In this fifth episode of the Letters to Mothers season, we’re talking about mothering our babies who we’ve lost in miscarriage, still birth, and infant loss. Losing a child is heartbreaking and devastating. For mothers who lose a child before or shortly after birth, this grief comes with distinct, sudden, and difficult questions about God, the Chur…

In this fourth episode of the Letters to Mothers series, Johanna Seagren joins me to discuss emotional regulation, our interior life, and burnout in our motherhood. Parenting is hard work, and sometimes it’s louder, messier, more complicated, and packed with tantrums (yours included) than you expected. So many times, we end up exhausted and feeling…

In this third episode of the Letters to Mothers series, Kimberly Henkel of Springs of Love joins me to discuss foster care and adoption. We’re talking about how Kimberly and her husband Greg discerned the call to foster care. We’re also busting myths around adoption that might be holding you back from discerning that call as a family, and both of u…

In this second episode of the Letters to Mothers series, Grace Stark from Natural Womanhood joins me to discuss fertility awareness and motherhood. This is a conversation about authentic womens’ healthcare, how to grow in an appreciation of your fertility as a gift, and discerning the size of family that the Lord wants to build with and for you—and…

In this first episode of the Letters to Mothers season we’re talking about a topic that so many of us are familiar with—body image. It’s a topic we’ve talked about on the show, but I wanted to revisit it with a specific focus on that experience as mothers. Joining me on the show today is Shelby Hirschman. She’s a nutrition therapist who specializes…

Letters to Women returns February 13th with a season dedicated to motherhood. Plus, Chloe shares her favorite part of Saint Pope John Paul II’s original Letter to Women and reveals a few other surprises. Stay in touch and learn about upcoming episodes by signing up for the email list at naptimenotes.substack.com…

A quick update about why there hasn't been a new episode of Letters to Women in your podcast feed lately ... and an announcement about the future of the podcast.

Should we care about what we wear? The short answer is “yes”—but don’t pull out your headphones just yet. There’s more to the conversation than that. What about style? What do you think of when you hear that word? Maybe the pages of fashion magazines or reruns of Project Runway flash through your mind. Or maybe you wonder if style should even be so…

It’s time we get honest with ourselves as women today—we’re being lied to. Today’s cultural beauty standards are messed up. We all know it, and we all think we can resist the pull to look a certain way. But most of us—and our sisters, daughters, and nieces, too—are still striving for a broken kind of beauty while feeling like we’re not good enough.…

We’re living in a world of filters and photoshop. Thanks to the constant pull from the smartphone in your pocket, you might be experiencing internet overwhelm and social media fatigue. Is there any relatable women’s media out there that gives an accurate representation of what it means to be a women, reminds you of your belovedness, and encourages …

Have you ever wished you prayed more with your spouse, but you don’t know where to start? Maybe you’re confident in praying FOR your spouse, but WITH them? In this episode, I’m sitting down with Dr. Sarah Bartel and we’re talking about Cana Feast, the marriage ministry she founded with husband, Nathan, and she’s giving some really practical, nitty-…

Have you ever had the experience that life is flying by you at lightning speed and you’re just an observer? The year is already over halfway done, you’re not sure really what you’ve even done for the past six months. You’re just along for the ride. But what if there was a daily practice that helped you grow in your ability to focus, to be grateful,…

When Sarah Swafford first started talking to college students about friendship, it was 2007. They were trying to figure out cellphones, dorm life, emotions, and virtue. Sixteen years later, Sarah is still talking about friendship—and it hasn’t gotten any easier with the rise of social media, smart phones, and a world pandemic. Sarah fist came on th…

I’m sitting down with Grace Babineau. She’s a wife and mom of two, and she recently wrote an article on Verily Magazine called “Thrift is the Really Romantic Thing” about why saving money might be the best thing for your marriage. And today we’re talking about thrift and romance, but also the virtue of simplicity, prioritizing creativity in seasons…

We all know someone struggling with substance use disorder. We might not know it, but since nearly one in five Americans older than twelve reported illicit drug use in 2018, someone in our life is struggling. And those numbers were before a pandemic threw our culture into further isolation. With those kinds of numbers, if you live in the United Sta…

