In this episode of Catholic Moms in the Middle, I’m reflecting on what it means to enter 2026 feeling stretched—but not broken. So many of us have walked through a year that stretched us mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually in ways we never would have chosen. And when you’re in it, that stretching often feels like breaking.

In this episode, I invite you to pause before rushing into a new year and to gently look back at 2025 not the highlight reel, but the real moments. The grief, the growth, the hidden blessings, and the quiet ways God was present even when it didn’t feel like it.

We’ll talk about how stretching, when held in God’s hands, isn’t meant to weaken us, but t’s meant to form us. How strength is often built in tension, surrender, and dependence on God rather than self-reliance. And how what feels like being broken open may actually be God creating more space for His grace.

If you’ve been carrying a lot, if you’re weary, or if you’re stepping into this new year unsure of what comes next, this episode is for you. My prayer is that you’ll leave encouraged, grounded, and reminded that you are stronger than you think—because God has been at work in the stretching.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. She accompanies midlife women through divorce, grief, and major life transitions, helping them encounter God’s healing and rediscover their purpose. 

As we approach the end of the year, you may feel an internal pressure to rush ahead—to set goals, make changes, and focus on what still feels unfinished. In this episode of Catholic Moms in the Middle, I invite you to resist that urge and instead embrace a holy pause. Before stepping into what’s next, I encourage you to gently look back and notice God’s goodness in the past year.

This episode is a quiet, faith-filled reflection on the ways God remains faithful even when life is uncertain, painful, or exhausting. I will share how God’s goodness often shows up not in dramatic moments, but in subtle, ordinary ways—through unexpected encouragement, moments of peace, and the simple grace to keep going.  God’s goodness is not dependent on perfect circumstances, but is constant and personal, woven into everyday life.

A great way to remember God’s blessings is to scroll through the photos on your phone from the past year. As you revisit moments of joy, connection, adventure, and quiet beauty, it causes you to pause and thank God for each one. This gentle act of remembrance becomes a way to recognize how God has been present all along, even in seasons that felt heavy or uncertain.

Rather than focusing on what went wrong or what still needs healing, this episode will encourage you to honor the ways you have lived, loved, and persevered. It offers reassurance to those who feel tired or behind, reminding you that endurance, faithfulness, and simply showing up matter deeply to God. Gratitude doesn’t deny hardship but it gives you the strength to carry it with hope.

You are invited to reflect, remember, and rest, to be gently reminded of a simple truth: God has been good, He is good, and He will continue to be faithful in every season.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. She accompanies midlife women through divorce, grief, and major life transitions, helping them encounter God’s healing and rediscover their purpose. 

Roses in Winter: Trusting God Through Burdens, Waiting & Hope

In this special Advent mini-retreat, I invite you to slow down, breathe deeply, and enter a sacred space of reflection in the midst of a busy season. Through the story of St. Juan Diego and the tender guidance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we journey into the heart of Advent, a place where longing meets love, where burdens are held by heaven, and where hope begins to bloom even in the barren places of our lives.

I share my own experience of walking through deep grief, unanswered prayers, and the painful end of my 35-year marriage. It has been a season that became fertile ground for unexpected healing and the voice of God whispering in the silence. These roses can be part of your advent season too!

🌹 The rose of longing — the desires we hold deep within
🌹 The rose of presence — the God who sees us even in the dark
🌹 The rose of testimony — how God meets us in our wounds
🌹 The rose of mission — the call that grows from our healing

This is an invitation to acknowledge the struggle, release the burden, and trust the God who brings roses forth in winter, often where we least expect them.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. She accompanies midlife women through divorce, grief, and major life transitions, helping them encounter God’s healing and rediscover their purpose. 

Can I be honest? Midlife has not looked the way I imagined it would. I thought these years would be about traveling with my husband, enjoying our grown kids, and spoiling grandbabies together. Instead, this season has been marked by grief, heartbreak, and rediscovering who I am after walking through an unwanted divorce. But through the pain, I’ve found something beautiful...a sacred invitation to reconnect with myself, with others, and most importantly, with God.

In this episode, I’m sharing part of my own messy middle — the nights of tears, the questions of “Who am I now?”, and how I’ve learned to rest in my true identity as God’s beloved daughter. We’ll talk about what it means to take an “identity inventory,” to remember that before we were ever wives, moms, or anything else, we were made in the image of God. And how that truth, even when everything else falls apart, never changes.

If you’re standing in a season that feels different than you expected, maybe your friendships are shifting, your kids are grown, or your marriage looks nothing like you hoped  then this conversation is for you. Together, we’ll explore how to make authentic connections again: with yourself, with the people God has placed around you, and with Him. Midlife may feel messy, but it’s also full of grace, renewal, and purpose. Let’s walk through it together and rediscover the beauty of being God’s masterpiece, right in the middle of the mess.

