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Hi and welcome to the Abiding Together podcast. With you today is Michelle Benzinger, our good friend and founder of Transforming Beauty.

As well as our favorite sister and dear friend Sister Miriam James Highland who is a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity and myself Heather Kim.

So anyway, we just wanted to jump in and really talk about what the heart of how we're all drawn together, which is coffee. That really is at the heart of what has bonded our friendship.

So Michelle, what's your favorite coffee beverage of choice?

Well, that's a really hard question for me right now Heather. No, it's not. I love coffee. In the morning, I just have that regular coffee heavily caffeinated, like heavily heavily caffeinated.

And I like any kind of natural creamer just as long as it doesn't have artificial stuff, but a little flavor.

But if I'm going out to get a coffee, then it is always a coconut milk latte. That's my favorite drink. And so yeah, yeah. And so it's awesome.

Sister, how about you?

I'm just simple. I just like a good cup of strong or regular coffee with a little half and half in it. You know, nice caramel color. And yeah, but if it's not strong coffee, I mean, I don't know, it's a quandary, but I do. I just, I love it.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I used to be able to kind of drink whatever. And then a few years ago, I got an espresso machine for my birthday Christmas present. That was like the big thing that I said, I just want one gift from everybody.

And it kind of ruined me because now I think I'm kind of a coffee snob if I were able to admit that it really, yeah, it has to be a good cup of coffee. I can't drink not good coffee anymore.

We want to start off our topic today and have a conversation about women coming together in the importance of organic sisterhood. Michelle, you came across this amazing quote that I would love for you to share with us today.

Yeah, I remember a couple of years ago, this quote from Matthew Arnold. And it's one of those things that when you read it that it like for me, it like stopped me dead in my tracks. I was like, whoa, this is powerful. Like these words are powerful.

And not only were they powerful to me, I felt like they were prophetic. I mean, I think he wrote these in like the late 1800s. And they had just as much relevance now as they did when Matthew Arnold wrote him, he was a philosopher.

And so it says, if there ever comes a time when the women of the world come together purely and simply for the benefit of mankind, it will be a force such as the world has never known.

And again, that was Matthew Arnold to said the quote. So that's awesome. Yeah, that's so powerful. When did you feel like it did to your heart when you read that?

I think it stirred something in me thinking when women of the world come together, there was something about that come together that it was like a vision that was being put forth. Like it was something that a vision that was being put forth for us to be able to hold on to and for us to something for us to accomplish our esteem to, you know, it put like almost like a fire in my belly.

It was like, okay, this is it, you know, it becomes together pure and simply this is where change can happen. This is where God's kingdom can be revealed. Yeah, it was just one of those swirling moments or you're like, all right, this is like an aha moment here for me, you know.

Yeah, sister, Maryam, what what stirred in you? Because I know when I read that too, I was like, wow, that's powerful. I think Michelle, you sent it to me and I was like, whoa, that is really powerful. How about you sister? What what stirred in you?

It is and I ever since Michelle shared that quote with me, I've written off and been sharing with other women.

And we were I know all good ideas are borrowed. They women will almost always applaud when they hear that quote.

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