The Wake-Up Call: What Changes in Midlife—and Why You’re Not Imagining It

For The Love With Jen Hatmaker Podcast

Jen Hatmaker

Relationships, Society & Culture

4.6 • 6.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Description: Description: What happens when the life you’ve been managing no longer fits? Jen Hatmaker sits down with Nedra Glover Tawwab, Emily Nagoski, Kobe Campbell, and Kate Bowler for an honest conversation about what it really means to wake up in midlife. Together, they explore where awakening often shows up first—our relationships, bodies, mental health, and faith. This isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about noticing what’s shifting, understanding why it feels disruptive, and realizing you’re not alone. From boundaries and burnout to anxiety, trauma, body shame, and faith after certainty, this episode offers language and clarity for women navigating midlife change with courage. If you’ve ever thought, Something’s changing—and I don’t know what to do with it, this conversation is for you. Thought-provoking Quotes: “You’re not broken. You’re paying attention.” — Jen Hatmaker “Midlife clarity isn’t cruelty. It’s information.” — Nedra Glover Tawwab “Healing doesn’t mean you stop feeling. It means your responses finally make sense.” — Kobe Campbell “Anxiety can bring clarity—but it’s not meant to be the fuel forever.” — Kobe Campbell “You don’t complete stress by thinking it through. You complete it by letting it move through your body.” — Emily Nagoski “Certainty falling away doesn’t mean faith is gone. It means it’s growing up.” — Kate Bowler Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab – https://amzn.to/4rhSzofThe Balancing Act: Creating Healthy Dependency and Connection Without Losing Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab – https://amzn.to/46cF4hgCome As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski – https://www.amazon.com/Come-You-Are-Surprising-Transform/dp/1982165316/ Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski – https://amzn.to/3MgTXIK Why Am I Like This?: How to Break Cycles, Heal from Trauma, and Restore Your Faith by Kobe Campbell – https://amzn.to/4qIMqR9 Joyful, Anyway by Kate Bowler – https://amzn.to/3MdyfW3 Everything Happens podcast with Kate Bowler – https://katebowler.com/podcasts/ Nedra’s Links: Website - https://www.nedratawwab.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nedratawwab/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nedratawwab/- Substack - https://nedratawwab.substack.com/ Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-need-to-hear-this-with-nedra-tawwab/id1686288228 Emily’s Links: Website - https://www.emilynagoski.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/enagoski/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/emilynagoskiphd/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@emilynagoski Substack - https://substack.com/@emilynagoski Podcast - https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/come-as-you-are Kobe’s Links: Website - https://kobecampbell.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kobecampbell_/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheKobeCampbell/ Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@TheKobeCampbell Substack - https://substack.com/@kobecampbell Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-healing-circle-podcast-with-kobe-campbell/id1448504061 Kate’s Links: Website - https://katebowler.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/katecbowler/ Twitter - https://x.com/katecbowler Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/katecbowler Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf8m7lNdR7YVieU0muCg5cg TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@katecbowler Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/katecbowler/ Substack - https://katebowler.substack.com/ Podcast - https://katebowler.com/podcasts/ Connect with Jen!Jen’s Website - https://jenhatmaker.com/ Jen’s Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmakerJen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/ Jen’s Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmakerJen’s YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker The For the Love Podcast is presented by Audacy. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Right, that's it. Come on. Lights out. You've got a test tomorrow. Just two minutes. I'm about to reach the next level. It's going off now. Yeah, whatever. Let's see. Where's the app? Oh, here it is. What? How? Oh, no. You're out. Better look next time. Mom! It's game over for late nights on school nights. EE Wi-Fi controls help you get them off the Wi-Fi and into bed.
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0:37.1	Hey everybody. Welcome to For the Love.
0:40.2	We're glad you are here because this episode is a little bit different than our usual interviews, but it felt really important to bring you.
0:51.2	Having experienced now, we went, okay, we got to make sure this gets in the
0:55.1	hands of everybody. What you're about to hear comes from a live conversation that I hosted
1:02.8	recently with four of the smartest women that I trust. These are voices that I have returned to again and again and again when I am trying to make
1:16.6	sense of midlife, healing, faith, body stuff, all the ways our lives are asking us harder, more important questions at this season. So
1:31.9	joining me are incredible women. They have all been on this podcast before. We have traveled together.
1:40.2	We have built me courses together. Like this is Like, this is my A team.
1:45.2	We have Nedra Glover Toab, who was also just on super recently as a second time guest.
1:50.8	Yeah.
1:51.1	Emily Nagoski, who is just a pioneer in her space.
1:56.2	Kobe Campbell, who is so incredible.
1:59.4	She also came on the JHBC cruise with me because she is such an
2:02.7	incredible leader and longtime friend and fan favorite Kate Bowler, who has no enemies. She could not
2:10.7	possibly. And so just to set expectations, this isn't a conversation about fixing yourself or getting your life together or some like to-do list or a bunch of homework.
2:24.1	It's not that.
2:25.3	No, it's, I actually watch this conversation live.
2:28.6	And I was surprised by the content, even though I knew about it ahead of time.
2:36.5	It touched on so many different things at once.
	...

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