If you’ve ever ended your day feeling like you didn’t do enough, or wondered why everyone else seems to have it all together while you’re just trying to keep up, you’re in the right place.

Midlife can be messy and full of changes, comparisons, and that constant feeling that we’re falling short. But what if there’s another way to see yourself and your life?

In this episode, I’m diving into a concept from the book The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. It’s all about learning to measure your progress by how far you’ve come, not by how far you still have to go. And when you look at it through a faith lens, it’s powerful and it shifts your focus from striving and comparison to gratitude, peace, and seeing the hand of God in your everyday life.

So grab your coffee, take a deep breath, and join me for a real and grace-filled conversation. Together we’ll talk about how to step out of the gap, live in the gain, and see yourself the way God sees you...loved, growing, and right where you’re meant to be.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach, retreat leader, and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. With over 26 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and Director of Religious Education, she is passionate about walking with midlife women through life’s transitions—especially those that come from unexpected changes in relationships, identity, or purpose. A devoted mother of three grown sons and proud grandmother of two, Jennie creates sacred spaces where women can encounter the love of the Father, be transformed by the Holy Spirit, so they can magnify Christ in their everyday lives. Jennie is the host of the Catholic Moms in the Middle podcast and a featured voice on Nashville Catholic Radio and Radio Maria USA, where she shares encouragement and faith-filled wisdom with women navigating the twists and turns of midlife.

Have you ever noticed how some of the most sacred words of our faith love, hope, and joy have been hijacked by our culture? They show up on coffee mugs, t-shirts, and Instagram captions, but somewhere along the way, their true, life-changing meaning got watered down.

In this episode, we dive deeper into these three words, peeling back layers of cultural noise to rediscover their biblical and Catholic roots. Through Scripture, Church teaching, and the wisdom of the saints, I show you how these virtues aren’t fluffy slogans, but anchors that can sustain Catholic women especially in midlife through seasons of change, loss, and new beginnings.

✨ What You’ll Hear in This Episode: Why love is more than just an emotion or consumer slogan it's a choice, a sacrifice, and the very nature of God Himself. The four kinds of love in Scripture (eros, philia, storge, agape) and how they shape your relationships.

How to recognize when “hope” has been reduced to wishful thinking and reclaim it as an anchor in Christ. Why joy is not the same as happiness, and how the saints teach us to rejoice even in suffering.

Practical ways to bring these virtues into your daily life as a Catholic woman navigating midlife transitions.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach, retreat leader, and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. With over 26 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and Director of Religious Education, she is passionate about walking with midlife women through life’s transitions—especially those that come from unexpected changes in relationships, identity, or purpose. A devoted mother of three grown sons and proud grandmother of two, Jennie creates sacred spaces where women can encounter the love of the Father, be transformed by the Holy Spirit, so they can magnify Christ in their everyday lives. Jennie is the host of the Catholic Moms in the Middle podcast and a featured voice on Nashville Catholic Radio and Radio Maria USA, where she shares encouragement and faith-filled wisdom with women navigating the twists and turns of midlife.

This week on Catholic Moms in the Middle, I’m diving into a topic that every single one of us faces, change.

Have you ever felt like the rug was pulled out from under you? Maybe your kids are grown and suddenly the house that was once noisy and chaotic is now painfully quiet. Or maybe your marriage looks completely different than you ever imagined. Midlife seems to come with one change after another...sometimes chosen, sometimes not and it can feel scary, overwhelming, or even unfair. But here’s the good news: God meets us in the middle of change. He doesn’t leave us to figure it out on our own.

In fact, He uses change...even the painful kind to shape us, strengthen us, and lead us closer to Him.

In this episode, I share:

✨ My own story of becoming an empty nester and how God used that season to open new doors. ✨ The difference between clinging to control and surrendering to God’s will (and the surprising peace that comes when we finally let go).

✨ How Scripture reminds us that every closed door is really an invitation to a new beginning with God on the other side.

✨ Reflection questions you can ask yourself as you walk through your own season of transition. Friend, if you’re staring at a closed door right now, whether in motherhood, marriage, career, or another part of your life this episode is for you.

You don’t have to just survive change. With God, you can thrive in it.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach, retreat leader, and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. With over 26 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and Director of Religious Education, she is passionate about walking with midlife women through life’s transitions—especially those that come from unexpected changes in relationships, identity, or purpose. A devoted mother of three grown sons and proud grandmother of two, Jennie creates sacred spaces where women can encounter the love of the Father, be transformed by the Holy Spirit, so they can magnify Christ in their everyday lives. Jennie is the host of the Catholic Moms in the Middle podcast and a featured voice on Nashville Catholic Radio and Radio Maria USA, where she shares encouragement and faith-filled wisdom with women navigating the twists and turns of midlife.

