Midlife Moms Podcast

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia chat about May being the season of big endings such as graduations, as both are experiencing high school and college graduations. 

Discover how to:

✅ relate to seniors who are adults, but not quite yet!

✅ walk in new, vulnerable spaces with family changes.

✅ manage expectations for big life events.

✅ fledge your children, the subject of Brenda’s book “Fledge, Launching Your Kids Without Losing Your Mind.”

In this conversation, Brenda interviews Melanie Springer Mock, author of Finding Our Way Forward; When the Children We Love Become Adults. Discover how to:

✅ Have grace for yourselves and your kids.

✅ Forge new, stronger relationships with your adult children.

✅ Foster your calling and that of your adult child.

✅ Better understand your Gen Z young adult.

In this conversation, Brenda interviews Lori Wildenberg, author of Messy Hope: Help Your Child Overcome Anxiety, Depression, or Suicidal Ideation. Discover how to:

✅ Talk with your child about hard mental health topics.

✅ Create interdependence rather than independence.

✅ Foster realism and resilience in your child.

✅ Feel empowered as a parent whose child struggles with mental health.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia catch up after a podcast break, discussing the busyness and revolving door of emotions and events during midlife. Discover how to:

✅ Manage time to be more present with family. 

✅ Manage work responsibilities.

✅ Navigate midlife shifts and changes. 

✅ Process varying emotions.

In this conversation, Brenda interviews leader & kingdom influencer Jamelle Godlewski. Jamelle is a youth advocate, a midlife mom to a Gen Z-er, and a Masters Graduate of Leadership & Evangelism from Wheaton College. She and Brenda talk about several facets of understanding Generation Z. Discover how to:

✅ Understand the culture of Generation Z.

✅ Communicate with our Gen Z kids.

✅ Be more gentle with Gen Z kids.

✅ Release our Gen Z kids even if we are unsure of their capabilities.

In this conversation, Brenda and Midlife Mindset Coach Pamela Henkleman talk about:

✅ The sunny side and opportunities of an empty nest.

✅ Encouragement for women who feel lost in midlife.

✅ The prodigal child and how to love a child who has walked away from Christianity.

✅ New ways to engage with your spouse in the empty nest.

📌 Resources Mentioned:

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia talk about several facets of midlife mental health. Discover how to:

✅ Recognize signs of mental health issues.

✅ Be proactive rather than reactive to your mental health needs.

✅ Be a friend to others who may struggle in ways you do not regarding mental health.

✅ Be more gentle with yourself as a midlife mom who was socialized to do everything for others and not care for yourself.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia continue the conversation about what’s on the horizon and how to focus on staying in the present. Discover how to:

✅ Set aside your neverending busyness to be present with your family’s current needs.

✅ Handle your changing emotions and uncertainties in midlife.

✅ Develop a deeper walk with God amidst stress and unknowns in your children’s lives.

✅ Practically transfer your faith to your daily midlife life.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia talk about the new life experiences facing high school seniors, college students, and young adults. Discover how to:

✅ take a guiding role, rather than controling role, in your child’s college, career, and life choices.

✅ dispel anxiety your child (and you) may have over life decisions significant life decisions.

✅ encourage your young adult if they are unsure about their present and future.

✅ equip your child to grow and foster resilience.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia talk about changing families and holiday expectations in midlife. Discover how to:

✅ let go of expectations as your kids grow and change.

✅ build a family culture your children want to come home to.

✅ communicate with your teens, young adult, and adult kids about their holiday needs.

✅ great new traditions and activities.

✅ involve prayer as a primary staple for you and your family during the holiday season.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia talk about the tension of living in a season of both sorrow and joy, emptiness and fullness. Discover how to:

✅ Surrender expectations and your children to God.

✅ Implement practical resources to handle emotions.

✅ Be a steward of this season of life.

✅ Use Genesis 22:1-19 as a practice of laying down your children to God.

In this episode, we talk about

✅ letting go and welcoming in.

✅ every relationship your child is in is an opportunity to make an impact on that life.

✅ how we can write into that person’s story and model Jesus.

✅ making hospitality a personal trait as you care for the person your child cares for.

✅ what’s yours to own and what is not.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia discuss body image and caring for your body in midlife. Be empowered to:

✅ Be unapologetically who you are.

✅ Not compare yourself, but feel comfortable in your own skin.

✅ Say, “I’ve earned this.”

