What happens when a major life role that helped define you suddenly ends?

Whether you left a career, retired, were released from a significant Church calling, or your children grew up and left the nest, you might find yourself facing a giant, quiet space. Even if you were ready for the change, it is completely normal to feel both relieved and a little bit lost. You might find yourself wondering: Who am I without that title—and what do I want now?

For faith-driven women in midlife and the empty-nest years, several deep transitions often hit all at once. In this episode, we talk about how to navigate these emotional endings without rushing to replace what was lost. You’ll learn how to separate your true identity from a temporary title, turn lingering regret into useful wisdom, and confidently step into whatever God is stirring in your heart next.

You don’t need a public title or a badge to make this next season deeply meaningful to the Lord. Your story is far from over!

In This Episode:

• The Comfort of Structure: Why even a welcome, long-awaited ending can still feel like a genuine grieving process.
• Identity vs. Title: How changing roles impact your confidence, daily routine, and core sense of belonging.
• Discovering Who You Became: Why your hands-on experience, growth, and wisdom belong to you forever—even when the assignment is over.
• Uncovering True Desires: How to look beneath the surface to find what you actually miss about your past roles.
• Reframing Regret: Why seeing what you would do differently now isn't proof that you failed back then—it's absolute evidence that you have grown.

This Week's Practice:

Think about a role in your life that has recently ended. Grab a journal and ask yourself:

1. When did I feel most alive in that role?
2. What did I discover I was truly capable of?
3. Where did I have to rely on the Lord in a way I hadn’t before?
4. What am I completely ready to leave behind?

5 Key Takeaways:

• A good ending can still feel like a loss.

• Your title may have changed, but what you learned is still yours.

• What you miss may be deeper than the role itself.

• Seeing what you would do differently now can be evidence of growth.

• You don’t need another title to make this next season meaningful.

Resources:

• FREE Next Chapter Clarity Workbook: Get your gentle, faith-centered guide to figure out what's next at calledtorisecoaching.com/free

If this episode spoke to your heart or made you think of a friend walking through an in-between season, please share it with her! Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube so you never miss a Tuesday episode.

#EmptyNest #ChristianCoaching #MidlifeWomen #FindingPurposeAfter50 #FaithTransitions #LifeAfterRetirement

For decades, your life has likely been organized entirely around other people's needs—your children, your family, your career, and your church callings. But when you spend years answering, "What does everyone else need?" you can completely lose touch with the question, "What do I want?" In this life-changing episode, we break down the false belief that gratitude and desire cannot exist together. Learn how to identify "fear wearing a sensible outfit" and discover why you are allowed to enjoy a passion before turning it into a mandatory ministry. It's time to stop abandoning your heart and start asking a foundational DreamBuilder question: What would you love?

In This Episode:

• Why gratitude and desire can coexist

• How fear disguises itself as responsible thinking

• The difference between a dream’s full expression and present expression

• How to honor desire without rearranging your life overnight

This Week’s Practice:

Set a ten-minute timer and write what you would love with no editing. Choose one desire and take one small honoring action.

5 Key Takeaways:

• Gratitude and desire are not opposites: You can deeply love your family and your home while remaining incredibly curious about what else you can create with your life.

• Don't let the "how" kill the "what": The minute we think of a dream, our brains try to solve the logistics. First, permit yourself to name the desire; the practical steps come later.

• Spot fear wearing a sensible outfit: Fear rarely shows up looking dangerous. Instead, it sounds highly reasonable, whispering phrases like "be realistic," "think of the family," or "do it later."

• You don't have to monetize your joy: You are allowed to paint, hike, write, or garden purely for your own delight without forcing every single hobby to become a church service project or a business venture.

• Your family can adapt to your growth: Your growth is not a threat to the people you love. Your family has successfully navigated hundreds of changes, and they can handle you stepping into a new season.