My dear friend Debbie Smith is joining me on the podcast! Debbie and I met about 10 years ago here in Nashville, and from the start, I’ve admired her boldness when it comes to sharing her faith. Seriously, she can strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere. We lovingly call her our “bar stool evangelist” because she can sit down at a bar, order a craft beer, and before you know it, she’s talking with the bartender about the Eucharist. Now, I know what you’re thinking… I could never do that. But here’s the thing Debbie hasn’t always been this way. In fact, she once thought she didn’t know enough about her Catholic faith to share it with anyone. But through Bible studies, books like Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn, and her own personal encounters, she’s discovered how to authentically connect with people about Jesus and the beauty of the Church. In this episode, Debbie and I talk about: How she went from shy and unsure about her faith to joyfully sharing it with strangers. Why evangelization isn’t about preaching or pressuring but about authentic connections. Some amazing God-moments where the Holy Spirit gave her the exact words to say. What to do when you feel too scared or unqualified to share your faith. My favorite part? Debbie reminds us that evangelization doesn’t always look like words...it can be as simple as a smile, an act of kindness, or telling someone why your faith is important to you. 👉 If you’ve ever wondered how to bring Christ into everyday conversations without feeling awkward or pushy, you don’t want to miss this one. Debbie’s stories will encourage you, inspire you, and maybe even nudge you to take a step of faith in your own little corner of the world. Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach, retreat leader, and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. With over 26 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and Director of Religious Education, she is passionate about walking with midlife women through life’s transitions—especially those that come from unexpected changes in relationships, identity, or purpose. A devoted mother of three grown sons and proud grandmother of two, Jennie creates sacred spaces where women can encounter the love of the Father, be transformed by the Holy Spirit, so they can magnify Christ in their everyday lives. Jennie is the host of the Catholic Moms in the Middle podcast and a featured voice on Nashville Catholic Radio and Radio Maria USA, where she shares encouragement and faith-filled wisdom with women navigating the twists and turns of midlife.

I finally convinced my dear friend, Lisa Rippy, to join me and share her incredible story.

Trust me—you don’t want to miss this one! Lisa has such a beautiful testimony of what happens when you hear God’s call and simply say yes. In 2014, during what seemed like an ordinary school presentation, Lisa felt the Lord tug on her heart to go to Sierra Leone and she didn’t hesitate.

That one yes led to a life-changing journey for her, her family, her students, and our entire community. In this conversation, Lisa opens up about:

What it felt like to hear God’s call so clearly in the middle of everyday life. Her first trip to Sierra Leone and the powerful ways God’s presence showed up.

How the children she thought she was going to teach ended up teaching her. The ripple effect of her yes, especially how it shaped her daughter’s future calling.

Why serving doesn’t have to be “big” to matter and how even the small things bring joy and transformation.

Lisa’s story is a reminder that it’s never too late, never too small, and never the wrong season for God to use us. You’ll be inspired, encouraged, and maybe even challenged to say yes to the little nudges God is placing on your heart.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach, retreat leader, and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. With over 26 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and Director of Religious Education, she is passionate about walking with midlife women through life’s transitions—especially those that come from unexpected changes in relationships, identity, or purpose. A devoted mother of three grown sons and proud grandmother of two, Jennie creates sacred spaces where women can encounter the love of the Father, be transformed by the Holy Spirit, so they can magnify Christ in their everyday lives. Jennie is the host of the Catholic Moms in the Middle podcast and a featured voice on Nashville Catholic Radio and Radio Maria USA, where she shares encouragement and faith-filled wisdom with women navigating the twists and turns of midlife.

In today’s episode of Catholic Moms in the Middle, I’m wrapping up my little series on the lessons God has been teaching me while working in my yard. What I thought would be one episode turned into three because—just like in our gardens—God never stops showing us new ways to grow.

This time, I’m sharing three final reflections that connect the work of tending soil, pulling weeds, and pruning plants to the deeper work of tending our hearts, minds, and souls. We’ll talk about:

🌱 How the “weeds” of negative thoughts keep popping up (and how to take them captive in Christ).

✂️ Why pruning can feel harsh, but actually leads to new, healthier growth.

🌸 How blooming comes in different seasons—and how God often surprises us with new life just when we think we’re done.

It’s real, it’s honest, and it’s a reminder that whether you’re in a season of blooming, pruning, or quiet rest, God is always at work in you.

Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach, retreat leader, and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. With over 26 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and Director of Religious Education, she is passionate about walking with midlife women through life’s transitions—especially those that come from unexpected changes in relationships, identity, or purpose.

A devoted mother of three grown sons and proud grandmother of two, Jennie creates sacred spaces where women can encounter the love of the Father, be transformed by the Holy Spirit, so they can magnify Christ in their everyday lives.

Jennie is the host of the Catholic Moms in the Middle podcast and a featured voice on Nashville Catholic Radio and Radio Maria USA, where she shares encouragement and faith-filled wisdom with women navigating the twists and turns of midlife.