✅ Do what is best for your physical, emotional, and mental health.

In this conversation Brenda and Amelia chat about being available for your teens and adult kids, and how this is different as we age. Join us in the chat about:

✅ Your kids need you in different ways than when they were young.

✅ Becoming a student of your child.

✅ The role of prayer in your relationship with growing kids.

✅ Taking each season and year as it comes, and adapting to what your family needs.

Midlife Moms Podcast Season 3 Episode 4

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia discuss how to begin letting go and releasing your teen and young adult, especially as they are seniors, new graduates, or moving on in a new season of life. Learn how to:

✅ Handle various emotions like grief, and disappointment, while also celebrating milestones.

✅ Help yourself grow as your teen/young adult grows.

✅ Learn to live in the moment with your kids, rather than looking back or fearing what’s up ahead.

✅ Not take on your child’s emotions or choices as they fledge.

In this conversation Brenda and Amelia discuss right-sizing your life as it changes in various midlife seasons, Learn how to:

✅ Say yes to your kids, but no to other things.

✅ Ask yourself what is most important in your current season.

✅ Let go of things that are not the best fit for your life currently.

✅ Be content.

In this episode, Amelia and Brenda chat about major milestones that happen in midlife. They discuss:

✅ The mix of emotions with milestones.

✅ Rapid changes occurring in midlife and your family.

✅ Milestones during the pandemic.

✅ How to mark big and little milestones.

✅ How to give yourself time to adjust to major milestones.

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Amelia and Brenda are excited to join you for Season 3 of the Midlife Moms podcast. In this first episode, Amelia and Brenda chat about changes in their lives in recent months and how midlife is a season where you often feel like you’re just above the water.

In this episode, they discuss:

✅ Changes in life with kids, careers, and expectations.

✅ How to own your emotions, not the feelings or experiences of your kids.

✅ The revolving door of activity in your family

✅ How to be gentle with yourself.

✅The importance of speaking up for your needs.

Join the Midlife Moms Community on Facebook:

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia chat about their most recent experiences of midlife living and how the unpredictability and chaos of it all has taught them to trust more in God’s sovereign provision and care.  During this busy season and every season, remember to take time to:

✅ Cherish.

✅ Self Care.

✅ Create.

✅ Be at Peace.

In the second part of this conversation, Amelia and guest Robin Dewitt Edwards continue to talk about God’s amazing provision and love that played out after Robin’s family suffered a tragic loss. What a wonderful testimony of how God can bring beauty from ashes! Here are some takeaways:

✅ Give yourself space, grace, and time to move through grief into healing.

✅ God cares for the details of your story and weaves them together for His Glory.

✅ Trusting His will takes obedience on our part.

✅ With God on our side, we need not fear.

✅ Jesus is our HOPE!

In part one of this dynamic conversation, Amelia interviews her friend and mentor Robin Dewitt Edwards about her life journey and how God has provided and cared for her as a wife, a mother, and His child in joys and trials, even in tragedy and heartache. Here are some takeaways:

✅ God is Trustworthy in all circumstances.

✅ God Provides before we even know what we need.

✅ God is Sovereign over every situation.

✅ God, the Creator, meets us where we are at.

In part two of this candid conversation, Brenda and guests Mark and Jill Savage talk about marriage gaps that can occur specifically in the midlife and empty nest years and how couples can work together to close those gaps. Learn about:

✅ The Having Fun Together Gap.

✅ The Communication Gap.

✅ The Assumption Gap.

✅ Resources to heal, deepen, and strengthen your marriage.

In part one of this conversation, Brenda invites guests Mark and Jill Savage to share honestly how their own marital crisis brought them closer together as they sought to understand why the crisis happened in the first place. Through their experience, discover how to:

✅ Identify the slow fades (cracks) in your marriage.

✅ Recognize unrealistic expectations.

✅ Refuse to take a defensive posture.

✅ Renew your communication style.

In this conversation Brenda and guest Kathy Howard discuss the important and delicate topic of caring for our aging parents as well as our children and ourselves. Topics include:

✅ Battling the tensions of various needs.

✅ Struggling with resentment or guilt.

✅ Hurting amidst the care taking.

✅ Caring for yourself so you can care for others.

✅ Having advance conversations and planning if able.

✅ Honoring parents even when they don’t deserve it.

✅ Living in obedience and God’s love.

