyzed by fear or had periods of darkness? I could once say yes to everyone of these questions, but today the answer is no. Join me, Stephanie, on my podcasting adventure called From Darkness to Light, as I share the amazing journey that I have been on for the last two years as I’ve healed from years of abuse. Find all the ways to subscribe at http://fromdarknesstolightonline.com. Thank you for your support and God bless.

051 – From Darkness to Light – Celebrating One Year of the Podcast

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 23:01:30 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Episode 0 was released on April 6th, 2012

– My process in beginning one year ago

– Made a website with some help from my friends by episode 5

– Some episodes along the way that have meant a lot to me to share

– Not much feedback or continuous downloads, but those who stuck around are still treasured

– Amazing to see this little community grow, even though there hasn’t been a lot of growth

– Sharing my story in this way has helped me more than it probably has helped my listeners

– The emotional and spiritual changes I’ve experienced over two years

– Thank you all for being with me as I’ve journeyed from darkness to light

Thank you to my friends “http://www.twitter.com/lynfrancisco”>Lyn and Liam for your fantastic voicemails I shared at the end of the episode.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. THANK YOU for your support this year. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time as we celebrate our one year podiversary. God bless.

050 – From Darkness to Light – Death and Resurrection Continued

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:29:51 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! If you are tuning in for the first time or just started listening, please check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website. They are most 10 mins or less so it won’t take long to get caught up. Your support over this almost year and 50 episodes has meant more than I could ever say.

– Revisiting the concepts of death and resurrection first visited in episode 17 about my parent’s divorce. Find the original episode here.

– Concept of resurrection is an important one, especially during Holy Week in the church

– Ecclesiastes (3:1-2)

– Seasons in nature and in our lives

– Being in a very different emotional place when I talked about this topic in episode 17

– Things and relationships that have died so that I can be resurrected

– Letting go of the things and relationships I needed to let go off, I am on the way to living a very fulfilled and committed life with the an I love.

– Is there anything in your life in need of death or resurrection?

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word! 50 episodes is a huge landmark – thank you for sticking with me this long! Stay tuned for a link for a live show next week for the one year podiversary!

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049 – From Darkness to Light – Adding Color To My Life

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 22:01:59 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! Welcome especially to my SQPN friends who heard me on Catholic Weekend today and are tuning in for the first time. I encourage everyone to check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website. They are most 10 mins or less so it won’t take long to get caught up. Whether you joined at the beginning or tuned in recently, your support has meant so much.

– For many years I lived a life where I was trapped and I shut out the rest of the world

-Never learned what it meant to really live my life fully

-Not giving off very positive and lifegiving vibes, giving off the aura of someone with a gray or muted tones

– Finally starting to see the light as I freed myself from my shackles

– Adding color to my life took a long time and is still a work in progress

– Starting embrace the color of my life and never wanting to go back to the dreary place

– Support from others and God meant so much

– I encourage you to live life to the fullest. What are you waiting for?

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Next episode will be number 50 and we hit our one year podiversary on April 6th. Would love to hear from you!

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048 – From Darkness to Light – Being Open and Believing That All Things Are Possible

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:03:23 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! I encourage you to check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website. Whether you joined at the beginning or tuned in recently, your support has meant so much.

– Soul Circle in January of 2013 – Wintered Spirits: Dancing Through Skeleton Trees.

– Songs and readings from the session

– Song “I Can Be Brave” reflects my old way of being

– Mandala created:

– The messages I heard through my skeleton trees

– All Things Possible by Mark Schultz and Philippians 4:13

– Being open to where I’m being led and trusting in God’s timing

– How I’ve learned to trust God and others in my life

– Reflection time is important to my balance, would encourage others to take the time for quiet

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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047 – From Darkness to Light – Denial is Not Just a River in Egypt

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 23:52:03 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Today’s topic inspired by the actions of a toddler

– Toddlers are very good at denial and being stubborn

– Denial can also happen to those who suffer from abuse

– I suffered from verbal and emotional abuse for much of my life, never thought anything was wrong

– Denied the real truth of what happened until outside sources made observations

– The truth started to become more and more clear

– Encourage those who have experienced abuse to reflect on the experiences

– Denial is easier than the truth

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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046 – From Darkness to Light – Grace and Peace

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:58:41 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– On February 11th, 2013, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI resigned

– Twitter exploded with the news – shock and sadness

– Watched Pope Benedict give his final Papal address with commentary by my friend Fr. Roderick Vonhogen of SQPN

– Outpouring of love for this man who served as our leader for 8 years

– Speech reflected gratitude, humbleness and faith

-“Dear friends! God guides His Church, maintains her always, and especially in difficult times. Let us never lose this vision of faith, which is the only true vision of the way of the Church and the world. In our heart, in the heart of each of you, let there be always the joyous certainty that the Lord is near, that He does not abandon us, that He is near to us and that He surrounds us with His love.”

Took a lot of courage for the pope to make this decision

– I have also made decisions about my career to take care of my health

– Saddened and shocked by the decision the pope made, but I understand it

– I have faith that God will lead me to the right job but I need patience

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word! You can find the show notes at fromdarknesstolightonline.com/46.

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045 – From Darkness to Light – Meeting the Family

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 03:03:58 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Family learns about the engagement at Thanksgiving of 2012 time

– He meets the family during Christmas

– Nervous about the situation but it turned out fine

– Brother and dad very gracious about having him there

– My own issues over the significant age difference

– More introductions to come as wedding gets closer

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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044 – From Darkness to Light – Ready to Move On

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 22:40:27 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– November of 2012 – still debating what to do about my school situation

– Options for how to maintain mental health

– Getting ready for the school Christmas concert, still facing student opposition

– The many factors at play in my decision to stay or leave

– The final decision

– Still seeking direction towards a new, more fulfilling job

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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043 – From Darkness to Light – Radiating From My Soul Bowl

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:38:01 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Soul Circle in November of 2012

– Focus on our “Soul Bowl”

– Mandala focusing on “what do you savor from your soul bowl” and “what shines through the ‘cracks’ in your soul bowl?”

– What I learned in the creative process

– Remembering my “Radiance” (song by Christian singer Sarah Bauer)

– Am I radiating the light inside of me? Am I being Christ for this person?

That’s what I’ll be sharing this time. I look forward to sharing more next time.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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042 – From Darkness to Light – Graduating and Reconnecting

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 00:04:34 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– The journey so far

– Graduating counseling

– Reconnecting with old friends

– Praying with a struggling friend

– Important to have in person connections

– Easy to communicate online with people far away; people in person take work

– Continue to work on reconnecting and deepening these relationships in the future

That’s what I’ll be sharing this time. I look forward to sharing more next time.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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041 – From Darkness to Light – Leaving a Legacy

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 01:01:03 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Returning to school after losing a teacher

– Tree in the hallway with paper leaves on it in the hallway

– Reading the sharing the obituary written for him in the newspaper (find a link to the article here.)

– Gathering for the funeral – filled with former and current students, parents and staff

– Evidence of the impact he had as basketball coach and teach

– Getting swept away in the emotions during the service

– Greeting many former and current students and getting more emotional

– “Good Bye” in the fence

– A final good-bye at the cemetery

– Invited to join the family for lunch, being accepted as part of his family

– Thinking about the legacy he left behind in coaching and teaching

– Song “Legacy” by Nichole Nordeman – Lyrics

– What kind of legacy will you leave behind?

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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040 – From Darkness to Light – Wrapping Up Another Retreat

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 00:11:30 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

Today I will continue sharing my experiences on retreat in the Fall 2012. If you have not listened to the last two episodes, I encourage you to look up
episode 38 and episode 39 to hear more about this retreat.

– Very shocking news on Sunday morning from an outside source

– Saluting the sun and breakfast together

– Wrapped up things at the hotel and headed to the lake house for the last time of the weekend

– Sharing our balances and blessing it with an oil from the weekend

– A lunch of leftovers and then headed out

– Relaxation lasted rest of the night

– Worked to maintain balance and use deep breathing when I could

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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039 – From Darkness to Light – Embracing Silence

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 01:01:32 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– More experiences on retreat in Fall of 2012

– Listen to the last episode to hear more about the retreat

– Quiet beginning to the day

– Saluting the sun

– Quiet Time

– Making decisions about how to spend the free time in the afternoon

– Knitting and an aromatherapy consultation

– Orchard/winery trip

– More quiet time

– Walk to the beach and taking lots of photos

– Dinner and ending session

– Assigned to create a wire and rock balance

That wrapped up Saturday of the retreat. Next time I will share more of my experiences of the last day of the weekend which started with some very shocking news from an outside source.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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038 – From Darkness to Light – Called to Balance

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:01:28 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– A highlight of the Fall of 2012 was returning up north for retreat

– Sad news arrived a few days before

– Fast travel and time to relax

– Added element – Another location to share more space together

– Added element – using essential oils

– “See, feel, imagine, intend it to be so”

– Friday night focused on positive and negative self-talk messages

– Call to balance

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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037 – From Darkness to Light – Seeking Clarity and Direction

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 02:22:11 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Myself and relationship continued to blossom and grow over the summer

– In September of 2012 returned to teaching school

– Influx of new kids and population of the school made life difficult

– It became the job I dreaded

– Questioning my vocation

– Seeking a job where I could feel fulfilled

– Can I make it to the end of the year or not?

– Accepting that I don’t have complete control over what will happen

– Need to stay open to what God has in store and continue to ask for God’s help

– Need clarity and direction but it will come on God’s timetable

And next time I look forward to sharing with you more of what I’ve learned along my journey of healing.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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036 – From Darkness to Light – Journeying Across the Threshold

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 01:50:46 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Soul Circle in June of 2012 focused on a threshold

– Entering – we have opportunities to cross many times in our lives, and it takes courage

– Where we are going? What will the consequences be? What will be leaving behind if anything?

