Join our BRAND NEW Kingdom Club on Patreon! Members get exclusive perks such as:

🕊Live monthly Bible Study group led by Mari

🎙Post-show After-Party Q&A Access with Mari & Trey

💬 Only Kingdom Club members get to submit questions for weekly Q&A's

🤗 Join a private community of like-minded women trying to live Christ-centered lives

🎥 Watch the podcast, not just listen - video access exclusive to Kingdom Club members

🎁 Free Kingdom Club Ball Cap Welcome gift for members who pay annually

------

Mari offers a love letter to Christian women who feel behind, addressing comparison, the pressure of “should,” and the call to live in the present with faith, hope, and surrender, even in seasons of waiting like her ongoing infertility. She reflects on how God has worked through five years of waiting to shape her marriage, community, and business, and encourages listeners to bring comparison to prayer and be generous with their yeses to God.

00:00 Back From Mexico

06:13 Different Pages

09:45 Waiting And Infertility

11:25 Comparison Trap

13:50 Milestones In Waiting

21:04 Life Not On Hold

26:23 Surrender Faith Hope

30:15 Q And A Spanish Story

31:46 Colombian Roots

33:56 Keeping Spanish Alive

37:38 Bilingual Future Kids

------

Episode Sponsors

Crunchi - crunchi.com/mariwagner

West Coast Catholic - westcoastcatholic.co

------

Follow Along:

Ever Be Podcast Instagram

Mari Wagner Instagram

West Coast Catholic Instagram

Join our BRAND NEW Kingdom Club on Patreon! Members get exclusive perks such as:

🕊Live monthly Bible Study group led by Mari

🎙Post-show After-Party Q&A Access with Mari & Trey

💬 Only Kingdom Club members get to submit questions for weekly Q&A's

🤗 Join a private community of like-minded women trying to live Christ-centered lives

🎥 Watch the podcast, not just listen - video access exclusive to Kingdom Club members

🎁 Free Kingdom Club Ball Cap Welcome gift for members who pay annually

------

Mari and Trey ansswer you questions and assumptions, covering their dating/engagement timeline, practical tips for intentional time together, Trey’s role running West Coast Catholic, the costs of public life and content boundaries, wedding registry essentials, encouragement for learning NFP with strong practitioner support, why some men don’t act on crushes, advice to create Catholic community, their tentative plan for balancing kids and work, and a fertility update.

02:19 Mexico Immersion Update

04:49 Ever Be Moments

12:03 Rapid Fire Assumptions

13:17 Marriage Time Tips

15:07 Work and Public Life

19:23 Sharing Life Online

19:51 Kids and Privacy

20:47 Registry Must Haves

23:55 NFP Without Overwhelm

26:59 Do Guys Get Crushes

29:31 Build Catholic Community

31:23 Business and Babies Plan

34:53 Fertility Update

-----

Episode Sponsors

Crunchi - crunchi.com/mariwagner

West Coast Catholic - westcoastcatholic.co

------

Follow Along:

Ever Be Podcast Instagram

Mari Wagner Instagram

West Coast Catholic Instagram

Join our Kingdom Club on Patreon! Members get exclusive perks such as:

🕊Live monthly Bible Study group led by Mari

🎙Post-show After-Party Q&A Access with Mari & Trey

💬 Only Kingdom Club members get to submit questions for weekly Q&A's

🤗 Join a private community of like-minded women trying to live Christ-centered lives

🎥 Watch the podcast, not just listen - video access exclusive to Kingdom Club members

🎁 Free Kingdom Club Ball Cap Welcome gift for members who pay annually

------

Shop Crunchi

My Clean Beauty Guide: Your complete guide to choosing non-tox personal products.

Non-Tox Swaps Ingredient List Freebie

EWG Verified Website

Mari talks with Melanie Petschke, co-founder of Crunchi, about how she built a clean cosmetics brand, after not finding products that met both safety and performance standards. Melanie explains that “clean” has no legal definition, making greenwashing common, and describes Crunchi’s evidence-based ingredient screening approach. They discuss weak U.S. cosmetics regulation compared with the EU, how harmful ingredients can contribute to body burden, cancer risk, and endocrine disruption, and why “fragrance” can hide thousands of undisclosed ingredients, often involving phthalates. Melanie recommends using EWG Verified as a helpful tool, offers beginner skincare steps, and advises making gradual product swaps without overwhelm.

00:22 Melanie’s Background and Mission

07:39 Why Clean Beauty Matters

07:54 Defining Clean and Greenwashing

11:06 US Regulation and Consumer Burden

13:03 Health and Hormone Impacts

17:15 Label Reading and Fragrance Red Flags

20:42 Greenwashing Reality Check

21:28 EWG Ratings Explained

25:03 Verification Caveats

25:36 DIY Ingredient Checking

28:01 Skincare Starter Routine

30:59 How Long To Test

32:26 Purging And Acne

------

Episode Sponsors

Shop the new shade range of Crunchi Foundations!