In this packed full conversation, Brenda and guest Meredith Terpeluk Schoeller discuss the perks and challenges of being an older mom of infants/toddlers as well as wisdom for women struggling with infertility, blended family dynamics, or aging parents. Discover how to:

✅ Trust God.

✅ Extend grace to yourself.

✅ Let others help.

✅ Find your confidence.

✅ Engage with others in different stages.

✅ Trust God to supply your family’s needs.

✅ Live knowing that God loves you as you are.

In this conversation Brenda and Amelia chat about balancing a full life while remaining involved with your teens and young adults in healthy, practical ways. Learn how to:

✅ Listen to what your kids are not saying.

✅ Be emotional and mentally present.

✅ Carve out space to refuel.

✅ Care for yourself so you can care for others.

✅ Find low pressure ways to check in on a regular basis.

✅ Show interest in their interests.

✅ Respect what your child shares or doesn’t share with you.

In this conversation, Brenda and guest Kim Mishler share advice they would give their younger selves about how to prepare for the shock, disappointment, and grief experienced in mothering and midlife. Discover the importance of recognizing:

✅ The cause and effect of unrealistic expectations on our kids.

✅ The individuality of each child.

✅ Our children will disappoint us and we will disappoint them.

✅ The value of coping strategies: trusted individuals to confide in; scripture and prayer to lean on.

✅ The value of growing your whole self through the mothering journey.

✅ Your joy and contentment should come from Jesus and not your children.

In part two of this conversation, Brenda talks with author and speaker Jill Savage about the value of struggle and how it has the possibility of producing problem solving skills, perseverance, and resilience in our adult children if we can resist the temptation to jump in. Learn how to:

✅  Recognize a good habit gone bad.

✅  Resist the urge to run to their rescue every time.

✅  Cope with relationship displacement as your child grows.

✅  Navigate your child’s life choices with healthy boundaries.

✅  Pray not say.

✅  Model Christ’s love to your child.

In this conversation, Brenda talks with author and speaker, Jill Savage, about the difficult transitions that midlife moms commonly face and the struggle of knowing when and how to let go. Discover how to:

✅ Discern when to let go and when to hold on.

✅ Recognize and deal with idols of parenthood (Worry, Stress, Kids, etc.)

✅ Give room for your child to grow, even if that means letting them struggle.

✅ Recognize and deal with the idol of your own identity.

✅ Disconnect your identity with your child’s choices.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia discuss the value of building your identity as a whole person and how that actually encourages your kids to pursue the same.  Discover how to:

✅ Maneuver through life, family, and career with intentionality.

✅ Uncover your gifts and pursue your interests.

✅ Connect with a community outside of home.

✅ Embrace multi-generational relationships.

✅ Flourish in your identity as a whole person.

✅ Invite your family to pray and support you in your new venture.

💯 Share with us what’s making you laugh and your laughing matter could be featured on the podcast! Email us at midlifemomspodcast@gmail.com or tag us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/midlifemomspodcast/

In this conversation Brenda and Amelia chat about all the life changes since their last episode, and how they’re navigating life and family through those changes.  Learn how to:

✅ Shift expectations of family time.

✅ Be intentional with time together.

✅ Give your kids more personal responsibility.

✅ Give yourself grace as you let go of any guilt, control, or expectations about family life.

✅ Nurture your teen and young adults by being fully present.

✅ Embrace the fullness.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia talk about the importance of learning to have fun and play during the midlife season, especially since life can be heavy. In this episode you’ll find encouragement to:

✅Be intentional about having fun and play.

✅Get input and find things the entire family can enjoy.

✅Try new things. Spelunking anyone?

✅Shift your expectations and don’t put so much pressure on the adventure.

✅ Learn to not take yourself too seriously and laugh.

In this conversation Brenda and Amelia talk about the unique joys and challenges of raising Generation Z teens and young adults. In this episode you’ll find encouragement to:

✅ Support and understand this generation that has the potential to shape the world for good.

✅Recognize how they are coming of age during a pandemic.

✅Understand some of the differences between the generations and how growing up in the “wake” of the Millennial generation influences Generation Z.

✅See how their inherent understanding and use of technology can be a strength and see their screen time differently.

✅ Not put negative expectations on their behavior or technology use based on what it represented a decade ago.

✅ Recognize the challenge of parenting Generation Z in finding the balance of technology use and learning basic life skills, playing, or having relationships face-to-face.

✅ Shift your expectations of what you think they should already know and don’t put them down for what they don’t know.

✅Learn things from them and let them teach you what they know about the world, technology, and culture.

