Momentum Podcast with Erica Wiggenhorn

Good Life Originals
  • 5.0 (3)
  • CHRISTIANITY

When your child pulls away, pushes back, or makes choices that break your heart, motherhood can feel like a weight of fear, guilt, and grief you carry alone. The silence at the dinner table. The text that never gets returned. The argument that erupts out of nowhere. These moments can quietly convince you that you've failed. The Momentum Podcast is where host Erica Wiggenhorn meets moms in that painful space with honest conversation, practical tools, and biblical truth that actually holds weight in the hard moments. Drawing from her own raw experiences, current research, and her book Loving Your Wayward Child, Erica walks through the real challenges of parenting teens, young adults, and estranged children, from navigating volatile conversations to setting boundaries without severing connection. This isn't a podcast that rushes past your pain with easy answers. It's one that helps you move closer to Jesus so He can move your family closer together, one faithful step at a time.

Episodes

  1. 1D AGO

    Loving Without Enabling

    Send Erica a text They need gas money. They need rent money. They need you to fix the thing they broke because of the choice you told them not to make. And if you say no, you're the worst mom alive. If you say yes, nothing changes. You've been on this ride before. You know how it ends. Erica gets painfully honest about the day she kicked her son out of the house and what she got wrong in the process. She shares her friend Faye's gut-wrenching decision to drop her daughter and two grandkids at a women's shelter, and what Faye's daughter said about it years later that silenced the room. You'll learn four signs that your help has crossed into enabling, why your child's entitled reaction when you say no tells you more than their request does, and what time-bound, role-building support actually looks like in real life, including the gas money conversation that almost ruined Erica's birthday. Bailing them out feels like love. But it might be the very thing keeping them from the Savior who can actually change them from the inside out. Grab your free EBook on Prayers to Pray for your Hardest Motherhood Moments + From Despair to Repair: Your Personal Podcast Companion Journal https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/51mvoso Pre-order Loving Your Wayward Child: https://amzn.to/3P71fQ2 Momentum Conference: https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/vtsyykt

    23 min

  2. APR 7

    How to Reach the Child Who Pulled Away

    Send Erica a text You've thought about sending the text a hundred times. You've typed it, deleted it, typed it again. You're terrified of silence. But you're also terrified of saying the wrong thing and losing whatever thread of connection might still be there. So you do nothing. And the distance just keeps growing. Erica walks through three practical steps for standing in faith when your child has pulled away. She tackles the theology that either paralyzes moms or propels them forward, explains why your view of God in this season matters more than any parenting strategy, and challenges you to take one brave risk today: send the message you've been holding back. You'll learn what to actually say when you reach out (and why keeping it short matters more than getting it perfect), how to prepare yourself emotionally whether they respond or not, and three specific things to say to a friend walking through this that actually help instead of making it worse. This isn't about forcing a response. It's about planting a seed, trusting God's timing, and refusing to let fear write the final chapter of your relationship. Grab your free EBook on Prayers to Pray for your Hardest Motherhood Moments + From Despair to Repair: Your Personal Podcast Companion Journal https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/51mvoso Pre-order Loving Your Wayward Child: https://amzn.to/3P71fQ2 Momentum Conference: https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/vtsyykt

    17 min

  3. MAR 31

    When Your Child Pulls Away

    Send Erica a text They're alive. You could call them right now. But the relationship you had is gone, and no one brought you flowers or started a prayer chain for that kind of loss. Moms who've lived it call it the same thing: death without a funeral. You carry it alone because unless someone's been there, they can't imagine it. And the grief doesn't follow a straight line. One day you're furious. The next you'd give anything for a hug. One minute you're judging their choices. The next you're ready to fight anyone else who does. Erica names the silent grief of estrangement and why it's so disorienting. She unpacks why this loss is uniquely complicated: your child is still making choices that can rip the rug out from under your healing without warning. She challenges the secular psychology advice to just let them go, and explains why silence gets twisted into apathy faster than you think. You'll walk away with one powerful exercise: writing the single thing you'd want your child to know if you only got one shot. This grief doesn't have a name. But it does have a God who is close to the brokenhearted. And He hasn't stopped working. Surviving Sorry by Kim Erickson: https://amzn.to/4aNhB7C Grab your free EBook on Prayers to Pray for your Hardest Motherhood Moments + From Despair to Repair: Your Personal Podcast Companion Journal https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/51mvoso Pre-order Loving Your Wayward Child: https://amzn.to/3P71fQ2 Momentum Conference: https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/vtsyykt