– Creating a mandala about what is ripening in my soul

– The future enters – there is always an aftermath of crossing

– Crossing a threshold can be also be seen as a journey

And next time I look forward to sharing with you more of what I’ve learned along my journey of healing.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

035 – From Darkness to Light – Learning to Fly

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 02:43:09 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Soul Circle in May of 2012

– Definition of Soul Circle, the healing power of women’s circles and definition of mandalas

– I’m pushing out for growth

– Buddah Board

– “What is awakening within you?” mandala

– Accepting myself as a butterfly, now it’s time to fly

– Song of Solomon 2:11-12

And next time I look forward to sharing with you more of what I’ve learned along my journey of healing.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

034 – From Darkness to Light – Managing Anxiety and Fear

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 02:27:56 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Recap of my experience with emotional and verbal abuse

– Strategies for anxiety and talking suggested by first counselor

– Assigned to talk to people at work

– Introvert challenges

– Feeling uncomfortable in my own skin

– Fear of judgement and being seen as weak

– Strategies for managing anxiety and fear

– Usually a sign of something deeper within ourselves going wrong

– Finding solutions can make it more manageable

And next time I look forward to sharing with you more of what I’ve learned along my journey of healing.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

033 – From Darkness to Light – Breaking Free of Old Habits

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:02:30 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Victims of abuse develop patterns of behavior based on what they learned

– Abuse combined with being an introvert caused complications

– Learned very negative vocabulary and behaviors – very difficult to break free

– Journey more than dark to light – it’s a metamorphosis

– Every single day I work to embrace the freedom I now have and am consciously aware of my actions

– I understand how difficult it can be to break bad habits, whether you are an abuse victim or not

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

032 – From Darkness to Light – Peaceful Coexistence

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 02:27:10 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Decision to move in for financial and emotional support

– Agreement to blend in with my life

– Living a solitary life – had to let someone else in

– Usually a period of adjustment in these situations

– Acquire a washing machine and dryer

– He was seeking stability which I could supply and I was seeking companionship – we worked well

– Became more and more unified in our relationship

– Counselor very supportive

And next time I look forward to sharing with you more of my journey of healing.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Review and subscribe in iTunes or in your favorite podcast app or in the Zune Marketplace.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

031 – From Darkness to Light – Everyone Needs Support and Love

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:08:59 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– It was important for the man I love to remove himself from a toxic environment

– He worked up the courage to ask to move in with me, but I was hesistant

– Strong morals told me it wasn’t right, but it was the only option

– We set boundaries and a move in date

– I had to support him just as he had supported me

– If you can support others, the result is amazing

And next time I look forward to sharing with you more of this experience in my journey of healing.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word! You can find the show notes at fromdarknesstolightonline.com/30.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you, Dee, for the lovely email!

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

030 – From Darkness to Light – Love Conquers All

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 02:34:35 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Deception by others in March of 2012

– Alternating plans for Holy Week

– More united than ever under dire circumstances

– Leads to cutting himself from family

– Events in our lives never just affect one person – there are always ripples of good or bad kinds

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages. I welcome Angie, Ally and Dan as the newest members of the community.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

029 – From Darkness to Light – The Crown of Thorns

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 02:21:59 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Christian meaning of the Holy Triduum

– All begins with the Agony in the Garden

– The meaning of the crown of thorns for Jesus

– A song from the perspective of the rose

– Creating a mandala of the crown of thorns

– My crown of thorns is not too big, lots of strength and hope within

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

028 – From Darkness to Light – The Present Moment is Very Good

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 02:15:44 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– February of 2012 Soul Circle focused on the moment

– Moment readings

– Mandala of where I am at the moment

– Obvious change in process and result of mandalas

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to Justin, the newest member of the community.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

027 – From Darkness to Light – Learning From Loss

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:46:17 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! I encourage you to check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website.

– Shared my loss and experiences in spiritual guidance

– Learned that there were still things I needed to learn from my friend

– Over the next months and weeks I learned from this loss

– Shared my loss and experiences in counseling

– Spiritual direction and counseling have both been important in my healing, balancing heart and soul

– Realizing I can never go back to that old self and there is no way that I will

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages. I welcome Billy, Fr. Kyle, Michael, Emmy as the newest members of the community. We’ve also had Kim, Joe and Mary join recently.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

026 – From Darkness to Light – Following the Sway and the Star

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 01:43:35 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– After the death of my friend, I was still coping

– Attended another Soul Circle, focus on the Star of Epiphany

– Learning about the “sway test”

– Swaying to discover my focuses for the coming year

– Adding our own creations to a star with a reasoning on each object added

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

025 – From Darkness to Light – Saying Goodbye to a Dear Friend

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:41:24 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– In a much better place emotionally than in January of 2012

– A tradition for my church choir to celebrate Christmas together after New Year’s

– Receiving some devastating news of choir member’s death

– Getting my emotions out

– Sharing the news with lots of people

– Choir gathers and hears the news

– Gathering a choir of many to celebrate her beautiful life

– Writing a eulogy for my friend – Link to text

– Her death had a profound effect on me and will continue to share that on future episodes

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

024 – From Darkness to Light – Pondering and Living the Questions

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 01:26:27 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Soul Circle in December 2011 focused on Pondering

– The Season of Advent and The Annunciation

– 1:1 Sharing, Full Circle experience

– A profound mandala (pictured below)

– Live the questions and await illumination. You may or may not get the answers you seek, but something you don’t have to.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

023 – From Darkness to Light – Speaking From the Heart and Reflecting On the Blessings

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 01:28:09 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Another important step in my journey was speaking truthfully to my mom

– Reaffirmed I loved her and apologized for not being a better daughter

– Shared I’m in counseling and a good relationship, spoke from the heart

– Reflecting on the blessings, learnings, mercies and protections of the season of Autumn

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

I’ll be on retreat this weekend (September 21-23, 2012). Your prayers would be appreciated.

022 – From Darkness to Light – Confronting the One Who Hurt You the Most

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 01:48:40 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! I encourage you to check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website.

Thank you to all of the listeners who have been with me on the journey. Whether you joined at the beginning or tuned in recently, your support has meant so much.

Over the last few episodes, I shared the amazing experiences I had throughout my weekend retreat last Fall. Leading up to that weekend, I was really feeling like Rapunzel in the movie “Tangled.” After being locked up in her tower for so long, she wonders in song “when will my life begin.” I was feeling that way. I had had wonderful growth and healing happen, but the retreat really pushed me forward in my journey and helped me see that I was ready to let my light shine through and really lead the life that God intended for me to have.

– Strained relationship with Dad

– Still very upset about divorce and other things

– The important meeting – filling in the blanks, sharing my journey so far and the letter, crying together

Episodes referenced: Episode 3, Episode 8, Episode 17.

– Becoming an adult

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

021 – From Darkness to Light – The Healing Power of Mandalas

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 01:27:48 +0000

This episode was recording while broadcasting live on Ustream. You can find the video here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

My name is Stephanie and I am here once again to continue to share my story. If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! I encourage you to check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website.

In this episode, I will continue to tell my story of healing. I have shared many parts of my journey in spiritual guidance and counseling. Thank you to all of the listeners who have been with me on the journey. Whether you joined at the beginning or tuned in recently, your support has meant so much.

– Focus on the “journey” of our life as major theme

– Creating the mandala which became the artwork for this podcast

– It became a new creation when I added the water to the art

– I chose “brain” as my focus for the weekend, not where I am anymore

– Tears flow as I share my story and my mandala, releasing it

– Important task given by spiritual director

– Sent forth to continue our good work

– Composing a blog post after I returned from Oz

– This podcast being conceived unconsciously on retreat, took another 6 months for it to be given birth

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

020 – From Darkness to Light – Identifying the Characters and Cyclones in My Story

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 21:09:11 +0000

This episode was recording while broadcasting live on Ustream. You can find the video here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Continuing to share events/activities from retreat of Fall 2011

– Defining my cast of characters and what I learned from each

– Defining the cyclones in my journey and how each helped me grow

– Shared each writing with a small group which felt safe

One of the last significant activities I will share will be shared in the next episode. In order to keep the episodes short I will end this episode here and share more next time. Thank you for your patience.

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word! You can find the show notes at fromdarknesstolightonline.com/20.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

019 – From Darkness to Light – Following the Path (Retreat Part 2)

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:07:49 +0000

This episode was recording while broadcasting live on Ustream. You can find the video here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Reflecting on the characters of the Wizard of the Oz

– Reflecting on the brain, heart and courage of Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion

– Symbolism and allegory of the characters

– Following the yellow brick road by taking mini-steps forward

– You can get stuck in repetitive cycles along the way

– Reclaiming the power of the red slippers

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

018 – From Darkness to Light – Where I’m From (Retreat Part 1)

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:57:22 +0000

This episode was recording while broadcasting live on Ustream. You can find the video here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

My name is Stephanie and I am here once again to continue to share my story. If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! I encourage to check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website.

In this episode, I will continue to tell my story of healing. I have shared many parts of my journey in spiritual guidance and counseling. Thank you to all of the listeners who have been on the journey with me. Whether you joined at the beginning or tuned in recently, your support has meant so much.

– Went on retreat in Fall of 2011

– Met with spiritual director ahead of time

– Beautiful scenery

– Change acknowledged right away

– Great energy within the group

– “Where I’m From” poem sample, given assignment to write our own

– Shared one phrase the next morning with the group

– My poem

You can now find all past episodes and more at . Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

017 – From Darkness to Light – Death and Resurrection

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:38:54 +0000

This episode was recording while broadcasting live on Ustream. You can find the video here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Found my parents’ divorce papers by accident in January of 2011

– Tried to be there for my mom emotionally

– Finalizing of divorce in August of 2011

– Mom would be present via telephone

– Dad calls to say it’s over and Mom not needed

– Tried to reassure Mom despite my feelings of anger and hurt

– Met with spiritual direction

– Guided imagery – where was God in the situation?

– Imagine talking to my dad. What do his eyes communicate?

– How will my resurrection be revealed?

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter. Welcome especially to all those new to following on these pages.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

016 – From Darkness to Light – Sharing The Story

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:50:37 +0000

This episode was recording while broadcasting live on Ustream. You can find the video here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Going back to the format of telling the story through events, not topics

– Summer of 2011 was significant

– More bike riding, working more

– Assignment from counselor to share story with man I love

– Finally shared that and the letter after a few sessions

– Different kind of experience sharing it this time

– Encourage you to share your story with others

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

015 – From Darkness to Light – Acceptance

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:21:15 +0000

This episode was recorded while broadcasting on Ustream. You can find the video here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Acceptance – an important topic and one I struggled with for years

– Very poor self concept, only saw the flaws, didn’t know how anyone could love me

– Couldn’t accept myself or others

– Sharing my story in a safe space

– Learning to accept myself and others

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

014 – From Darkness to Light – Holding On and Letting Go

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:30:17 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Holding on to secrets for so long
– Closing myself off from others
– Thought no one would understand so I didn’t share my secrets
– Sharing my story helped it lose power and control over me
– Lost the shame and began to heal
– Always worried about people judging me
– What would they think if they knew I was in counseling?
– I thought I could handle it all myself for a long time
– It took many months to be free of these burdens

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!
Contact
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(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website at fromdarknesstolightonline.com or the FB page.
Review and subscribe in iTunes or in the iOs podcast app or in the Zune Marketplace.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

013 – From Darkness to Light – Codependency

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:57:34 +0000

This episode was recorded while broadcasting on Ustream. You can find the video here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Codependency definition
– How my relationship with my parents was codependent
– Leaving my parents home didn’t help much
– My life was intertwined with their relationship, divorce devastating
– Why I sought out codependency
– Is there someone in your life who manipulates or control you? Why do they do this?
– No one has the power to control your emotions, you can break free

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

012 – From Darkness to Light – Mirroring

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:19:19 +0000

This episode was recorded while broadcasting on Ustream. You can find the video for the recording here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

My name is Stephanie and I am excited to continue to share my story. If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! I encourage to check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning at the website. I apologize for the noise in the background. I am in a room with air conditioner and it is about 100 degrees outside. Hopefully you can tolerate that buzzing for this short episode.

