Empty nester wisdom with Jennifer Scott (triplets, college years and finding yourself again)
Pardon the Mess with Scarlet Hiltibidal - Christian Motherhood, Biblical Parenting, Raising Christian Kids
Scarlet Hiltibidal and Christian Parenting
4.9 • 850 Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2025
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You all LOVED our series “Empty Nester Wisdom” from two years ago so we are bringing it back. Mentors have played such a vital role in my parenting journey. For the next two months, we are going to learn from other wise and godly moms that are just a season ahead of us. This series isn’t just for those entering the empty nest season - it’s for all moms and all stages. Get your journals ready for the next 9 weeks - they all offer some advice and encouragement worth keeping. And possibly bring a tissue box.
I absolutely LOVED this chat with my buddy Jennifer Scott about the empty nest years. She shares so many pieces of wisdom as she has triplet kids all in college. I asked her what she’s glad they did as she looks back. Her answer was so encouraging to me. “We invested in a foundation of faith and foundation of relationship.”
We can do that parents! We can invest in our kids’ faith and in our relationship with them.
How do you know when to step in with your college or adult kids? Jennifer shares about how we must discern and lean on God to know when to hold back and when to show up. Don’t miss this episode! It’s for moms of all ages. I LOVE learning from moms ahead of me.
Thank you Jennifer for always being willing to share your heart, your wisdom and how God is working in your life. It’s invaluable insight for the moms behind you.
Enjoy this empty nester wisdom with Jennifer.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Setting realistic expectations when college kids come home
- Resisting the urge to look back and nitpick how you parented
- Trusting God with your kids when the story isn’t finished
- Keeping relationship with your kid when we disagree with choices
Enjoy!
Courtney
Chapters:
(02:55) Navigating Life Changes
(06:12) Lessons in Parenting and Faith
(08:52) Returning to the Workforce
(11:58) The Challenge of Empty Nesting
(15:01) Supporting Kids Through Struggles
(18:01) The Reality of College Life
(20:55) Reflecting on Parenting
(24:11) Trusting God with Our Children
Connect with Pardon The Mess:
Get your 2024-2025 prayer journal, A Life of Faith
Resources from today’s show:
Connect with Jennifer
First episode with Jennifer on PTM
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Christian Parenting. |
| 0:03.5 | Christian Parenting. |
| 0:12.8 | Hey friends. Welcome back to Pardon in the Mess. I'm your host, Courtney Defeo. I hope your summer's going well. Maybe it just started. Maybe your kids just finished school, depending on where you are in the country or in the world. But I am so excited to have summer |
| 0:26.3 | upon us. That was a stressful year. And I'm just excited to be with my kiddos the summer before |
| 0:31.4 | Ella goes to college. But I have got a dear friend back, Jennifer Scott. So we heard from her |
| 0:36.6 | two years ago on Pardon the Mess |
| 0:38.5 | podcast. I did a series called Empty Nestor Wisdom and you guys loved it. And so it's basically |
| 0:44.0 | just, hey, who's in the empty nester phase? What can we learn from them? So if you've got young |
| 0:48.6 | kids, you're going to love this. If you've got kids just leaving the house, you're going to love |
| 0:52.4 | this. Because I think anyone ahead of us, a season ahead of us, |
| 0:55.7 | is worthy of just sitting there at their feet, listening to what God has taught them. |
| 1:00.0 | And Jennifer Scott has been a friend of mine for years. |
| 1:02.7 | We've only met in a person a couple times, but from afar, I have always just admired the |
| 1:07.1 | way she parents, and she's just so full of grace, and you'll hear her faith pour through, |
| 1:13.4 | and she's the queen of metaphors. You've got to listen. She said, I speak fluent metaphors, |
| 1:18.5 | and as she talked about two years ago when her triplets went to college, she talked about |
| 1:22.9 | that they were baby adults, and they were just learning how to be adults. And as she comes back |
| 1:26.8 | this week, she talks about how they're toddler adults. And as she comes back this week, |
| 1:32.5 | she talks about how they're toddler adults. And I just love that because she said, you know, |
| 1:36.5 | things that's like, oh, they've got this. They can walk. And then they'll fall down. And then they'll walk again. And so just listen in as she's processing what God has taught her, where her kids are two years in, and it's really helpful. And by the way, |
| 1:44.6 | for most of these ones for the next nine weeks or in the nine weeks we do empty nester wisdom, |
| 1:49.7 | I basically cry every week. And so bring your tissues, especially at the end of this one. |
... |
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