Resources:

• Free Next Chapter Clarity Workbook: https://calledtorisecoaching.com/free

Scriptures and References:

• Psalm 37:4

• 2 Nephi 2:25

• Brave Thinking Institute’s DreamBuilder Program

Have you ever had an exciting new idea pop into your mind, only to immediately put it on trial? We often get caught in a mental trap, assuming a thought is either a direct, urgent command from Heavenly Father or a completely selfish distraction. In this episode, we explore why restlessness isn't necessarily a revelation, but why it is always worth noticing. Pulling from Doctrine and Covenants section 58 and the teachings of Elder David A. Bednar, we talk about the divine power of human agency. Discover how to correctly identify what your soul is actually longing for and how to match the size of your next step to the amount of clarity you have.

In This Episode:

• Why agency belongs inside spiritual decision-making

• How persistence differs from panic

• What a desire may be trying to give you

• Why small, reversible experiments often create clarity

This Week’s Practice:

For seven days, record the nudge, the need beneath it, and one proportionate next step.

5 Key Takeaways:

• Restlessness contains valuable information: Before judging a restless feeling or trying to prescribe a radical cure, ask the smaller, gentler question: "What is this asking me to notice?"

• Agency is a feature of the plan, not a backup: God does not need to command us in all things. He trusts your beautiful mind, your experiences, and your free will to choose good paths.

• Revelation is usually like a sunrise, not a light switch: Divine guidance increases gradually. If you wait for absolute, mid-day sunshine before moving, you will never take the first step.

• Don't force your dreams to prove your worth: A healthy dream can involve big achievements, but ensure you aren't asking that dream to grant you the validation that God already gave you.

• Clarity comes through contact with reality: You do not need the entire map to start. Take a tiny, low-risk step—buy the paint, schedule the lunch, open the document—to let your desire test the real world.

Resources:

• Next Chapter Clarity Workbook: https://calledtorisecoaching.com/free

Scriptures and References:

• Brave Thinking Institute’s DreamBuilder Program

• Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–28

• Elder David A. Bednar, adapt. from his April 2011 General Conference address, “The Spirit of Revelation.” 

• Moroni 7:13, The Book of Mormon.

Have you ever planned an entire disaster based on almost no evidence? An unanswered text or vague message can become a full catastrophe before the facts arrive. In this episode, we explore the small space between what actually happens and the worst-case stories our minds instantly invent. Learn how to stop your body from reacting to frightening predictions as if they are facts. Discover actionable, cognitive behavioral tools like worry postponement to regain mental authority. Shift your mindset from immediate panic to curiosity and faith as you navigate the empty nest season.

In This Episode:

• Why worry can feel responsible and productive

• The difference between preparation and mental rehearsal

• How scheduled worry time works

• When a pause is not appropriate and qualified help is needed

This Week’s Practice:

Choose a brief daily or weekly worry time. When worry appears, write it down and ask: What are the facts? What story am I telling? What can I do now?

5 Key Takeaways:

• Rehearsing pain solves nothing: Simulating a future catastrophe only makes you suffer through it twice.

• Separate reality from fiction: Divide your circumstances into the bare facts, the story you tell, and the next step.

• Schedule your anxiety: Use a worry postponement tool to give fears a strict, limited time slot later in the week.

• Immediacy is not importance: Your brain confuses the urgency of a thought with its actual real-world weight.

• Worry is not preparation: True preparation creates clear action steps, while worry simply circles a problem.

Resources:

• If anxiety is disrupting daily life, seek support from a qualified mental-health professional.

• Ready to move past the quiet restlessness of the empty nest? Download Denise’s free Next Chapter Clarity Workbook to start mapping out your next purposeful season today! calledtorisecoaching.com/free

• calledtorisecoaching.com

References:

• Mary Morrissey, “The Power of the Pause Button: Pressing Pause on Panic,” Brave Thinking Institute / DreamBuilder LIVE.

• Matthew 6:34

• Krzikalla et al. (2024), “Worry Postponement From the Metacognitive Perspective,” Behavior Therapy.

• Versluis et al. (2016), “Reducing worry and subjective health complaints,” British Journal of Health Psychology.