In this episode, I will continue to tell my story of healing. I have shared many parts of my journey in spiritual guidance and counseling. Thank you to all of the listeners who have been on the journey with me. Whether you joined at the beginning or tuned in recently, your support has meant so much.

– We all model behavior for someone
– Can be positive or negative, mine was negative
– The behavior that was mirrored for me
– Learned to keep quiet and out of trouble
– My voice was stifled and couldn’t communicate well
– Kept myself in my safety bubble, no one got too close
– Did recognize my own negative behavior
– Think about the behavior you are mirroring to others

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED 318-215-6833

You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website or the Facebook page.

Review and subscribe in iTunes or in the Zune Marketplace.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

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011 – From Darkness to Light – Disappointments

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 19:59:43 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

In this episode, I will continue to tell my story of healing. So far I have shared many parts of my journey in spiritual guidance and counseling. It’s hard to believe that we are already up to episode 11. Thank you to all of the listeners who have been on this journey with me thus far.

– Disabled parents leads to early growing up and burdens
– Dad always disappoints due to health or excuses
– Graduated from grad school in 2010
– Dad promised to come, but then disappointed me again
– Repeat behavior
– What I “learned”

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website at or the Facebook page.
Review and subscribe in iTunes or in the Zune Marketplace.

You can also listen via the Stitcher Radio app. During registration, enter DARKTOLIGHT as the promo code for the chance to win $100 and to benefit the show.

Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

010 – From Darkness to Light – Forgiveness

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:43:16 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Cradle Catholic
– Active member of the church through music ministry
– Fell away from confession, but returned last year
– Went to communal reconciliation service and confession
– Asked to pray for the one who hurt me
– The tears flowed
– Forgiveness leads to repaired relationships

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget.

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I received a lovely voice mail from my beautiful friend Anne-Sophie from the True Beauty Podcast and am happy to be able to share that with you today.

Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless.

009 – From Darkness to Light – Personifications

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:45:19 +0000

I recorded the show while broadcasting on Ustream. You can see the video of the recording here.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

It’s been a bit since I recorded an episode (2 weeks) and it’s not because I didn’t want to record. It’s because I didn’t have a good topic until a few days ago.

– Personifications from Summer of 2010

– Personifications from early 2011 – very different tone

You can now find all past episodes and more at the website. Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website at fromdarknesstolightonline.com or the FB page.
Review and subscribe in iTunes at fromdarknesstolightonline.com/itunespage or in Zune Marketplace at fromdarknesstolightonline.com/zunepage. You can listen via Stitcher Radio at fromdarknesstolightonline.com/stitcher.

Thank you to all who have liked the FB page and follow on Twitter.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless!

008 – From Darkness to Light – A Difficult Letter

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 29 May 2012 03:03:04 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

In this episode, I will continue to tell my story of healing. So far I have shared the dark first months of 2011 and some events that led up to that year and some experiences in spiritual guidance and counseling.

– Had always been easier to write to express myself

– Counselor gave me weekly “assignments”

– Asked to write to Dad

– Shared letter with counselor

– An emotional wreck

– A great exercise for anyone in a difficult relationship

Thank you to the now 48 people who have so far liked our FB page and the 11 people who are Twitter followers.

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Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. God bless!

007 – From Darkness to Light – Love Heals

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:17:14 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Closed myself off to everyone

– Struggled with fear, apprehension and self acceptance

– Very quiet and shut down, but struggling

– My first real relationship

– Learning to love, accept love, accept myself and another

Thank you to the now 48 people who have so far liked our FB page. It’s amazing how much a page can grow just by inviting people to it, although I thought I already did that earlier. Thanks also to the 11 people who are Twitter followers.

Contact
feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833 You can also leave a voice mail directly via the SpeakPipe widget on the website or the FB page. Thanks to Richard to send our first audio feedback this way.

Review and subscribe in iTunes or in the Zune Marketplace. You can also listen via Stitcher Radio

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006 – From Darkness to Light – A Blocked Heart and a Big Cross

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:48:11 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Soul Circles

– A mandala of a blocked heart

– Sharing a brief portion of my story with another member of Soul Circle

– A mandala of a big cross

Big thanks to Jeff of Catholic Foodie for the help in creating my website.

Big thanks to Anne-Sophie of Fighting Anoxeria for your help in creating a banner, logo and widget artwork for the site!

Thank you for listening, continuing to spread the word and sharing your opinions about the possible logos and banners.

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005 – From Darkness to Light – Haikus from Inside the Tsunami

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 05 May 2012 04:47:16 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

So far I have shared how I started working with my wonderful spiritual director, how I made the decision to begin to heal through counseling, my initial sessions of counseling, my first big step and the blessings that have come from letting God be part of the process. Today I will share another step forward through reflection and writing.

– Soul Circles

– Still so much pain and suffering

– Reflecting on my inner “tsunami” – what does it look like from the inside of the wave that consumes you?

– Writing haikus about what my tsunami looked like

Thank you to the 27 people who have so far liked our FB page (welcome Allie, Greg and Amanda!) and the 9 people who are Twitter followers. Huge thanks to Jeff of Catholic Foodie who helped me by creating a subsite of my Bluehost account so that we now have a website (still in progress!) You can now find all past episodes and more at . Thank you for listening and continuing to spread the word!

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004 – From Darkness to Light – Letting God In

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:24:13 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

My name is Stephanie and I am excited to continue to share my story. I am greatly encouraged by the large number of people offering encouragement regarding the first two episodes and I will thank them individually later on. If you have just started listening to the show, welcome! I encourage to check out the past episodes to hear my story from the beginning.

– Meeting with my spiritual director after sharing my story with my counselor

– Mandala as reflection of the soul

– Creating a mandala of my spirit at the moment

– Learning to let God be part of the process

Thank you to the 24 people who have so far liked our FB page (welcome John, Jeff, Andrea and Dan!) and the 9 people who are Twitter followers. Thank you to Chris and Michelle who sent encouraging FB messages, Chess who wrote a note on Google +, Jeff who wrote an encouraging email and offered to help create a website for me and Geoff and Alan who posted iTunes ratings. I would love to see more if you like what you’re hearing. Your support has meant the world to me. Thank you for listening and continue to spread the word!

Contact
fromdarknesstolightonline@gmail.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833
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003 – From Darkness to Light – The First Big Step

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:17:51 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Asked to take a baby step forward

– Took a huge step instead and wrote down my story

– Sharing it with another person led to many tears and hole in the wall I had created

– A profound revelation from my counselor

Next time I will share the next steps that occurred both in counseling and spiritual direction. There were some extremely profound things that happened after the session I talked about in this episode.

Thank you to the 20 people who have so far liked our FB page (welcome Michelle, Jackie, Millie and Dee!) and the 7 people who are Twitter followers. Thank you to Chris and Dee who sent encouraging emails, Millie and Wayne who posted on the FB page, and John who wrote on my personal FB page. Your support has meant the world to me. Thank you for listening and continue to spread the word!

I received my first feedback email to the podcast email address. It was a lovely message from dear friend Dee – thank you! You can listen to her and her lovely husband Deacon Tom on the wonderful podcast Catholic Vitamins.

Contact
fromdarknesstolightonline@gmail.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833
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002 – From Darkness to Light – Counseling Begins

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:10:51 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

– Counseling begins in March of 2011

– Creating a mantra with my spiritual director

– First sessions of therapy

– Meeting counselor’s supervisor

– Asked to take a baby step forward

– Switching counselors

Thank you to all who have sent encouragement via Facebook, Twitter and email. You have helped me realize that this podcast is important and will affect many. There has been a huge jump in the number of subscribers via Feedburner – thank you! I have humbled and amazed by your support. Thank you for listening and continue to spread the word!

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fromdarknesstolightonline@gmail.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833
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001 – From Darkness to Light – The Story Begins

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:05:09 +0000

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.
My name is Stephanie and after releasing a short introduction podcast, I am ready to roll with the official first episode.

In this episode, I will begin to tell my story with enough details to be respectful of those involved, but before I tell you the details I will share about events of the last few years that lead to my beginning to heal.

– 2007, sought out a spiritual guide

– When it started getting difficult

– The healing begins
That’s all for this week. Next time I will continue the story and tell you what steps came next. I thank you for listening and invite you to interact with the show.

Contact
fromdarknesstolightonline@gmail.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833
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000 – From Darkness to Light – Introduction

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:50:08 +0000

Hello and welcome to a brand new podcast, From Darkness to Light. The purpose for this podcast is to share the amazing journey that I have been on for the last year. I went from a place of pain, suffering, fear, distrust and darkness to a place of being able to love, freedom, trusting and light through work in counseling, spiritual guidance and relationships. I will be tell you my story in pieces. I will share with you what I have gone through with enough details to be respectful of the people involved, how my transformation took place and how different my life is today. I have learned so much about myself and my experiences and have grown tremendously.

Hello and welcome to another episode of From Darkness to Light, a podcast about healing, accepting love and learning to live life to the full.

Contact
fromdarknesstolightonline@gmail.com
(318) 21-LOVED
318-215-6833
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Eulogy for Pat

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:47:47 +0000

Today we say good-bye and celebrate the life of an amazing individual that I have been priviledged to have in my life for 18 years. All of those gathered here – former music directors, choir members, lectors, parishioners, family and friends – have suffered a great loss in their lives with the passing of Pat Jakus.

When anyone comes to St. Aloysius, I think they can immediately sense that this is a special place. When I came here in 7th Grade in 1993, it didn’t take me long to get involved as an altar server and youth choir member. I loved being part of these ministries and grew so much as a young person.

In 1995, I started high school and began my ministry with the adult choir. That was a sad year for the choir because we learned that Pat had been in a terrible fire in her home. Months later when Pat was able to return to the choir I was so amazed by her. She sacrified her life to save her cats and because of that she also sacrificied her singing voice (going from a soprano to a tenor voice) and had a lot of skin damage. I was so young then, but I remember that I was very inspired by her and her story.