✅Adapt life principles as they grow.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia talk about our tendency to deny being in midlife and the pressure to look and stay “young.” In this episode you’ll find encouragement to:

✅ Laugh about the “midlife brain.”

✅ Fight the “Golden Girls” mentality of being old.

✅ Not steal youth from those in their 20s and 30s.

✅ Respect your body for the gift it is.

✅ Fight culture’s expectation and pressure to stay “young.”

✅ Adapt and own your role in these decades.

✅ Discover the value of intergenerational friendships.

✅ Realize you are still relevant and valuable.

✅ Find freedom in your 40s and 50s.

✅ Shift with the changes that come in midlife.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia talk about our various insecurities as moms raising teens and young adults. Discover how to:

✅ Deal with your changes in midlife while your teens and young adults also face big changes and insecurities.

✅ Understand your teen’s rudeness and their desire for autonomy.

✅ Stand firm in the storm of all the changes happening in your family.

✅ How your kids still need you even when they’re pushing you away.

✅  Know you’re not alone in these insecurities.

✅ Understand as moms are the ones they detach from the most.

✅ Not take things personally.

✅ Lean into your relationship with God and go to the Lord when you need insight and feel insecure.

In this conversation, Brenda and Amelia talk about our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health in midlife. In this episode, we discuss thriving in the midst of:

✅ Physical roadblocks of aches, pains, loss of energy and slowed metabolism, and the insecurity that comes with these changes.

✅ Potential mental health struggles of depression, anxiety, panic attacks or feeling melancholy.

✅ Changing and new emotions (including irritability!) and learning to be gentle with yourself.

✅ Changing your expectations for what your time alone with God looks like in this phase.

In this conversation Brenda and Amelia chat about insecurities that surface during midlife and how to say “So long, insecurity” and move forward.

✅ Take confidence from one area of your life and apply it to another.

✅ Face the feeling of being unseen.

✅ Learn to see yourself as more than your roles as wife and mom.

✅ Realize there is freedom in not having to do certain things anymore.

Join this conversation as Brenda and Amelia chat about vulnerability and overcoming the fear and risk of being real with others.

✅ Journey through anxiety, panic and anger

✅ Find safe places to be vulnerable both in person and online

✅ Learn how to get over the fear of being vulnerable

✅ Discover the power of being vulnerable with God first before going to people

✅ Understand the importance of modeling for your kids how to accept or request help from others

✅ Know when to start with professional help in the form of counselors or medical professionals

Brenda and Amelia chat about friendship in midlife. In this episode you’ll discover:

✅ The necessity of reciprocal relationships

✅ Facing and overcoming loneliness

✅ How friendships change in midlife

✅ Building strong friendships through H.E.L.P.

✅ Tips for building relationships during this busy season

✅ The value of multi-generational friendships

Brenda and Amelia chat about the various types of grief we experience as midlife moms and moving through our grief into a new reality. In this episode you’ll discover:

✅ We all have “big feelings” in midlife!
✅ Various types of mom grief
✅ The need to chase the “why” for your grief
✅ How to move forward and make meaning from your grief
✅ Your grief matters to God

💯 Share with us what’s making you laugh and your laughing matter could be featured on the podcast! Email us at midlifemomspodcast@gmail.com or tag us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/midlifemomspodcast/

📌 Resources Mentioned:

Brenda and Amelia encourage midlife moms to embrace and maybe even enjoy aging! In this episode Brenda and Amelia help you:

✅ Recognize and celebrate milestone years

✅ Accept your body and its changing needs

✅ Not be ashamed about where you are in life

✅ Find sources of inspiration from those ahead of you in years

✅ Know that God redeems the years locust have eaten and find hope when you can’t see it

✅ Own your story

✅ Find the power of daily gratitude

✅ Shift your focus from the problems to the Provider.

💯 Share with us what’s making you laugh and your laughing matter could be featured on the podcast! Email us at midlifemomspodcast@gmail.com or tag us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/midlifemomspodcast/

📌 Resources Mentioned:

Join Amelia and Brenda as they share the importance of laughter during this midlife season. 

✅ Why it’s important to not take yourself too seriously.
✅ The health benefits of laughter.
✅ The need for laughter that heals and helps not hurts and harms.
✅ The dangers of sarcasm.
✅ Realizing how our words impact our kids, including our joking.
✅ Finding ways to foster healthy, non-shaming laughter with our families.