Check out our new Spring issue of Heaven & Home!

Ave Maria Press: Shop Into the Heart of Middle-earth

------

Follow Along:

Ever Be Podcast Instagram

Mari Wagner Instagram

West Coast Catholic Instagram

Follow the Daily Nothings Podcast on IG

Listen to the Daily Nothings Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

-----

Join our Kingdom Club on Patreon! Members get exclusive perks such as:

🕊Live monthly Bible Study group led by Mari

🎙️ Post-show After-Party Q&A Access with Mari & Trey

💬 Only Kingdom Club members get to submit questions for weekly Q&A's

🤗 Join a private community of like-minded women trying to live Christ-centered lives

🎥 Watch the podcast, not just listen - video access exclusive to Kingdom Club members

🎁 Free Kingdom Club Ball Cap Welcome gift for members who pay annually

------

Host Mari welcomes Courtney Roach and Megan Day from The Daily Nothings podcast for a collaboration on living as a classy, Christ-centered woman. The conversation explores how small daily choices shape integrity, rightly ordered priorities, and purposeful living, especially in the twenties. They discuss habits that cultivate dignity, the need for humility and asking for help, and practical ways to honor femininity through intentional self-presentation without perfectionism. They also address temptations in speech like gossip and oversharing, emphasizing discretion, and conclude with what it means to be a good friend through generosity, showing up, and building authentic female friendships.

00:00 Welcome to Ever Be

00:46 Meet Courtney and Megan

01:42 Iconic Moments Intro

13:48 Classy Catholic Woman Theme

15:05 Why Daily Nothings Matters

20:23 Ordered Priorities and Purpose

27:00 Habits and Life Overhaul

32:57 Motherhood Humility and Help

36:05 Integrity Behind Closed Doors

36:43 Stop Procrastinating Now

42:51 Gossip and Oversharing

51:16 Dressing With Dignity

55:52 Simple Style Systems

01:02:14 Being a True Friend

01:06:13 Generosity and Showing Up

------

Episode Sponsors

Crunchi - crunchi.com/mariwagner

West Coast Catholic - westcoastcatholic.co

------

Follow Along:

Ever Be Podcast Instagram

Mari Wagner Instagram

West Coast Catholic Instagram

Join our Kingdom Club on Patreon! Members get exclusive perks such as:

🕊Live monthly Bible Study group led by Mari

🎙Post-show After-Party Q&A Access with Mari & Trey

💬 Only Kingdom Club members get to submit questions for weekly Q&A's

🤗 Join a private community of like-minded women trying to live Christ-centered lives

🎥 Watch the podcast, not just listen - video access exclusive to Kingdom Club members

🎁 Free Kingdom Club Ball Cap Welcome gift for members who pay annually

------

Mari leads a quiet vacation Bible study using Lectio Divina and Ignatian imagination through Luke 4:1–13 (Jesus tempted in the desert), connecting the passage to Lent and her own fast from sweets. Mari reflects on the three temptations—comfort/physical needs, power and false worship, and fear/testing God—highlighting how Jesus answers with Scripture and how the devil even uses Scripture. She emphasizes that knowing Scripture isn’t enough without living according to God’s ways, offers reflection questions, and shares a takeaway that the desert is preparation, not punishment, inviting listeners to lean into Lent with prayer and fasting.

00:00 Welcome to Ever Be

00:42 Life Update

02:43 Bible Study Setup

04:15 Opening Prayer

05:17 Luke 4 Reading

06:55 Contemplative Prayer

09:41 Three Temptations

15:42 Fear and Trust

16:40 Scripture and Salvation

19:20 Reflection Questions

20:54 Desert as Preparation

------

Episode Sponsors

Crunchi - crunchi.com/mariwagner

West Coast Catholic - westcoastcatholic.co

------

Follow Along:

Ever Be Podcast Instagram

Mari Wagner Instagram

West Coast Catholic Instagram

Join our Kingdom Club on Patreon! Members get exclusive perks such as:

🕊Live monthly Bible Study group led by Mari

🎙Post-show After-Party Q&A Access with Mari & Trey

💬 Only Kingdom Club members get to submit questions for weekly Q&A's

🤗 Join a private community of like-minded women trying to live Christ-centered lives

🎥 Watch the podcast, not just listen - video access exclusive to Kingdom Club members

🎁 Free Kingdom Club Ball Cap Welcome gift for members who pay annually

------

Learn more about Camp Wojtyla!

Follow Camp Wojtyla on IG

Mari Wagner sits down with Annie Powell, founder of Camp Wojtyla, a Catholic wilderness adventure camp in the Colorado mountains, to talk about dreaming with God and trusting Him step by step. Annie shares how, at 15, she felt called to bring people to Jesus through creation in a summer-camp setting, and how that dream was shaped through college, FOCUS, and many “switchbacks” of closed doors before Camp Tiwa launched. They discuss fear of disappointment, discerning whether a dream is from the Lord, practical ways to move from vision to action, and how God can fulfill dreams differently than expected. The episode closes with encouragement to pursue sainthood in ordinary life through daily faithfulness rather than perfectionism.