Over the years of our friendship and work together in ministry, I continued to be inspired by her. Despite the physical pain she had the last few years, she was present at every choir rehearsal and mass. Nothing would stop her from doing this important work. She also joined the choir in high school and has been there for every music director and pastor ever since – over 60 years. I went from being a choir member, to director, to member and back to director since then and she has constantly been there. Her death is devasting for all of us and she leaves a huge hole in our parish.

Whenever I needed anything, she was there to help. When I accidently locked myself out of the rectory a few weeks ago, I called her. She was about to sit down for breakfast but said “what do you need?” That was always her immediate response.

She did so much for our parish. She was the lector coordinator – scheduling and training the lectors – parish trustee (treasurer), number one parish festival volunteer (Pokerino) and so much more. The whole parish was affected by her and her dedication to St. Aloysius. It is so appropriate that she died here with her parish family after doing her duty as lector. She was not home alone or driving for Interfaith; she was here.

St. Aloysius will never be ther same and neither will I.

Back From Oz

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:11:32 +0000

This weekend was amazing. I went on retreat with a group of my Soul Sisters led by my Spiritual Director. Each month she leads us in a Soul Circle experience. It’s a place where we have time to reflect, share and create. It is awesome.

This weekend we traveled up to beautiful Door County, WI (aka Oz)to reflect on The Wizard of Oz and how our personal cyclones and people in our lives have led us to new places. Our creative process was to create our journey in a mandala (art inside a circle based on a question or theme that is pondered).

For several months I have been pondering my journey. Through counseling my journey has been extraordinary. I am beginning to get back the voice and the power that was taken from me and embracing the light. My journey is “From Darkness to Light.”

This weekend confirmed for me how important it has been to share my story and my journey. I have shared it with many people so far and it has lightened my load even more.

I feel more empowered and joy-filled than I ever have. I enjoyed life this weekend more than I ever have.

I feel the need to share my journey with the world. The idea to do so has been brewing for a while and was confirmed this weekend. Very soon, I will create a blog (and maybe a podcast) of my jouney. Stay tuned…

Life’s Going Okay and Then You Get Hit By a Car

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:18:26 +0000

Seeing as today is my knee injury anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate to share another amazing injury story on this day.

It all started a week ago last Thursday. I had just gotten my bike seat adjusted and was looking forward to a great ride into work. I headed down a main street sidewalk and after about 3/4 of a mile, tragedy struck. I was crossing the sidewalk at the freeway off ramp. Unfortunately, there was also a car trying to turn at that corner at the same time. I tried to stop and he didn’t see me, so we collided at the corner. He stopped immediately and was apologizing profusely. He helped me and my bike get up and promised to pay for any damages. An off-duty nurse who witnessed the accident also stopped to check on me as did an off-duty firefighter. The firefighter called in the accident and within minutes EMTs and a police officer were on the scene. The driver gave me his mailing information to cover any cost to me and I called into to work to let them know what happened.

I talked to the police officer to tell her what happened and then she went to talk to the driver while I went inside the ambulance. Aside from the pain in my leg that was identified as a road rash, some bruises, a headache (I was wearing a helmet) and a toe pain, I did feel okay. I decided against going to the hospital because I really thought I was fine. One of the EMTs took my information and I signed a waiver about not being taken in. They also took my vitals twice and continually asked how I was feeling and if I was sure I didn’t want to go to to get checked out. It’s amazing to me that I walked away with so little damage. After the EMTs finished checking me out, the police officer came to get my information and gave me the police report number.

I was then led to the other ambulance vehicle where they had loaded up my bike. The police officer wrote down the serial number of the bike and handed me my bag that was on it. The ambulance workers again asked if I was okay, which I really thought I was, and drove me to work down the street.

I arrived at work and the EMTs carried my bike over to a tree where I locked it up. I went in the building and ended up arriving only 25 minutes later than I supposed to. It was the first day of the grand reopening celebration of the store after a month-long remodel and I was one of three cashiers that morning. Throughout the morning other team members and managers came to check on me and learned what happened. One of my managers asked if it would be alright if her husband picked me up after my shift in his truck to take me and the bike home. The bike was in really bad shape and there was no way I could walk it home. I said yes and she called him. He would be there at 2. That manager kept checking up on me and made sure I knew I could sit down to rest if I needed to but I didn’t feel the need.

Before long it was time to head out and my manager’s husband took me and my bike home. I put ointment on my road rash and really did feel fine. I got out what debris I could, but there was still a lot in the wound. A friend took my bike into the shop to get fixed. I had no where else to go that day so I just took it easy.

I went to another job the next day and again was feeling just fine. That afternoon I did go to a walk-in clinic to make sure I really was okay. I had to wait an hour because I didn’t have an appointment, but I eventually got in to see a physician assistant (just like Diyya on Royal Pains). She checked me out all over. I still had a headache and also had arm and shoulder pain in addition to the leg and toe pains. She had an X-ray taken of my toe and it ended up being fractured. It’s amazing that only one baby toe was injured in the process. It was buddy tapped to the toe next to it.

Next came the painful part. She could see that there was quite a bit of debris in my road rash and it was prone to infection so it would have to be cleaned out. I remember this process well when I cut my knee! Since that was a smaller area, they numbed it first but that would not happen today. It actually didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would and the sponging after the scrubbing felt great. In not too much time my wound was cleaned and new ointment and a wrap and bandage were applied. She advised me to ice my shoulders and arms if I needed to, continue to wrap my leg twice a day and follow up with my doctor within a week. The nurse gave me some bandages, a wrap and some ointment to carry me over a few days.

I continued wrapping my leg until Sunday, but by then the wrap wasn’t staying on and the wound wasn’t draining any more. I asked a friend who is a nurse and another person who had had this injury before, and they both said that if it’s not draining any more I wouldn’t need to wrap it anymore. This was great news because it was annoying. It did get me a lot of attention at church, though. Lots of people were asking about my newest accessory.

On Monday I called my doctor’s office and got an appointment for the afternoon. She advised me to keep my toe wrapped for three weeks since it was first wrapped, which will be the end of the month. She told me to keep wearing a hard toed shoe and if it still bothers me after three weeks to come and see her again. She said it was fine to be wrap-free, but to keep putting ointment on the road rash. With that brief visit, I was all set.

Now it has been a full week since I saw the doctor and 11 days since my accident. I am amazed at how much better the road rash looks. I continue to put ointment on it. I still have bruises on my leg which are very annoying and my toe still has pain on the top but is still tapped to the other one.

Overall, I feel extremely grateful that I wasn’t more badly hurt than I was. My angels must have been there protecting me. One bad thing to come out of this is that the police officer called me the day after the accident to let me know that I would be getting a ticket. Apparently it’s illegal to bike on a sidewalk in Milwaukee County. I paid the ticket because I didn’t know that and I have no energy to contest it.

I was back on my bike within a week of recovery. I got it back from the shop the day after the accident. This whole incident proves that you never can be too careful. Always wear a helmet and since I have to ride in traffic I am extra cautious.

It really makes you think. Life can be going okay and then you get hit by a car. It really puts things in perspective.

Life Reflected in Music

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:17:25 +0000

Music speaks to me in many ways. The lyrics are the component that “sells” a song to an audience. A songwriter puts their heart and soul into the lyrics and what flows out can touch people in many different ways. The CD currently playing on repeat in my car is Matthew West‘s The Story of Your Life. West took a very different path to create this album. He asked fans to send in stories from their own experiences and wrote the songs based on those stories. They are powerful testimonials to how music can tell a story very powerfully. As I have shared with a few people, I am struggling in many ways right now. My parents are going through a divorce and I have so much emotion wrapped up in that. It has led to me discovering how one of my parents’ behavior has negatively affected me not just now but for years and through spiritual direction and counseling I’ve only started to be healed from that pain.

Each of the songs on this album has a story, but three of them particularly resonate with me and my story. The one I relate to the most is Family Tree. The lyrics speak of leaving a legacy different than the one you inherited because God has bigger dreams and love for you than you can imagine. The full lyrics can be found here.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/15466856 w=400&h=225]

Family Tree by Matthew West (The Story Behind The Song) from emicmg on Vimeo.

Another song that speaks to me is Broken Girl. I have suffered from verbal abuse and before I started my journey towards healing, I was broken. Lyrics can be found here.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/15466548 w=400&h=225]

Broken Girl by Matthew West (The Story Behind The Song) from emicmg on Vimeo.

Finally, after years of being stifled and not being able to see my true beauty my freedom has started to come. My healing process has begun, but I have a long road to travel to get to the light. The last song to share is The Healing Has Begun. The title speaks for itself. The lyrics can be found here.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/15466438 w=400&h=225]

The Healing Has Begun by Matthew West (The Story Behind The Song) from emicmg on Vimeo.

Capstone Posted

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:52:54 +0000

Remember that paper that took over my life last Spring that my graduation depended on? Yeah, me too. Soon after I finished it, I posted here for feedback about if I posted it somewhere would people read it. I got one positive response, but I decided to post it anyway. I didn’t know what format to go with, and I then I saw another blogger who posted her thesis via SlideShare. It was rather simple. So I went ahead and posted it. It’s over 50 pages, but there are lots of photos! The topic is my church and I presented three areas in their current state and made suggestions for improvement based on research and other examples in area churches. I got a B+ on it and it sucked my life up for a few months, so it would be nice if someone else would read it. No pressure, but I think it’s a good read. Plus, there are a lot of photos (stating that again for emphasis)! Anyway, here it is: My Capstone. If nothing else, could you at least view it once so I see that someone cares a little? Enough begging. I’m moving on now…

Farewell, My Friend

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:09:00 +0000

As I previously posted, my friend Amy has been battling cancer for a very short time. On Easter, she posted via Facebook that her battle would be ending soon as she was dying. Since then, I have checked her page daily to see such an outpouring of love there. Yesterday another mutual friend informed me that her battle ended. I checked her page to see confirmation that she had passed on.

Amy, you will be greatly missed but I know that where you are there is no more pain.

Eternal rest grant to her, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her. Amen.

Thank you for your prayers. Her family and friends would appreciate them in this time of grief.

My Friend Amy

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:26:40 +0000

As I just finished writing, my Easter was very nice. Almost immediately after my family left, I reinstalled Facebook and UberSocial on my phone to get caught up on what I had missed in the last week. Soon after, I saw quite a few posts from GSPN community members who were in prayer for our friend Amy. I replied to one of them asking if there had been update since I’ve been offline and I was upset to learn that there was a big change.

Amy has been suffering from Ulcerative Colitis for 20 years and has been diagnosed with cancer about a month ago. Originally they had thought that the cancer was on her ovaries, but in the process they learned it was much worse. She would have to go through chemo, but there was no cure for the form of cancer she had.

I was dismayed when I read on her Facebook page on Sunday night that her time on this earth would soon be over. Amy is dying because there is nothing they can do for her anymore to treat her disease.

