How One Woman Strengthens Marriages through Reflection: GIVEN Alumna Ali Null

“If you want to bring happiness to the world, go home and love your family.”

– St. Teresa of Calcutta

In June 2025, Pope Leo XIV stated that marriage is, “not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman.” GIVEN ‘24 alumna Ali Null recognizes the importance of ongoing spiritual formation for married couples to strengthen their bond and grow together in holiness. Through this increasing awareness in her heart, Ali realized that she wanted to write a Catholic marriage study to support Catholic spouses. Ali explains, “I wanted to write a Catholic marriage study for my parish. All marriages need formation no matter what stage they are in their marriage, the most important thing to learn and understand is God has to be at the center of your marriage.” With this goal, Ali went to the 2024 GIVEN Forum where she gained new support and resources to work on her Action Plan.

Based in Devine, Texas, Ali earned her Master’s in Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction from Stephen F Austin State University. She is married with five children and has expanded her definition of what it means to be a stay-at-home wife and mother. Ali has spent the three years at home with her family and started a homeschooling co-op where she serves as the Curriculum Director and works on her marriage study program. 

The major catalyst that ignited Ali’s passion for marriage formation came once Ali’s husband converted to Catholicism. Together as a couple, Ali and her husband grew in their faith and realized the Church’s great font of wisdom when it comes to marriage. Ali elaborates: 

“We naturally would just start talking to other couples about what we learned and then get into great conversations about the sacrament of holy matrimony. I was praying one day and realized the Lord wanted us to do more. I didn’t know what he meant or wanted from us but just decided to listen. I realized people were seeking marriage ministry at our parish, but we didn’t have anything. I started looking through programs that were already out there, but they didn’t go deep enough into our faith.”

After time in reflection and prayer, Ali decided to create a Catholic marriage study program herself, but she was not sure where to start. Ali says, “I had several conversations with members of our parish about how they needed a ministry at the church for their marriages. I was looking for what they were needing and couldn’t find it so they Lord put it on my heart to write something.” The next step in Ali’s discernment process was to attend the 2024 GIVEN Forum at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. 

After the GIVEN Forum, Ali was still unsure about the concrete details of her Action Plan, so she went to Eucharistic Adoration to discern the next steps for her marriage study. During adoration, the Holy Spirit inspired Ali to talk to seven couples about their marriage experience and these interviews helped Ali launch her marriage study called “HIS.” A seven-week marriage study, “HIS” is designed to help couples prioritize God as the center of their relationship. Each chapter has a story from a couple about their marriage. Following the story is a lesson with scripture, catechism references, and saint quotes. There is also a homework assignment for the couple to work each week which include prayers to say together like the Litany of Humility. 

Ali shares that she had guidance from her GIVEN mentor, Christine Sollenberger, who emphasized to Ali to focus on glorifying God throughout the creation of the marriage study. She also received guidance from her parish priest and a deacon from a neighboring parish in drafting “HIS.” 

So far, Ali has offered the study as a program at her parish where couples host one another at each other’s homes for dinner and to complete “HIS” together. As an off-shoot event of “HIS”, Ali’s parish provided a candlelit dinner where one of the couples who gave their marriage testimony in the study gave a talk and spoke on how to have a God-centered marriage. 35  couples attended this dinner and had their marriages blessed as well. Due to the success of the evening, Ali’s parish plans to host a similar event next year. Another idea for “HIS” is to host a day retreat with childcare included for couples. 

Throughout this process, Ali shares that GIVEN helped her heal own wounds in her own life and strengthen her marriage. She reflects, “The GIVEN Forum is life giving! I was stripped down of my worldly views on myself and things in my life, I was then given the opportunity to fill what was stripped away with our Lord and savior through many things, adoration, mass, confession, conversations with religious sisters, and friendships formed.” Ali continues, “My marriage grew tremendously throughout this process; we communicated and worked through some major challenges.” GIVEN helped Ali rightly order her relationship with God, her marriage, and by extension shared these fruits with GIVEN with other married spouses seeking the same peace in their own lives. As stated in the GIVEN Institute’s mission statement:

We desire to help women receive the gift that they are, realize the gifts they’ve been given, and respond with the gift that only they can give.

Ali’s Forum experience allowed her to share her gifts with her marriage and parish community. All married saints, pray for us!