Have you ever wanted to sit down with a woman who is a few season of life ahead of you, settle in on her couch with a big cup of coffee, and pick her brain about all of the joys and challenges of the season of life you’re in now -- and the seasons you’re looking forward to? To hear her advice and learn from the wisdom she’s gained over the years? T…

There are so many tasks on our to-do lists as women, wives, and moms that are repetitive—and hidden. You plan meals every week and wander the aisle of your grocery store, only to be back again the week after to do the exact same thing all over again. You fold a massive pile of laundry and as you’re putting clean clothes in dressers, you find the la…

Every single one of us has a feminine genius -- a particular way that the Lord is inviting us to bring forth new life into the world. But embracing that feminine genius in your daily life can be incredibly challenging if you’re facing something challenging in your life….but you’re pretending everything is fine, that you’re okay, and that you don’t …

It’s an incredible gift to share the beauty of the Catholic faith with the kids in our lives. Whether you’re sharing about Christ in the Eucharist with your toddler, diving into Scripture together, or preparing children for their first reconciliation or first communion, there’s a lot that goes into evangelizing the littlest people in our lives. How…

For 2,000 years, Catholics have been at the heart of the culinary arts. Maybe this shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering the sacred feast of the Eucharist and how it gives life to our faith. But, like so many other things in our lives today, our relationship with food has become compromised, cheapened, and robbed of its wholesomeness and purpos…

In my home growing up, we said a family Rosary every morning at 9am—my mom, dad, and seven siblings gathered in the living room and prayed together. We took turns leading decades and corralling toddlers. But when I moved out, I got out of the habit of the daily Rosary. And I have a growing desire to get back into it now that my little crew of kids …

Valentine’s day is around the corner, and that means that you might be encountering a lot of Instagram-worthy pictures and posts about marriages over the next few days. And the vocation of marriage is incredible. God draws spouses closer to the ultimate Heavenly marriage through the powerful sacrament of marriage. That doesn’t mean that marriage is…

We’ve all experienced moments of pain and suffering. And while all of us carry different crosses, suffering is something that is part of every one of our stories. But how do you pray when you struggle to find words to express your pain and trauma? How do you validate the emotions you experience in the valleys of life and embrace them as a gift inst…

Hey friends, Merry Christmas season! I love that this episode drops in your podcast feed the day after Christmas, and I hope it finds you well rested and joyful. Our little Langr crew has been sick this past week, so we’re enjoying quiet family time and praying for everyone soon. But this episode also finds you just a few days before the first day …

Have you ever witnessed the Lord do something incredible in your life? And when you see him at work, what is your response? Do you share it with everyone who will listen, or do you keep it to yourself? So often, we make evangelization too complicated. It’s not about knowing just the right thing to say, or having all the answers. The most potent eva…

The Lord wants to draw you ever closer to himself. He wants to transform you, and in doing so, transform every single relationship in your life—he’s leaving no stone unturned. But growing in deeper relationship involves the hard and holy work of examining both sides of the struggles and the joys, the good memories and the awful memories in those re…

In his Letter to Artists, St. Pope John Paul II said that “Human beings, in a certain sense, are unknown to themselves.” Jesus reveals who God is, but he also fully reveals us to ourselves. Yet we often find ourselves asking “Who am I” and “What is real”? John Paul II goes on to say that “humanity in every age, and even today, looks to work of art …

What does it mean to think deeply as Catholic women today? When you hear that question, do you worry that it means spending endless hours reading and writing academic papers? Do you wonder if pursuing the intellectual life isn’t for you because you don’t consider yourself a thinker? Or have you thought that maybe the intellectual life is for anothe…

Today’s episode contains a conversation on sexual addiction and healing. If you listen around little ears, you might want to grab a pair of headphones. No one intends to get addicted to pornograpy, masturbation, or other disordered sexual desires. And it doesn’t help that we live in a world that has ingrained into our minds the idea that pornograph…

When the Lord calls, He calls! The Feminine Genius Podcast has been quite quiet ever since the end of season 4, and after a lot of prayer and reflection I feel that it's time to bring the podcast to a close. After spending 3+ years hearing and sharing the stories of some incredible feminine geniuses from all over the world, I take some time to refl…

There is something so challenging and good in St. Paul’s words to the Romans when he tells them (and us) to both rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Grieving is hard. And accompanying others who are grieving is hard and holy work.So how can we grieve as Catholic women, especially when grieving the loss of someone so dear …

