Empty nester wisdom with Sharon Mankin (letting go, finding purpose and recalibrating expectations with adult kids)
Pardon the Mess with Scarlet Hiltibidal - Christian Motherhood, Biblical Parenting, Raising Christian Kids
Scarlet Hiltibidal and Christian Parenting
4.9 • 850 Ratings
🗓️ 19 June 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We have Sharon Mankin back on the podcast! You all loved her wisdom and practical help the last time she was on the podcast. From the first minute to the end, you can see why Sharon is a coach to many women. She has empathy, understanding and practical tools to help us navigate challenging seasons.
This conversation is helpful to all moms in all seasons who want to “let go” of their kids in a healthy way. I am a lifelong learner and I crave wisdom from women that are ahead of me in their journey. If you are heading into the empty nester season, you will be extra encouraged by her insight, stories and tips. She reminds us that we can discover purpose beyond our parenting role. She reminds us that God is not done with us!
My favorite part is towards the end when she shares about how to know when to step in and when to stay calm and let our adult kids walk through their struggles. I will treasure this advice ahead of Ella’s college years.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Navigating empty nest stage
- Emotional journey of letting go
- How to recalibrate our expectations
- How to discover purpose beyond parenting
Enjoy!
Courtney
(03:06) Navigating the Empty Nest Stage
(05:56) Emotional Journey of Letting Go
(08:57) Recalibrating Expectations with Independence
(12:00) Understanding Codependency and Communication
(15:01) Finding Joy in the Transition
(17:56) Personal Growth and Rediscovering Identity
(21:38) Discovering Purpose Beyond Parenting
(24:51) The Importance of Disruption for Growth
(25:35) Balancing Support and Independence in Parenting
(28:40) Emotional Strength and Empathy in Parenting
(30:39) Creative Ways to Love Your Kids from a Distance
(37:50) Encouragement and Connection in Parenting
Connect with Pardon The Mess:
Get your 2024-2025 prayer journal, A Life of Faith
Resources from today’s show:
Connect with Sharon
First episode with Sharon on PTM
Who Matters Most - relationship exercise
Touch Note - Post Cards
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Christian Parenting. |
| 0:03.0 | Christian Parenting |
| 0:05.0 | Part of the Best is part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network, which is a group of 29 shows |
| 0:14.0 | to help you let go of perfection and embrace the perfectly imperfect parent God created you to be. |
| 0:20.0 | Raising kids to know and love Jesus isn't |
| 0:22.4 | easy and we're not meant to do it alone. That's why this network exists. It's to be your |
| 0:27.0 | digital village full of encouragement, export advice, and a few laughs along the way. Over the last |
| 0:32.2 | year, our podcasts have been downloaded five million times, but that kind of impact only happens |
| 0:37.4 | because of generous |
| 0:38.3 | listeners like you. Christian Parenting is a nonprofit in every resource is funded by people |
| 0:43.5 | who believe in this mission. If this show has encouraged you, would you consider giving back? |
| 0:48.1 | Head on over to cpgiv.org to donate today. That's cpgiv.org. |
| 1:07.7 | Hey friends, welcome back to Pardon the Mess. I'm your host, Courtney DeFaio, and we are in the middle of a series called Empty Nestor Wisdom. And we did this a couple years ago here at Part of the Mess. |
| 1:12.6 | And you all loved it. In fact, you loved today's guest. She's probably one of the top five downloaded episodes on Part of the Mess since I was the host. And you just just love her because I love her. You love what I love. You love that she is a mentor and a coach. You love that she's empathetic. She |
| 1:28.2 | is compassionate. She has Jesus pouring out of her soul, but she's also very practical and helpful. |
| 1:34.6 | And so I would recommend that you get time today to sit with a notebook or a journal because many of the |
| 1:39.9 | things that she says and ideas, she says, you will want to write down. And it doesn't matter |
| 1:44.0 | if you've |
| 1:44.3 | got little kids and you're just kind of looking ahead to say, what would that be like? How can I |
| 1:48.5 | prepare them now to help launch and let go of my kids in a healthy way? Or whether you're entering |
| 1:53.7 | the empty nest season for the first time, you're a little bit scared or teary. By the way, I cry |
| 1:58.8 | real hard in this episode. She caught me at a super emotional |
... |
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