00:00 Meet Annie Powell

05:47 Dreaming Camp Wojtyla

10:11 Handling Doubts

11:25 Discernment Advice

19:52 Switchbacks and Closed Doors

21:54 Dreams Versus Gods Plan

25:45 Prayer Answers and Surrender

26:59 Learning Through Redirection

28:29 Making Dreams Practical

33:24 Dreaming of Sainthood

34:33 Holiness Not Perfection

38:58 Daughterhood and Gods Gaze

------

Episode Sponsors:

Learn more about Camp Wojtyla!

West Coast Catholic - westcoastcatholic.co

------

Follow Along:

Ever Be Podcast Instagram

Mari Wagner Instagram

West Coast Catholic Instagram

Mentioned in this episode:

About

Ever Be is a Faith and Lifestyle podcast hosted by Mari Wagner. Want more? Follow us on Instagram. @mari.c.wagner @everbepodcast

Join our BRAND NEW Kingdom Club on Patreon! Members get exclusive perks such as:

🕊Live monthly Bible Study group led by Mari

🎙Post-show After-Party Q&A Access with Mari & Trey

💬 Only Kingdom Club members get to submit questions for weekly Q&A's

🤗 Join a private community of like-minded women trying to live Christ-centered lives

🎥 Watch the podcast, not just listen - video access exclusive to Kingdom Club members

🎁 Free Kingdom Club Ball Cap Welcome gift for members who pay annually

------

The Gospel Habit - 30-day Scripture Challenge

Ascension Press - Join the Crux Lenten Program

St. Paul Center Resources

Hallow40 Pray Challenge: Use code MARI for 90 days free!

Mari discusses Lent as a season meant to unite and deepen relationship with Jesus—not just “doing hard things.” She explains the three pillars of Lent (fasting, prayer, almsgiving), offers practical fasting ideas, and recommends Lent prayer resources to add to your routine. She also highlights Catechism reminders about interior conversion.

00:42 Ash Wednesday + Today’s Ever Be Moment

02:31 Reframing Lent: It’s About Union With Jesus, Not Just “Doing Hard Things”

04:48 Fasting vs. “Just Adding Habits” + The 3 Pillars of Lent

08:11 Choosing Your Fast: Food, Phone Boundaries, and Turning Cravings Into Prayer

10:12 Lent Prayer Resources: Devotionals, Challenges, and Daily Reflections

12:37 Almsgiving Ideas: Money, Time, and Talents in Your Community

14:05 Catechism Wisdom on Lent

17:46 Sundays in Lent: Mini-Easters, Fasting Guidance, and Prudence

19:10 Ever Be Answers: Bible Study Group—How to Start Without Being an Expert

------

Episode Sponsors

Ascension Press - Join the Crux Lenten Program

Ave Maria Press - Listen to Ave Maria Explores

West Coast Catholic - westcoastcatholic.co

------

Follow Along:

Ever Be Podcast Instagram

Mari Wagner Instagram

West Coast Catholic Instagram

Join our Kingdom Club on Patreon! Members get exclusive perks such as:

🕊Live monthly Bible Study group led by Mari

🎙Post-show After-Party Q&A Access with Mari & Trey

💬 Only Kingdom Club members get to submit questions for weekly Q&A's

🤗 Join a private community of like-minded women trying to live Christ-centered lives

🎥 Watch the podcast, not just listen - video access exclusive to Kingdom Club members

🎁 Free Kingdom Club Ball Cap Welcome gift for members who pay annually

------

Listen to the Truth and Fertility Podcast

Truth and Fertility Instagram

In this episode, Mari features her guest appearance on The Truth and Fertility Podcast with host Hailey Jager. They discuss the challenges and growth experienced during seasons of waiting, particularly in journeys of infertility. Mari shares personal insights, the importance of active surrender, and how to find joy and gratitude even amid suffering.

00:00 Welcome to The Ever Be Podcast

00:42 Special Guest Episode Announcement

02:11 Introduction to the Truth and Fertility Podcast

02:32 Discussing Seasons of Waiting

05:25 Living in the Present Moment

18:03 The Journey of Surrender

26:54 Trusting God's Plan Over Ours

27:24 Finding Joy in Unexpected Plans

29:13 Active Surrender in Daily Life

31:15 The Power of Prayer and Surrender

33:37 Gratitude in the Midst of Suffering

36:29 Strengthening Marriage Through Infertility

50:54 Supporting Friends Through Infertility

------

Episode Sponsors

Ascension Press - Join the Crux Lenten Program

Ave Maria Press - Shop Witness

Crunchi: Use code ADVOCATE15 for 15% off + free shipping!

West Coast Catholic - westcoastcatholic.co

------

Follow Along:

Ever Be Podcast Instagram

Mari Wagner Instagram

West Coast Catholic Instagram