About a year ago, when I’d find myself with nothing left to give, I started asking Jesus for His Sacred Heart. I asked him to give me his heart to love those around me, because my little heart was so exhausted. But in the back of my head, I wondered if Jesus was disappointed in me for not being able to love well, for having to return to him over an…

Has every conversation in this miniseries on friendship has left you whispering “But that won’t work for me"?Today, I’m sitting down with Lea-Anne Virnig. Lea-Anne is a writer and speaker passionate about inspiring women to live in the freedom of their identity in Christ. She helps women cultivate their magnanimity and grow in holiness through whol…

I’d just like to start this episode off with a moment of total honesty in which I reveal to you that one of my biggest fears is fish. I can’t stand them. I don’t swim in the ocean, I don’t swim in the lake, I don’t go to aquariums with my kids. Even talking about fish is making my skin crawl. But today’s episode is all about the beauty, mystery, an…

This summer, I’m focusing in on the topic of friendship with other women, and in this third episode of the series, I’m sitting down with Elizabeth Vargas. Elizabeth is the recipe developer and photographer behind the blog “Elizabeth’s Table”. She was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, studied Economic Consulting and Business Analytics at India Un…

This summer, I’m focusing in on the topic of friendship with other women, and in this second episode of the series, I’m sitting down with Lindsay Schlegel. Lindsay is a daughter of God who seeks to encourage, inspire, and lift others up to be all they were created to be. She is also the author of Don’t Forget to Say Thank You: And Other Parenting L…

This summer, I’m focusing in on the topic of friendship with other women, and in this first episode of the series, I’m sitting down with Kiki Rocha. Kiki is a Catholic woman on a mission to rebuild culture. She is an overcomer, and it is through her story of resilience that she has found her calling to coach women in wholeness by cultivating their …

Have you ever secretly (or not so secretly) wondered if you’re doing this whole womanhood thing right?Are you tired of the secular rhetoric that tries to tell you how you should act and who you should be?And are you wondering what the church really teaches about Catholic femininity - but also a little worried about diving deeper into what the churc…

“I like to read, but I have no idea what books to read.” “I sometimes pick up a self-help book or a spiritual book, but right now, reading other books with my schedule just feels selfish.” “I haven’t liked reading since I was a little kid” “I know there are good books out there, but I don’t know where to start, so I just pick up a bestseller that l…

What does it mean to run a business as a Catholic woman? What does success look like? What does integration look like? How do you discover your gifts and talents and steward those well? In today’s episode, I sit down with Elise Crawford Gallagher. She’s the owner and CEO of Ringlet, a company that equips women to blaze their own path to business su…

This season has truly been the most international season, complete with the 100th episode milestone and a lot of incredible stories of different feminine geniuses from (literally) across the globe! I take some time to reflect on the season that's happened and share a little bit of insight into what's next for the podcast. Here are the show notes fo…

“There’s something they have to offer from the struggles and the shape of their lives that the Church needs.” During her time as a campus missionary, Micole Amalu found herself journeying with students who struggled with their mental health, and helped them in their journey of healing. These experiences as well as her own journey led her to start T…

Does it ever seem like life just kind of happens to you? You log onto Instagram or look around at the women in your small group or in the pew beside you at church and it just seems like everyone else figured it out. Meanwhile, you’re in the dark, wondering how people do it all, how some people have this adulting thing down. What’s their secret? Did…

“The fullness of truth breeds joy, and living out of that and not allowing these lies about our identity to really percolate in our souls is something that then allows us to access that joy so much more easily.” Jill Simons shared some major truth in this episode, discussing how the Lord invited her to trust Him more and stop hurrying and worrying.…

Do you remember how simple it was to make and keep girlfriends when you were really young? All you had to do was wear the same pair of tennis shoes as a classmate or gal on the playground and man, you were set. Best friends forever. But the further we grow away from kindergarten classrooms and recess camaraderie, the more complicated friendship wit…

“I’d been searching in all different faiths. I think then it was very much an encounter with Christ in the least, with the explanation especially from this young man.” Rakhi McCormick’s journey to the Catholic faith was one of continual encounter. She was raised Hindu in a small town, and for much of her life she sought out belonging and identity. …