Heavens to Betsy

I have a friend who says "Heavens to Betsy" as his preferred mild exclamation. I'll leave the non-mild exclamations to the imagination.

Where did "Heavens to Betsy" come from, you ask? Maybe you don't ask, which is just as well, because I don't have the answer.

The closest I have to an answer is in the form of a book entitled Heavens to Betsy & Other Curious Sayings by Charles Earle Funk, which concludes that the origin of the expression is a mystery.

That's just one of the many weird things I enjoy.

Some of the non-weird things I enjoy are podcasts. Not the normal ones like murder stories and crime and gore. I get scared too easily. I like these non-scary podcasts:

• The Dr. John Delony Show: He's a mental health expert that helps callers unscramble the spaghetti in their mind and past.

• The Mel Robbins Podcast: She's great with motivation and cutting through excuses. She also has dealt with crippling anxiety and has some helpful episodes on that topic. If you need a kick in the pants, listen to her.

• Flying Free by Natalie Hoffman: She has been through abusive relationships and helps others now to recognize abuse and learn to make their own options. She helps abused women regain the agency they have lost.

• Bare Marriage by Sheila Wray Gregoire: Lots of sex and marriage advice--actual good advice, not the excrement most churches try to push onto abused wives. She also helps raise awareness of abuse.

• The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast: Fr. Mike has great, short talks about everyday topics that affect people, given with a Christian-specific point of view. And you don't have to be Catholic to benefit; Christians from any of the 45,000 (by some estimations--yeah, seriously) Protestant brands can grow from it.

• The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz): Father Mike reads through the Catechism a few paragraphs at a time and explains the concepts of that section. I've been a Christian all my life, and this feels like a refreshing revisit of basics. He actually has a mesmerizing voice. I could listen to him read the 2300 pages of fine print for every service I've ever signed up for.

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you listen to any of these, or let me know if you have great, non-scary suggestions of podcasts for me to listen to.

Heavens to Betsy, look at the time! Have a good evening, everyone.