We all make plans and then fatherhood, career shifts, and responsibility change the route.

In Cars, Lightning McQueen believes speed and success define his worth. One unexpected detour lands him in Radiator Springs, where slowing down becomes the very thing that forms his heart.

In this episode of Holy Chaos on Tap, we explore how God uses detours to teach humility, presence, and a deeper understanding of vocation, especially for dads.

Inside this episode:

1. 🛣️ Dad Fail Confessional — Nick talks about getting married, his mom passing before the wedding and being impatient at bedtime with kids
2. 🎬 Pop Culture Dive — ambition, identity, and humility in Cars
3. 📖 Scripture Moment (NABRE) — how God directs our steps through unexpected roads
4. 🧉 Barstool Theology — why detours aren’t punishments, but formation
5. 🙏 A closing prayer for dads learning to slow down and redefine success

If you’re a dad navigating a slowdown you didn’t choose; parenting, career, or life, this episode offers encouragement, perspective, and faith-centered wisdom.

🍻 Raising kids. Raising glasses. Raising faith.

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This season, "Raising Little Saints with TV Screens", dives into what it means to find God in the shows we watch with our kids. Episode 109 – Encanto: Healing the Family You’ve Been Given,

Nick unpacks a truth Catholic dads feel deeply: healing doesn’t start by fixing your family, it starts by loving the family you already have. From generational pressure to unspoken expectations, Encanto gives us a surprisingly honest look at how families break… and how they begin to heal.

Nick talks about what it means to carry burdens you didn’t choose, why performance isn’t the same as purpose, and how grace works quietly through ordinary faithfulness, especially in imperfect homes.

Inside this episode:

🏠 Dad Fail Confessional — The kids at the holiday break and the twins are out of control at mass

🎬 Pop Culture Dive — generational wounds, gifts, and grace in Encanto

📖 Scripture Moment — healing that begins with love, not control

🧉 Barstool Theology — why God works through the family you didn’t design

🙏 A closing prayer for dads trying to lead with patience, mercy, and courage

You don’t need a perfect family to raise saints.

You need grace, humility, and the courage to heal what you’ve been handed.

🍻 Raising kids. Raising glasses. Raising faith.

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This season, "Raising Little Saints with TV Screens", dives into what it means to find God in the shows we watch with our kids. Episode 108 - Festivus Faith: When Ritual Loses the Heart, takes a quick detour as we close out the year with a final episode around Nick's favorite show! Not really a show he watches with the kids...yet.

In this "short" episode, we dive into Seinfeld’s “The Strike” and unpack what Festivus accidentally reveals about modern spirituality: we don’t reject faith because it has rituals, we drift when rituals lose their soul.

From the Airing of Grievances to the Feats of Strength, Festivus becomes a mirror for performance-based religion, burnout, and the pressure to “get it right.” But Catholic faith offers something radically different — not empty motion, but real encounter.

Inside this episode:

🎄 Dad Fail Confessional — when faith becomes just another task

🎬 Pop Culture Dive — Festivus vs. sacramental life

📖 Scripture Moment (Matthew 15:8–9, NABRE) — honoring God with more than words

🧉 Barstool Theology — why Catholics don’t perform faith, we receive it

🙏 A closing prayer for dads hungry for meaning, not motion

If faith has ever felt dry, forced, or performative… you’re not broken.

You’re hungry.

And God feeds hungry fathers.

🍻 Raising kids. Raising glasses. Raising faith.

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This season, "Raising Little Saints with TV Screens", dives into what it means to find God in the shows we watch with our kids. Episode 107 - Elf: Rediscovering Joy in the Family Routine.

In this episode, we dive into Elf and explore why Buddy’s childlike joy isn’t naïve — it’s holy. He reminds us that delight is a spiritual discipline, that laughter can be a form of charity, and that renewing joy in our homes is part of our vocation as fathers.