Amy has been one of my greatest online friends and my heart breaks for her and her family. She is at peace with her diagnosis and with it being her time to go and asks that we keep her and her family and friends in prayer. I prayed a rosary for her that night and cried in prayer for her as I lay in bed. My friend Emmy sent me a Prayer for a Happy Death that I will pray in novena until Amy’s time finally comes. I posted on my podcast FB page to ask our listeners to pray for Amy because she has been a great supporter of our show and is a dear friend of mine.

Since she posted her latest update, I have checked her FB page daily. It is heartwarming to see the outpouring of love for Amy. Two other friends in the GSPN community have also posted wonderful blog posts about Amy. One is by Cliff and one is by Alison.

Even if you don’t know her, I invite you to pray/send positive thoughts to Amy and her family and friends. Here is what I’ll be praying (substituting her name or she/her for me):

Prayer for a Happy Death:
O my Creator and Father,
I beg of you the grace of final perseverance and a holy death
Despite the fact that I have greatly misused the life you have given me,
grant me the grace to live it well from this moment on and to end
to end it in your holy love.
Let me die as the holy patriarchs died,
leaving this valley of tears without sadness
to go and enjoy eternal rest in my true homeland.
Let me die as did glorious St. Joseph, accompanied by Jesus and Mary
pronouncing those sweetest of names,
and Whose company I hope to enjoy for all eternity.
Let me die as did the Immaculate Virgin
in the purest of love and with the desire of uniting myself to You — the only object of my love.
Jesus, having accepted death for me
grant me the grace of dying in an act of perfect love for You.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me now and at the hour of my death
St. Joseph, Guardian and Protector of Jesus and Mary,
be with me in my last moments and protect me from the enemy.
Amen.

100 Facts About Me

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:17:10 +0000

For the last few weeks, there has been a hashtag on Twitter called “100 Facts About Me.” This sounded like a good idea, especially because I don’t reveal that much about myself online or in person. Instead of clogging people’s timelines with 100 tweets each with a fact, I thought it would be much easier to post them all here at the same time. It took a few weeks to compile this list, so here we go:

1. I am cross-dominant. I write right handed, but cut with scissors and use a computer mouse left handed. I blame this on having a left handed and a right handed parent.
2. I have never dyed my hair
3. I have four neices and a nephew
4. When I was young we owned a cat without a name. My dad accidently ran over it. I wrote about this story for a school publication
4. I had a Beagle named Sassy until junior high
5. Sassy got bladder cancer and we had to put her down. I cried for days and played a lot of music in my mourning
6. I went to a Catholic school four blocks from my house until 6th grade. We had a horrific principal we called “The Nazi” and after her year of torture everyone left the school. Combined and very small classes forced us to close.
7. I then went to another school for 7th and 8th. I joined the church and they haven’t been able to get rid of me yet.
8. My first job wasn’t until college at my school library. I worked there all through my years there.
9. I also worked as a hostess at a restaurant. One place I was only at for two months.
10. I then went to another restaurant and stayed there until it closed. My restaurant career lasted 10 months.
11. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is my favorite musical. Before I saw it the first time, I bought the CD and memorized all the words. At the show I sang along and still know all the words.
12. My first piano lesson was on November 14, 1989. It’s only slighty weird to me that I remember the date
13. The first time I saw Rent was in the movie theatre. I count that as a stage performance.
14. I saw Lion King an excessive amount when it came out on video. It is still one of my favorite Disney movies
15. I think new Pixar movies are their personal birthday presents to me. They always come out around my birthday
16. Dawson’s Creek and Felicity were my favorite TV shows in high school and college. They are still all-time favorites. I even had a VHS labeled and used only for those two shows.
17. I was obsessed with Jonathan Taylor Thomas in junior high. I blame my friend Kim for getting me started. That is one reason why I watched Lion King so much.
18. My favorite all-time movie is Serendipity.
19. In 1998 I joined a online group called The Angels, from which my camp name came
20. I am extremely introverted, but you wouldn’t know it from how much I write online
21. I am both the youngest and the only child. (Figure that one out!)
22. I have walked a half and full marathon. Many one day I’ll start running, but I doubt it…
23. I got my first iPod in 2006. I found SQPN early on and the rest is history…
24. I am a converted live-tweeter
25. I have attended two CNMCs, but I doubt I will make it this year.
26. I am an Apple fan girl, but I don’t (yet) own a Mac. I am actively saving for one.
27. In my senior year of high school, I grew my hair out to the middle of my back. In the spring, I chopped it all off and have had short hair ever since.
28. In August of 2009 I read The Shack and it changed my faith life forever.
29. I worked at a Girl Scout camp for 7 summers. The skills and memories I have from there will last forever.
30. I became a TiVo user a year ago. I have not watched TV the same way since.
31. I have been an aunt since age 6.
32. For most of my life my favorite color was purple until a camp friend helped me embrace my love of pink.
33. I started taking organ lessons in high school and continued through college.
34. I only discovered the awesomesauce that is Veronica Mars, Firefly, Arrested Development and Freaks and Geeks years later on DVD.
35. I started watching Buffy and Angel on Christmas break. I am currently on seasons 6 and 3, respectively.
36. I have sung with the MSO Chorus since 2000. I have only taken one season off since then.
37. When I went to grad school in Chicago, it took me 3.5 hours each way to get there via car, train and bus.
38. I really enjoy Jamba Juice. Unfortunately, they don’t have it here, so I only get it once a year in Madison now.
39. Talking with people in person is a huge challenge for me that I have worked for years to overcome. I’m only now starting the realize how to manage it and why I do it.
40. Chadwick’s is my favorite catalog company.
41. Target/Best Buy/Kohl’s are my favorite in person stores.
42. People with poor spelling and/or grammar habits bother me.
43. I graduated from grad school last May, but unfortunately attended graduation alone.
44. I only got one C in my time in grad school – in my most challenging class.
45. Finding Nemo is my favorite Pixar movie.
46. Grey’s Anatomy is my favorite current TV show.
47. Glee is also a favorite, but it has fallen from grace with its inconsistencies
48. I still love most of its music and own all the albums they’ve released. I will eventually own all the non-album music from this season.
49. My knowledge of current pop music mostly comes from American Idol and Glee.
50. I discovered four of my favorite TV shows on DVD: Chuck, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Friday Night Lights.
51. I started using Twitter on May 21, 2008. It has brought forth many fruitful relationships.
52. I direct two choirs at my church and accompany three masses a weekend.
53. I started podcasting in September with my friend Kien. Yet another thing to blame Twitter for (j/k).
54. I started writing show notes in podcast episode 4. Kien does all the other work.
55. I have been a GSPN.tv Plus Member since May of 2008 (I think)
56. I stopped using Plurk last Fall
57. For years my favorite font was Comic Sans MS. Now it’s Calibri
58. I don’t have cable and probably never will
59. In college, I had a terrifying event occur while driving to school. The engine blew on my Mom’s Nova
60. I totaled my next car (Escort) when I spun out on black ice on the freeway
61. I get super excited when I see actors from my favorite series in current episodes of other series
62. The Brahms Requiem is my favorite choral piece. I’ve sung it in concert probably multiple times over the years
63. I have abandonment/betrayal issues I have only started to work out
64. Big Bang Theory makes me laugh more than any other comedy series ever
65. My 10-yr high school and 15-yr elementary school reunions were organized exclusively on Facebook
66. The population of the school I teach at is mostly Hispanic
67. I got my first teaching position while still student teaching. I’ve been there ever since
68. A great tragedy occurred in my chorus in May of 2008. It was the one season I wasn’t singing
69. The car I drive now is a Toyota Yaris nicknamed Blue. Much improvement from the Escort
70. My parents bought me a used piano for my college graduation present. It replaced a very worn Wurlizter
71. I am a member of Milwaukee Orff
72. I have extremely dry skin in the winter. The only product that helped was Burt’s Bees Beeswax Hand Creme, and then I discovered Aquaphor Advanced Therapy
73. I have general and choral music education licenses
74. I graduated from Alverno College in December 2003 with a Bachelor of Music
75. I graduated from Catholic Theological Union in May 2010 with a Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies
76. I earned two gold cups for piano competitions
77. I participated in Solo/Ensemble vocal competitions in high school and went to state for solos three years
78. I enjoy biking and walking for exercise, but I haven’t worked out regularly in 6 months
79. I set up wireless in my apartment for my TiVo on my own (mostly)
80. My parents took me camping in our trailer every weekend through high school
81. I attempted to start a piano studio last Spring. It didn’t go anywhere, but I have hope it will someday in the future when I have more time to dedicate to it
82. I’ve been working at my additional part time job for almost a year
83. I collect angels
84. I’ve only been to Disney World once, and it was in 4th grade
85. I auditioned for the choir director at my high school and did well enough to bypass being in Freshman choir
86. I earned honor cords for music in high school
87. I have been in the cast of two musicals and in the pit orchestra in another
88. Teaching music gives me much joy, especially when the kids cooperate
89. The two paintings I have in my apartment were gifts from friends. One was painted by the friend herself and one by a friend’s brother
90. I adopted two guinea pigs at the end of summer 2006. I found each of them dead in the cage (Rambo first, then Oreo) and they died within a year of each other
91. The current TV shows I most recommend are Chuck and Friday Night Lights for drama and Modern Family and Big Bang Theory for comedy
92. I’ve been blogging since March of 2008
93. I’m not very good at keeping plants alive. You have to water them, so that’s probably where it goes wrong
94. I have been to one General Hospital Fan Club Weekend
95. I joined Weight Watchers in January of 2003. I have been a lifetime member since May of 2003
96. I had two wisdom teeth pulled within 6 months of each other
97. I make my own laundry soap
98. My family traveled to AZ in my senior high of high school for a surprise anniversary party for my grandparents
99. I am a soap opera fan. At one time I watched four of them, but now I’m down to one
100. I have never drank any alcohol

What Are Words – Chris Medina

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:17:18 +0000

Chris Medina was an American Idol contestant this year that I fell in love with. He shows what it means to be dedicated to the one you love. I’m endeared to him more because he auditioned in Milwaukee. To get more information on his story, check out his audition:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdyWSASJbvM&w=480&h=390]

He was unfortunately cut and didn’t make the Top 24. Days later, he was approached to record a song that was written based on his story. Check out the video:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQY4dIxY1H4&w=640&h=390]

And then buy the song on iTunes. You won’t regret it.

Highlights of 2010

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:59:17 +0000

2010 is almost officially over and it was another interesting year. I’m thankful for the challenges this year has brought, but I’m looking forward to a fresh start. My goal for the year was to make more time for myself and for God, which I accomplished. In 2011 my major goal is to get going with fitness again and for some internal healing to begin.