• The farmer story is a traditional parable commonly associated with Taoist teaching; versions and wording vary.

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Motherhood does not end when children become adults, but the job description changes. Denise explores how mature motherhood moves from management toward relationship, without pretending the grief or restraint is easy. In this tender episode, we explore how to love adult children when "management" is no longer in your job description. Discover how to handle the four most sensitive transitions: advice, access, tradition, and identity. And learn how building a meaningful life of your own is actually one of the greatest gifts you can give your adult children.

In This Episode:

• Why capability can feel painful when adult children stop checking first

• Advice, access, traditions, and identity in the adult-child relationship

• How to miss your children without making them repair the missing

• Why building your own life is a gift to them

This Week’s Practice:

Create three columns: Release, Retain, Receive. Pray over what love requires in this season.

5 Key Takeaways:

• Adults need a mother, not a project manager: When children are small, love looks like management; when they grow up, management starts feeling like control.

• Access does not equal importance: Adult children have a right to privacy, and loving them means being a safe harbor where they can share on their own terms.

• Grieve and adapt to changing traditions: A shifted holiday or family dinner is not a rejection; love is far more durable than a calendar date.

• Build a life they don't have to manage: Staying over-involved in an adult child's problems is often a distraction from facing the vulnerable questions in our own lives.

• Two truths can live in pairs: You can deeply miss the ordinary sounds of a full house while simultaneously supporting and cheering on your child's independence.

Resources:

• Ready to move past the quiet restlessness of the empty nest? Download Denise’s free Next Chapter Clarity Workbook to start mapping out your next purposeful season today! calledtorisecoaching.com/free

• calledtorisecoaching.com

Follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss a Tuesday episode!

When a familiar role changes, usefulness can feel like the measure of whether you still matter. In this powerful episode, we untangle the dangerous knot between being needed and being valuable. After decades of building identity around being hyper-competent and useful to everyone else, midlife asks us to slow down and reacquaint ourselves with the women God created us to be. Learn how to transition from a place of exhausted usefulness to an anchored confidence settled in Jesus Christ.

In This Episode:

• Why competence and usefulness can become substitutes for identity

• The difference between a changing role and unchanging worth

• Why humility does not require denying God-given strengths

• How to carry mature qualities into a new chapter

This Week’s Practice:

Say three identity sentences each morning, then record one way you are learning, healing, creating, choosing, or becoming.

5 Key Takeaways:

• Usefulness fluctuates, worth never does: Your title, church calling, or child's daily dependency can change in an afternoon, but your value to God is eternal.

• True humility is rooted in gratitude: Humility isn't pretending God gave you no talents; it's recognizing His generosity and being willing to use what He gave you.

• Being a beginner is a sign of life: Moving from deep competence into new territories (like art, writing, or technology) can feel uncomfortable, but it is the next step of growth.

• Your skills did not evaporate: The patience, resourcefulness, discernment, and humor developed through motherhood remain inside you, waiting for new expression.

• Rest is not a character flaw: When your worth is settled, you no longer have to earn your place or your survival through an exhausted "yes" to every demand.

Resources: 

• Free Next Chapter Clarity Workbook: https://calledtorisecoaching.com/free

• Called to Rise Coaching: https://calledtorisecoaching.com/

References:

• Psalm 139:14

Follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss a Tuesday episode!

Maybe it happens on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. You look around a quiet house and wonder, “Who am I when nobody needs me in quite the same way?” Welcome to Called to Rise: Empty Nest, New Purpose, the essential podcast for Latter-day Saint women navigating empty nest syndrome, changing family roles, and adult children's agency. Hosted by certified DreamBuilder Coach Denise Hines, this show offers faith-based life coaching for LDS moms who want to separate their worth from their roles, rediscover their identity, and step into their next chapter. Your story is not over, and becoming is still part of your discipleship. Hit follow or subscribe to join our LDS parenting and personal growth conversation every Tuesday.