Inside the episode you’ll hear:

🍼 Dad Fail Confessional — Feeling down on not exercising and the monotony of the dad life

🎄 Pop Culture Dive — What Buddy teaches us about presence, play, and living with open hearts

📖 Scripture Moment (NABRE) — “The joy of the Lord is your strength” in real dad life

🧉 Barstool Theology — Why joy isn’t optional for Christian fathers

🙏 Closing Prayer for dads rediscovering joy in the ordinary

Because holiness isn’t just about getting through the season —

it’s about letting God restore wonder in the moments we usually rush past.

🍻 Raising kids. Raising glasses. Raising faith.

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This season, "Raising Little Saints with TV Screens", dives into what it means to find God in the shows we watch with our kids. Episode 106 - Home Alone: God’s Providence in the Panic.

Every parent has had that one moment where everything goes wrong at the same time… but at least we’ve never accidentally left a kid at home!

In this episode, we dive into Home Alone and uncover a surprisingly Catholic truth: God’s providence doesn’t disappear when our plans fall apart — it shows up right in the middle of the panic.

We’ll explore how Kevin’s unexpected adventure becomes a lesson in courage, identity, and strangely enough divine protection. And we unpack why the McCallisters’ disaster reveals something all Catholic parents need to hear:

You’re not a bad parent because you’re overwhelmed. You’re a human parent God still guides.

Featuring:

🧹 Dad (parents) Fail Confessional (holiday edition) - Arriving at a holiday mass late

🎬 Pop Culture Dive — Home Alone & divine providence

📖 Scripture Moment — The Holy Family left without Jesus!

🧉 Barstool Theology — why God works through detours

🙏 A closing prayer for every overwhelmed mom and dad

Because sometimes the holiest part of Christmas is trusting that God is still working…even when everything feels a little “home alone.”

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This season, "Raising Little Saints with TV Screens", dives into what it means to find God in the shows we watch with our kids. Episode 105 - The Grinch: The Gift of a Changed Heart

In this episode, we dive into Illumination’s The Grinch and uncover what might be the most underrated Christmas lesson for Catholic dads: grace can transform even the most guarded heart.

We explore how the Grinch isn’t just a grouchy green villain, he’s all of us on the days when exhaustion, resentment, loneliness, or old wounds make us pull back from the people who need us most. From his childhood backstory to his rooftop change of heart, the Grinch gives us a surprisingly theological picture of what it means to be loved into wholeness.

You’ll hear:

🎄 Car Ride Terror — Nick talks about their recent car ride vacation trip to kick off the holiday season!

💚 Pop-Culture Dive — how the Grinch mirrors spiritual burnout

📖 Scripture Moment — God’s ability to give us “a new heart”

🍺 Barstool Theology — Instagram Christmas is not reality

🙏 A closing prayer for dads who want to create a home filled with joy, mercy, and second chances

Christmas isn’t about perfection, it’s about transformation.

And sometimes the greatest gift you can give your family is a heart a little more open than yesterday.

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This season, "Raising Little Saints with TV Screens", dives into what it means to find God in the shows we watch with our kids. Episode 104 - Luca: Friendship, Freedom & Finding Courage.

In this Episode Nick discusses an under the radar Pixar movie and how friendship changes us, especially the kind that calls us to grow, be brave, and step out of hiding.

Nick dives into what Luca and Alberto reveal about becoming the men God calls us to be — scales, fears, insecurities, and all. We’ll talk about why real friendship sharpens virtue, why courage requires vulnerability, and why letting your kids grow beyond your comfort zone might be one of the holiest things a dad can do.

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This season, "Raising Little Saints with TV Screens", dives into what it means to find God in the shows we watch with our kids. Episode 102: Homer's Theology of Fatherhood

Moana didn’t set sail because she stopped being afraid — she set sail because she trusted the call was real.

In this episode, we dive into Moana as a story of vocation, courage, and faith beyond the comfort zone. Moana’s calling along with her Dad's fear somehow is the perfect metaphor for Catholic fatherhood — learning to let go, trust God, and move when He says “Go.”

Join me for some dad confessions, a pop culture deep dive, a Scripture reflection, and a little “barstool theology” about what it really means to be called beyond the shore.

Because sometimes the holiest thing a dad can do… is just get in the boat.

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