I share with you my highlights (some lowlights too) of 2010:

January: My second guinea pig died, leaving the saddest sight ever. Our new Archbishop was installed and I watched the mass live on TV.

February: Began my last grad class ever and worked on my capstone/thesis. My class was on Saturday so I ended up driving to make sure I was back in time for mass. Was never late and traffic was not so bad! My first wisdom tooth was pulled. Secured a place to stay for the CNMC. Bought my (cheap) plane tickets, a TiVo, wireless adapter and router with tax refund. Officially had an emergency fund (which was quickly depleted).

March:Finished my capstone draft. Celebration!

April: Did final revisions on my capstone. I attempted to start my own business, a piano studio, which crashed and burned. I put it lots of effort to get the word out, but got no clients. I remained happy with the two kids I already had. Presided over cathedral-style evening prayer for the last project for my last grad school class. Picked up cap, gown and hood and officially submitted my capstone for publication. Hosted Easter dinner for my family.

May: I GRADUATED!!!!!!! Even though my dad couldn’t be there, it was still a great experience. Gained a new identity. Started a new part-time job at a craft store as a cashier. Spring concert for school and the end of the school year.

June: I repented of my spoilery Twitter ways. Turned 29 and wrote a list of 29 Things I Am Grateful For. Saw Toy Story 3 and bought myself an In Between Sundays t-shirt and a few other things for b-day gifts. Set and surpassed goals for how far I could bike and biked to my church job almost every day I worked there (4 miles each way). Biked 100 miles.

July: Saw Danny Gokey in concert at Summerfest. Saw Wicked for the first time (after reading the book). In the 10 days before leaving for Boston, I counted down my top ten reasons for going on this blog. Biked over 100 miles.

August: Traveled to Boston for the Catholic New Media Celebration. I stayed with great friends Zina and Jeff and met friends I met last summer and ones I never met before in person. Went to see at Third Day at State Fair. Wrote a guest blog post for Catholic Tech Tips. Bought a headset and started podcasting with great friend Kien. It was a “secret project” until we debuted officially in September. Biked 125 miles.

September: Another school year began. My first class is now in 6th grade – wow! The premiere of TV Rewind podcast! Biked 125 miles. Second wisdom tooth was pulled, but was much more traumatic than the first time. Mom has a situation where she can’t walk and has to go to rehab. When she returns to the Villa, she moves to a handicap-accessible room. Dad also moves to a smaller room.

October: Attended the Archdiocese Catholic Teacher’s Convention and the Wisconsin State Music Educators Conference. Met online friend Laura and her son while staying in Madison.

November: Blue (my car) is hit by an uninsured, unlicensed driver while she is parked by church (isn’t that lovely!). Shop around repair shops and finally find the right one. Car is in shop for 2.5 weeks and I have a rental with XM (bliss!). Performed The Sea Symphony with the MSO Thanksgiving weekend. We had Thanksgiving dinner from food service at my parents’ place. My mom officially announced that she and my dad were separated, even though we’ve known in our hearts for a few months.

December: Performed in the holiday pops concerts with the MSO and Chorus. Recorded a podcast Christmas Special for our feed and the Catholic Roundup New Media Advent Calendar. Celebrated Christmas at the Villa with the family. Fr. Roderick announced the dates and location for next year’s CNMC. I hope I can go but it depends on finances. I started watching the greatest TV show ever (Buffy) and its spin-off (Angel).

I hope all of you had a fantastic 2010 and have a wonderful and blessed 2011.

Lessons Learned From Biking

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 18:04:46 +0000

I spent quite a bit of time biking this Summer. Because of all my trips, I have had many successes (including going farther than I thought I could) and failures (getting off course and injured).
Here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned:

1. Falling off a bike hurts as much as falling down stairs
2. Never go to an unfamilar area without mapping it first
3. A distance can be a lot further than you think
4. Hills are difficult, but coasting down makes them more fun and easy
5. One can built endurance without too much difficulty
6. Repeated treks don’t make them easier, but more manageable
7. It is posible to go extremely long distances many days in a row
8. Taking 10 days off for a trip and the week after was a bad idea
9. There aren’t nearly enough flat roads where I live
10. Hills are still difficult, even after all my experiences with them

Tooth Debacle Part 2

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:29:43 +0000

I had my first tooth Debacle of February 2010. Two weeks ago I had another one happen, but this time it was worse. Last time, I had a painful tooth that I told the dentist about during my cleaning. This time I went in without an appointment because I had a wisdom tooth with a lot of pain. This is exactly the tooth the dental hygienist said would probably the next one to go at my cleaning in July.

Two weeks ago, I biked over to my dentist to get the tooth looked at. I was hoping it would be simple as last time where he would give me a referral to an oral surgeon and I could get it out within a week or so. My dentist threw me for a loop when I eventually saw him (after a long wait) and he said that he could take it out himself. I was very surprised by this, but let him go ahead and pull it.

It took a while to let the drugs kick in to numb my mouth and lip as it did last time. Once I was numb, he went ahead and tried to get the tooth. It was much more traumatic this time because he couldn’t get a good hold of the tooth. Once he finally did, with the help of two assistants, and got it out I heard a loud crack. That’s never good! The dentist told me that they had a small issue and the tooth split when it was being pulled! After that happened, they quickly worked to find me an oral surgeon near by that would take me on short notice. They were willing to drive me over since I had my bike, but told them I could bike home (3/4 mile) and then drive over with no problem. Since I was still numb (which the oral surgeon was pleased with), it was important that I get there as quickly as possible.

So, loaded with gauze and numbness still in my mouth I biked back home, grabbed my purse and headed out to drive to the oral surgeon. At this point, I had already been at the dentist’s office for a few hours and this whole process still wasn’t over! Once I got there – to a surgeon just four miles away – they had me fill out some paperwork and took me in right away.

Once I got in to the exam room, there process went very smoothly. They numbed me up more because some had worn off and pulled out the remainder of the tooth with no problem. The assistant went through the recovery process and gave me gauze, Gatorade and an ice pack to take with me.

After they got it out, they had me stand for one of those nifty full mouth X-rays like I had last time. The dentist took a look at the X-ray and saw a little piece of something there, so after I was set to leave they had me go back to the exam room to look at my mouth again. They checked and saw that everything was out, so I was good to go. Unfortunately, the surgeon charged me a hefty charge for the extraction, but fortunately I did have the money to cover it.

I then headed off to Walgreens to get my prescriptions filled and after that was filled and paid for I could FINALLY go home and stay there. By this time it was about 3 p.m. (and this all started in the morning) and I was starving! It always very interesting to try to eat when your mouth is numb, but it went well. I ate lunch and had some Tylenol, Oxycodon and lots of liquids.

NOTE: The second half of this post is now “take two.” I finished this whole post via my Blackberry and after I “saved” it, everything I wrote disappeared. Sigh…

As in the past, the Oxycodon really knocked me out so not long after I had to take a nap. About an hour later I woke up and it was just in time for one of my Twitter friends to begin his live recording for his podcast. However, it was clear that my stomach had other ideas. I started feeling very light-headed and drowsy again, but I was also feeling nauseated. I ended up throwing up, sat on the bathroom floor for a while, trying to function and eventually throwing up again. It seems that everything I ate and drank was no longer in my body (sorry if that is TMI for you). I realized that although I took the entire prescription of the Oxycodon last time, it was not going to happen this time. That was not a pleasant few hours to make it through.

Finally the drugs wore off and I just continued with only taking Tylenol and drugs for the infection. I made it through the day and night somehow and before long it was the end of the day. I had some cooled down pasta for dinner and the rest of my eating for the day was fine. I slept well and had no problems during the night. All that changed in the morning…

In the morning, I woke up with quite a bit of mouth pain. I wanted to alleviate it as quickly as possible, so I took Tylenol first thing. I went into the kitchen and started cooking my breakfast. As my eggs were cooking, I started to feel really light-headed and not good. I managed to cook my eggs properly, but I spent some of the time on the kitchen floor sitting and trying to get my bearings again. After they were ready, I put them on a small plate and was determined to be able to make it to my recliner and just sit and recover.

That was my plan, but it didn’t work because as soon I got to the living of the living room I fell/fainted right down on my face! A few moments later I came to, surrounded by my own blood and a broken plate. I sat up and cleaned up the floor and myself. I have hard-wood floors, so the cleaning up process was not difficult. I had a good wound on my chin and my arm, but I was no worse for the wear. I did eat my eggs off the floor (they weren’t dirty!) and moved on from that experience. LESSON LEARNED: Never take pain meds on an empty stomach. I eventually ate some more for breakfast and after that I was fine (after I stopped bleeding of course).

The rest of my recovery was thankfully uneventful. After three days of rest I was finally able to exercise again, which was rough because before this happened I had just gotten back into it. I kept with the softer foods for several days and now over two weeks later I have fully recovered. I went to see the oral surgeon for a follow-up appointment and after a few minutes he saw that I was just fine despite my trauma.

Clearly, this whole experience was far more traumatic than it was last time. But through it, I learned a lot and hope that when my upper wisdom teeth come out it will go very smoothly with no complications…

I’m a Guest Blogger Again!

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:50:32 +0000

As I told you previously, I was chosen to me a guest blogger for Catholic Tech Tips. I wrote it and submitted it for review on Friday, but something went wrong and they didn’t get it. There was nothing even there that showed me as a contributor. Luckily, I logged in and found the post which I then e-mailed to them.

Today it was published and it turned out great! You can read the post here. Enjoy!

CNMC 2010 Day 4

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:07:12 +0000

On Sunday morning I woke up and showered. Zina still had muffins from the day before and I had some with some cut fruit. After two very full conference days, I was ready to just relax. Since my flight home didn’t leave until 8:20 p.m., I had plenty of time to explore the city of Boston. The first step was to finalize my plans for the afternoon. I originally had plans with another SQPN friend to go exploring, but her plans changed. I tried contacting another family via text, but they were soon leaving for home. So that left me alone for the afternoon, which was absolutely fine with me. Cliff and Fr. Roderick had planned a “tweetup” for the afternoon in Cambridge. Zina let me play with the iPad (and now I really, really want one). I looked up the list of all those attending and found that many would be there.

My next step was to find a church to attend for Sunday mass. The Liss family were intending to go to their home church, drop the boys off with a relative and then go to the tweetup. Zina encouraged me to go to a church in the North End and showed me information about St. Stephen’s on the iPad. I loved that idea since I was intending to go there for one of my audio tours anyway.

