She Quit Youth Ministry, Went Full-Time Artist, Then Closed Up Shop - Valarie Delgado

🎨 She quit a stable youth ministry job to become a full-time Catholic artist — then, after her biggest vendor event ever, realized she never wanted to do it again. Valerie Delgado (known online as Pax Valerie) spent three years running her own Catholic shop, illustrating books, and traveling to conferences. Then she closed it all down. Not because she failed, but because she finally figured out who she actually wanted to be.In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison and Valerie also dig into the pressure Catholic singles face about vocation, a doctor's wake-up call about food and heart health a month before her 30th birthday, and how Bad Bunny's Super Bowl set made her cry thinking about Hurricane Maria. This one's for you if you've ever built something good — and then had to let it go anyway.Guest Bio:Valerie Delgado is a Catholic artist, illustrator, and parish communications professional based in Houston, Texas, known online as Pax Valerie. She spent three years running her own Catholic art shop — selling prints, traveling to conferences, and building a following on social media — before closing the shop to focus on illustration and parish work. She has illustrated nearly 10 books, primarily reflective journal-style titles, working with multiple publishers. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Texas, her identity as a Puerto Rican Catholic deeply shapes both her art and her faith.In This Episode00:00 Welcome to The LIVing Room — Liv & Val's Houston Reunion 01:00 "Are You Pax?" — The Origin of the Name Pax Valerie 02:00 Wait, Val Does Art? How a Non-Artist Discovered She Was One 03:30 A Random Summer Day, Hobby Lobby, and a Sunflower on YouTube 05:00 Painting Bible Covers, Grace Painted, and Praying Through Art 06:30 COVID, Youth Ministry Falling Apart, and a Shop Being Born 07:30 Quitting the Stable Job to Sell Art Full-Time (With No Idea What She Was Doing) 09:00 The FOCUS Conference, the Big Booth, and "I Never Want to Do This Again" 10:30 Giving Up Social Media for Lent — and Finding the Most Peace She'd Ever Felt 11:30 "I Don't Want to Be a Businesswoman. I Just Want to Doodle for God." 13:00 What She Does with Her Art Now — Etsy, Digital Downloads & Illustrating Books 15:00 The Scariest Part of Listening to God (and Trusting Him Through Anxiety) 16:30 Ministry Is Not Always Rainbows — The Church as a Hospital Full of Broken People 20:30 Being Catholic and Single: The Pressure to Have a "Capital V Vocation" 24:00 Growing Up, Not Going to College, and Feeling Like She Missed the Bus 27:30 A Doctor Said She Could Have a Heart Attack at 30. One Month Before Her Birthday. 29:00 What She Actually Did — Discipline, Blood Work, and Leaving Food at the Foot of the Cross 31:00 Spiritual Directors, Therapists, and Why Finding One Feels Like Dating 33:00 Life in Her 30s — Dog, House, Church Job, and a Dream Trip to Puerto Rico 36:00 Born in Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny, and the Super Bowl Halftime Nobody Was Ready For 38:30 Hurricane Maria, Her Grandma Walking to Church Every Day, and Crying at the Power Lines 42:30 What Does Being Catholic Mean in Puerto Rico? Culture vs. Intimate Faith 44:00 How Can We Pray for You? Val's Ask + Liv's Therapist Referral⚡ Subscribe on YouTube!⚡ Visit Liv on the web at: https://www.thelivharrison.com/⚡ Follow Liv on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelivharrison/⚡ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more!⚡ Subscribe to Liv's newsletter: https://bit.ly/livnewsletter#thelivingroom #livharrison #catholicshow #catholicyoutube #catholicpodcast #wherefaithfeelshuman