She let me know that on Sundays during the summer there are festivals for saint days and found out that there would be one happening this weekend. We looked up information about St. Stephen’s Church and found out that there was one Sunday mass. Since the bus schedule is very sporadic on Sunday, we looked up the train schedule and she printed out directions in how to get from Park Street station to the church. I said good-bye to the boys and armed with directions I was on my way. I had no problem walking a little further to the train station (the Ducttape family, Zina and I had walked from there on Friday night) and I found my way to the Red Line train. The station they live near has a really neat metal “T” and the building has a colorful banner outside of it.

I had every intention of taking the subway all the way to Park Street, but the subway system had other plans. I was listening to my iPod and when we arrived at Kendall station, another passenger told me that that was the last stop. I followed the crowd to the street and loaded on a bus to shuttle over to Park Street. Eventually I did get there and once I got my bearings I was able to find my way from Boston Common to the church. I passed Mike’s Pastry on the way and intended to go back later, but didn’t.

St. Stephen’s is a very old church (as you can see from the photo of the sign). Zina informed me that years ago both levels were used with the wealthy on the main level and the enslaved on the upper level. It has a beautiful pipe organ that was used throughout the service and a huge chandelier. Here are some photos of the inside of the church:

At presentation, members of the Society of Maria Della Cava (the saint the North End was celebrating that day) came up and presented flowers.

After mass, I discovered that the Festival for Maria Della Cava was happening on the street right outside the church. There were many vendors with food, drinks, entertainment and games all down the street.

I had a pasta dish for lunch, a lemonade made from lemons and my first canoli! The “Original Canoli Girl From North End” had me sample all three flavors, but I went with the original and it was delicious!

After a bit, I walked a few blocks to the Christopher Columbus Park (with help by Google Maps on my Blackberry) where my MP3 HarborWalk audio tour was to begin. It was introduced by the mayor, who called it the “Hahbah” and it was a very good and informative tour. It was recommended by my friend Lea who did it with her husband on their recent trip their and I thank her so much for the recommendation! This tour had me seeing the beauty of the water and many, many sites along the way. Just look how blue this water is – gorgeous!

I never would have seen all these sites and learned so much about them on my own, so I’m very grateful to have taken it. My favorite part was passing by the aquarium and seeing these cute harbor seals.

Another highlight was seeing the James Hook Lobster Company, the oldest in the city. It was just closing as I got there, but I did get to see their tanks of live lobsters – yikes!

After that tour, I was about mile away from where I started, so I walked back to the downtown area. The Friday afternoon tour was very helpful in getting my bearing and in finding my way. It was very warm that day, but in the Columbus park and downtown there were water fountains that sprayed up from the ground helping people stay cool. The kids enjoyed it the most.

I eventually got back to Boston Common all on my own! Zina told me that the Public Garden was “right next” to Boston Common, but it was still confusing. With the help of a paper map I had (and the assistance of a few people on Facebook) I found it. What a beautiful place! This audio tour started on the bridge over the lagoon and was much different. It had a track for each location but instead of directing you exactly where to go and when like the HarborWalk you paused it, found the next stop on your own (which wasn’t always easy) and then started it up again. It was very beautiful in the garden. They had different people on the tour talking about each stop. Highlights included the bench featured in Good Will Hunting, the actual Cheers bar across the street (the fake one some attendees went to and it is in Quincy Market), the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture, the swan boats and the September 11th Memorial Garden of Remembrance.

I saw quite a few street musicians during Sunday afternoon, including this one in the garden.

As I was finishing my tour, it was getting closer and closer to the time I was to meet Jeff and Zina. The meetup ended at 5 and I was still downtown at 4:30. I booked it over to the Common and waited for the next shuttle to Kendall. I got a text from Jeff after I was on the bus asking where I was and I wrote back that I was on my way to Kendall. Since it was so close to 5, I wrote that I would meet them at the condo instead of the bar where the meetup was taking place. After I reached the subway, I read his next one asking me to text when I was on the train but had no reception. Instead I texted when I was at Alewife, the station nearest to their condo.

Once I arrived there, I texted him to let him know I was there and asked if they could get me from there. I assumed they were already at the condo and would be there in minutes. Apparently they were still at the meetup because it took them quite a while to come. It ended up being a very good thing, though, because a” Godincidence” happened about 20 minutes after I arrived.

While I was sitting on the short cement wall, I looked across the street and pondered the person coming towards me. Wheeling a suitcase behind him was a man who looked a lot like Matthew Warner. As he got closer I was sure it was him! I paused my iPod and took out my earphones to say hello. I asked him if he was on his way to the airport and he was. Talk about divine intervention! I told him that Jeff and Zina were on their way to get me to take ME to the airport and it would probably be no problem for him to come with us. We talked for a little bit and it turned out that he was having dinner with a friend at the restaurant across the street. Before long, Battlecar Gallatica pulled up. Inge and Myra were also with them and with the removal of Owen’s booster seat and Zina moving to that seat (with a Neat Sheet over it from Saturday’s incident) they had room for Matt and he sat in the passenger seat in the front.

I hopped in the back with Inge and we swung by the condo to get my suitcase. I also ran in and grabbed my phone charger that I knew was still in the outlet in the room. Once my bag was secure in the van, Myra, Inge and Zina stayed at the condo and Jeff, Matthew and me were on our way to the airport. His flight was leaving at 8:45 so it was perfect timing for both of us. Jeff and Matthew had a nice chat along the way, which was good because they hadn’t met before. Jeff dropped me off at my airline check-in first and I said good-bye to Matt and thanked Jeff profusely for their hospitality.

Inside, I checked in easily at the Midwest desk and headed up to my gate. I’m pretty sure it was the exact same gate I landed at, but I could be wrong. Across from the gate was a gift shop where I got my traditional overpriced magnet and postcards and a bottle of water and pretzels. My phone barely had a charge, so I happily plugged it in to the charger while I waited for the plane. As soon as I sat down, I realized that I just paid $4 for a liter of water and there was a water fountain right outside the store! A little while later, I walked up to the food court. I attempted to get a salad from McDonald’s, but they were out so I got a parfait instead – delicious! By the time I got back to the gate, many more people were there and I lost my prime seat (which also happened after a bathroom break in Milwaukee).

Eventually, it was time to load the plane and happily it went a lot smoother and faster this time. As we were boarding I noticed Dr. Paul was also on my flight! Once he saw me we chatted a little bit as we were waiting to board. He told me that he and Fr. Jay had dinner at the North End at the festival and I told him that I was there in the afternoon. It ended up that he was seated in the row right ahead of me on the plane. This flight there was a lot more overhead bin space so there was no need to gate check my bag (yeah!). Dr. Paul had a Mike’s Pastry box with him and was bringing home cookies for his family (aww!). He had an iPad and was “working” on it throughout the flight (so he says). It’s all play to me when it comes to that amazing device.

After being surrounded by them all weekend and getting to play with one myself, I’m more and more convinced that I want one myself. This was only Dr. Paul’s first flight and he would be getting home by 12:30 a.m. The flight went very well and we arrived right on time at 9:55 p.m. (losing an hour along the way).

Although I am unsure if we left from the same gate we landed in and know we entered the same gate we left from. There was a burger place across the hall, so it’s certain it was the same. After landing, Dr. Paul and I said good-bye and I walked up to the terminal where my dad was waiting. He greeted me with a hug, we walked to the car and he drove me home. It was a very long day and I was ready to see my bed. I unpacked my sleeping clothes and went right to sleep.

So after three days and many hours I have finally recapped the details of my trip. I hope you enjoyed reading all about it. I will be posting a guest blog post at Catholic Tech Tips soon (I wanted to get these done first), and I will post a link to that when that is published.

If you wish to view all 388 of my photos (and a few my friends took), they are all posted on Flickr. If we are connected on Facebook, they are also all posted in different albums. I welcome your comments on these posts and on my photos.

CNMC 2010 Day 3

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:50:20 +0000

Saturday – the day that was most anticipated of the weekend, not counting the Meet and Greet. The actual Catholic New Media Celebration took place at the Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese of Boston in Braintree, MA. On Saturday morning, Zina made delicious banana-chocolate chip muffins and after a shower and getting dressed, I had quite a few. Getting three kids ready to go is quite a feat, but they did and we were on our way with about an hour to go before the opening remarks. We all loaded into Battlecar Gallatica (the name of their van) and we off with the Star Wars soundtrack accompanying the ride.

Zina was navigator with her iPhone GPS (mostly successful) and just as we were about to arrive, Owen threw up. After arriving, Benjamin and I crawled out the back. They stayed outside to wipe down the area and I went inside. After a bit, Benjamin, Myra and Zina came in and Jeff and Owen stayed outside to see how his stomach would be.

Around 9 am, Mac Barron made some opening remarks, very much in the style of Steve Jobs (complete with black t-shirt).

He presented the fact that SQPN now has 6 gazillion downloads (or some similar crazy number). He also presented shows we currently have on the network and ones that were rejected that are similar such as “Catholic in Da Hood.” Many of us agreed on Twitter (many of us were live-tweeting the day) that although “Catholic Drinkie” was rejected, it sounded like a great idea! So much so that there’s now a Twitter account for it! Mac did a great job and we were all very entertained. He knows how to start off this event very well.

After his talk, Scot Landry, Secretary for Catholic Media of the Archdiocese of Boston, welcomed us.

He was followed by Pat Gohn who welcomed us and gave us the layout for where things were in the building.

Fr. Roderick then welcomed us and said the opening prayer.

Mac then introduced the morning keynote speaker, Fr. Robert Reed of CatholicTV.

It’s always good to give the audience free gifts, and Fr. Reed did so. We each out a bag and were instructed not to open it yet. Oh, the anticipation!

The theme of his talk was “Spirituality and Catechesis in New Media.” Main points: The Holy Scriptures are the root of our Tradition and the foundation of our faith, icons make God present, our work makes God present as well and we need to be fed as we feed others. Here are photos of the four gifts. The “Bit-O-Honey” was his favorite candy as a child.

{Side Note: If my friend Megan is reading this, she might be drooling over the last one. She is a freak for peanut butter. During the summer, I was likely to keep her supplied with these at camp… }

After Fr. Reed’s keynote, we had a short break before the sessions started. The person sitting next to me (writing on a yellow pad – how retro!) told me he was from The Boston Pilot. He noticed that I was snapping photos of the gifts with my Blackberry (and also with my regular camera since the BB camera sucks) and asked me what I was doing with them. I informed him that I was uploading them to Twitter and that I had an account on there. He wrote my name and what I told him down, so maybe I’ll be quoted somewhere! It’s America’s oldest Catholic newspaper and it was just announced that it is now available on Kindle and iPhone.

After a break, the sessions started. I went to two podcasting sessions and one blogging session throughout the day. The podcasting track featured Cliff Ravenscraft and Fr. Roderick, two of my favorite people. In the first session they explained (with a great Keynote presentation) how the whole podcasting thing works: you record your show on an mp3 file, save it in the internet cloud, upload it to a website, create an RSS feed on the website, submit to iTunes and then listeners download to their player or computer. It was very informative and helpful. They also were able to address questions from the audience.

They also gave a few tips and suggestions for equipment. Cliff recommends using a dynamic microphone. A cheaper one that is very effective is the Shure SM-58. Fr. Roderick says the closer you are to the microphone, the better the sound will be. Also if you use a headset, point the mic down your chin to avoid unnecessary sounds.

After another break, the second session of the morning started. I attended a session in the blogging track presented by Sarah Reinhard. She is a very adorable pregnant lady with a lot of guts (she wore a cowboy hat at the Meet and Greet on a dare)!

She polled the audience on who currently had a blog, and who had had one the longest. The winner was someone with a family blog for ten years! She gave out coffee and cookies as prizes for poll winners and for people who were spoke persons for their groups. The Three C’s of Blogging according to Sarah are Community, Content, Catechesis.

In this session, we were seated in small groups and each group had a basket of objects. Our task through the session was to choose an object and decide what kind of blog we could make around it. Our group had good intentions, but didn’t fufill our task. Instead, we helped our friend Kim figure out what kind of blog she could write based on a very profound life experience many years ago. I really hope and pray that she makes it happen. I’m sure it could have great impact on others. Overall, it was a great session, and I learned a lot from it. Even if you are very experienced at something, there is always more to learn.

After the second session, we had a very delicious lunch and I spent time after walking around the beautiful Pastoral Center.

After the lunch break, Lino Rulli, of Catholic Guy Show on Sirius XM Radio and Lino at Large on SQPN, had the afternoon keynote. Anyone that listens to any of his shows knows that he is self-deprecating and hilarious. This talk was no different. He started things out right by entering from the back of the room to the theme music of “Eye of the Tiger.”

Lino encouraged us to explore what we are passionate about. He is passionate about entertaining people and now does it for a living. He tells us that all forms of media are art. It takes work to make it successful. Study what works to make it better. He also encouraged us to ask who we want our audience to be and who do you want to reach? Most importantly: “Make it new, fresh, different, quality. Make the name ‘new media’ mean something.”

At the end, he took out his iPad and read some of the mean things that people have posted about him online. He was having trouble managing the iPad and this happened:
Lino: I hate this thing (iPad)
Sr. Anne (from the audience): I’ll take it!

After the keynote, we had a break and then the final breakout session. I went to the final session on podcasting. In this one, Cliff and Fr. Roderick broke down how you put together a show, what equipment is needed and how you set it up. They suggested going to MusicBakery to search for music for your podcast. It must be short and interesting. An opening jingle can make or break your show. Start the music loud and in 7 seconds, decrease volume and speak. Your name, title, what show is and the topic at beginning of each show. A mixer isn’t too expensive to purchase. A cheaper one they recommended is the Behringer 802

Cliff drew what goes into the mixer and where and then they showed it with actual equipment.

At end of show, state ways to get a hold of you and other important information. Use a pop filter for your microphone unless one is built in. Have your show notes in a window on the screen or on piece of paper. A separate screen than the one you are recording on is better. Stereo podcasts should be compressed to 192 kbs/sec. Mono should be compressed to 126. Use Libsyn for hosting and use the RSS feed they provide to send to Feedburner. Add the new podcast in iTunes. It was an extremely helpful session and I learned a lot.

After the last session, we had a free hour and there was much podcasting (video and audio) happening by various people throughout the building. There were also desserts in the cafeteria (yum!) and time to see the vendors and talk to people. The cardinal arrived at that time and met many people (myself not included). After the hour, we reassembled in the conference room and the cardinal addressed us.

After that, Fr. Roderick gave some closing remarks and then ended with a prayer and invited the cardinal up for a blessing. With that, the CNMC was over – it went so fast! At that point, I didn’t have dinner plans and was assuming that Jeff and Zina were going to the founder’s dinner (their original plan). Owen and Jeff made it in to the conference by the end of the morning, but they were still concerned that something else could happen to him. We decided to go back to the condo and order in instead of going out and Jeff got some fabulous food from a place down the street.

That was the end of Saturday and we were all ready for the day to be over. Zina made pasta for the kids and we had our food. After, we hung out and I listened to a few podcasts before bed. That was the end of another very full day.

Stayed tuned for the recap of the final day of my weekend coming out tomorrow. These take so long to write that I have to pace myself and I have to eat lunch and leave for work soon. In the meantime, here are adorable Benjamin and Owen eating their dinner and Myra playing with the refrigerator magnets:

More Cuteness with Myra

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 02:43:13 +0000

Zina just tagged me in some adorable photos with Myra. This child is going to be a heart breaker when she gets older and I have to share. All photos were taken by Zina.

And here’s another photo just because it’s awesome:

CNMC 2010 Day 2

feedback@fromdarknesstolightonline.com (Stephanie) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:37:08 +0000

Friday was my first full day in Cambridge/Boston. I took a shower and got dressed and met Inge and Zina and the boys. Her boys are adorable! Zina made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and while they were being prepared I had cereal and tea. Inge gave me some cookies from The Netherlands that can be placed on a tea cup to warm them and then eat. Can’t wait to try them out! It was a lovely relaxed morning. Myra came right to me and let me hold her! Inge and Zina both took photos and it is now my avatar on my networks.

That girl is seriously cute. After she grew tired of me, Inge let me steal her MacBook (again!), but it was fair because she stole the Liss’ iPad! She definitely got the better deal.

Zina, Inge, Myra and I had all planned to take the Hahvahd Tour at 10:45, but we decided to take the 11:30 one instead to have a bit more time to get to Harvard Square. After breakfast, we walked down the street to T-Mobile so that Inge could get a SIM card for her mobile phone to be able to use it in the US. Zina bought a roll of quarters at the bank next door and then all three of us went across the street to wait for the bus. It took longer than we expected and we made it to Harvard Square just in time for the tour. Myra was still sound asleep and Inge put sunscreen on her face while she slept. She was out until one of the tour guides started yelling that the tour would be starting soon.

Both tours that I took on Friday were a lot of fun. They were the unofficial tours where they take you to the same places, but tell the stories you don’t normal hear about their history with lots of humor and fun. Tour guide Colin started out by asking where everyone was from in the crowd. When Inge said “The Netherlands,” he said “Holland” which is not correct. It was a very fun tour, but the group was so huge that if you were not right on top of the guides, you couldn’t hear them as they were shouting on the move. If you were too close, though, it hurt the ears. It was a challenge, but it was fun.

The tour ended with a “primal scream” we had to all do together.

After the tour, we stopped at a former parking garage that is now a mall for lunch. We went to a taqueria that had fantastic tacos (much like Chipotle) and delicious tea. Inge took this photo of me:

We found out that the Ducttape Family was already at the condo so we met them after the bus ride back. It was so great to finally meet Sean, his wife Nancy and their daughter Sarah! We stayed at the condo for a bit and then it was time to head downtown for the tour of the city they were taking with me. During lunch Kim sent me a message on Facebook asking where we were and I wrote back that we were in Cambridge and would have Inge text them because she was staying with them during the weekend. The started at Boston Common, so Zina instructed us how to get there via bus and the T (subway). Since the hotel was at the same stop, the group of us went to Park Street to get our tour and Inge could get to the hotel. Zina stayed home because the Sweeneys would be coming by in the afternoon to park their trailer.

We arrived at Boston Common just before the Boston Tour started. Once we got to the Visitor’s Center, the girls and I went inside to take a bathroom break. The tour had already left by the time we got out, but one of the guides came back to get us. This tour went all around the city explaining the history of different places with stories and humor. It was great.

It was a very small group, so it was much more manageable to see and hear everything. They even did a rap in the Granary Burial Ground, which made it worth the price of admission. I recommend both tours very much if you want to see the sites and have a fun time.

The tour ended at Quincy Market and we asked one of the tour guides how to get to the Omni Parkerhouse from there. It was very easy and we were there in minutes. It was almost time for the Meet and Greet! As Inge and I learned last year, the best way to meet people is to hang out in the lobby and this year was no exception. As soon as we arrived we saw Barb in Nebraska, who was busily adding people to her “People I Met in Real Life” Twitter list. Fr. Jay gave me a hug and I soon meet new people like Kim and her family. I wouldn’t have known who she was if she didn’t introduce herself, though, because she doesn’t have her photo as her FB avatar. I also met Joanne, Jenna from France and a few others. Fr. Roderick soon arrived and I finally got to meet and hug Cliff! He looks so good! He let me know on Thursday from the studio that he had read the blog post about him and was looking forward to meeting me finally.

After a bit I headed up some stairs seeking a restroom and met Deb and Denyse in the bar! Deb took this photo of me and we shared a cheese and fruit plate.

Note the redness of my face – it was a theme through the weekend since my sunscreen was in Cambridge and I didn’t take it with me on Friday.

After a while, it was time to head up to the Meet and Greet room. In the hallway I got a hug from Maria, met Carlos and Dane and said hi to a few people I met last year.

Here is a list of some of the people I met (although there were a few others):
Met again: Jeff Y, Shelly and Lisa, Capt Jeff, David S, Mac and Katherine, Angela, Nicholas, Matt (who had a gimmick – more on that in a bit), Steve, Ian, Sr. Anne, Lisa
In the hallway in line waiting for our registration packets: Dan
Met for first time: Mary W, Fr. Jim, Naomi, Pat, Allyson, John, Sarah R, Sr. Margaret, Sr. Kathryn, Sr. Sean
Unofficially met: Rachel, Sarah V, Greg and Jennifer, Brian, Lino, Danielle, Scott, Tom, Robyn

The Meet and Greet was a great time (even for me as an introvert). The food was great and it was a lot of fun. Zina came a bit late (alone), but she made up for it in her enthusiasm. Last year she had a newborn with her, so it was a little difficult, but she was back to her bouncy self this year. After a while, we decided it would a good time to leave so Zina, the Ducttape family and myself headed out to the T station and then the bus to get back to the condo. Once we returned, we said goodbye to Sean, Nancy and Sarah and then headed out to their campground for the night (another 45 minutes away). Sean gave me a gift of a Canada hat earlier in the day which was appreciated.

Matthew Warner had a gimmick for the evening. He had a small whiteboard and asked various people to write something and be photographed for a blog post. Here is my contribution to the project:

When we got in it was definitely time for bed. It was a very full and tiring day. My feet were so worn out! I listened to a podcast and then went to bed.

Stay tuned for Day 3 and 4 tomorrow (hopefully). To tide you over, check out the cutest little girl ever and a very cute dog