    23 min

  4. MAR 24

    How to Loosen Your Grip Without Losing Your Mind

    Send Erica a text If you let them go to the mall, they might get kidnapped. If you let them drive to a friend's house, they might wrap the car around a tree. You can get to worst-case scenario in under three seconds, and your kid knows it. That's why they think every conversation about freedom is pointless before it starts. Erica walks through what happened when she realized her fear wasn't protecting her kids. It was pushing them away. She breaks down why hyper-control and connection will always be at odds, and how to replace secret surveillance with something that actually builds trust: a 15-minute safety and trust conversation you can start this week. You'll learn a four-step prayer framework for the moments when anxiety has you paralyzed, what to do when you're so overwhelmed you can't even find words to talk to God, and why the bravest thing you can do in this season might be opening your hands instead of tightening your fists. Fear says control everything or lose them. Faith says stay close to God, stay close to your kid, and let wisdom do what white-knuckling never could. Grab your free EBook on Prayers to Pray for your Hardest Motherhood Moments + From Despair to Repair: Your Personal Podcast Companion Journal https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/51mvoso Pre-order Loving Your Wayward Child: https://amzn.to/3P71fQ2 Momentum Conference: https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/vtsyykt

    25 min

  5. MAR 17

    Afraid of What I Can’t Control

    Send Erica a text You checked their location three times before lunch. You scrolled their social media from a fake account. You asked another mom to casually find out what's going on. And the whole time, you were telling your kid how important it is to be open and honest with you. You see the problem. Fear doesn't announce itself. It disguises itself as vigilance, as good parenting, as just being careful. But underneath, it's running the show — whispering worst-case scenarios at 2 a.m. and convincing you that if you don't control everything, everything will fall apart. Erica gets honest about her own season of secret surveillance and catastrophic thinking — and why it backfired. She walks through the story of Cain and Abel and the detail most people miss: God didn't abandon the rebellious son. He marked him with protection. And He's doing the same thing for your child right now. You'll learn a daily practice for naming your fear out loud instead of letting it fester, the ACTS prayer framework for when anxiety has you paralyzed, and a 15-minute conversation to have with your teen that builds trust without surrendering your authority. Fear tells you to clamp down or you'll lose them. But the tighter you grip, the faster they pull away. There's a braver way forward — and it starts with trusting the God you keep telling your kids to trust. Grab your free EBook on Prayers to Pray for your Hardest Motherhood Moments + From Despair to Repair: Your Personal Podcast Companion Journal https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/51mvoso Pre-order Loving Your Wayward Child: https://amzn.to/3P71fQ2 Momentum Conference: https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/vtsyykt

    21 min

  6. MAR 10

    How to Stay in the Conversation Without Losing It

    Send Erica a text Your kid finally tells you something real. Something vulnerable. And before you even realize it, you've explained why they're wrong, justified the other person, and offered three solutions they didn't ask for. Now they're shut down. Again. And you're replaying it at midnight wondering why they never talk to you anymore. Erica breaks down why silence isn't the peacekeeper you think it is — and why lectures only convince your teen that you don't trust them to think. Then she teaches the Reflect Then Ask method: a simple conversation technique her own mom used that keeps defenses down and connection open, even when what your kid is saying makes your brain short-circuit. You'll learn the one question that turns a brewing fight into an actual conversation, why collaborative decision-making builds more respect than laying down the law, and what research from UCLA says about why connection — not control — is what actually protects your teen. Your influence isn't gone. But the way you've been using it might be pushing them further away. There's a better way — and it starts with fewer words and better questions. Grab your free EBook on Prayers to Pray for your Hardest Motherhood Moments + From Despair to Repair: Your Personal Podcast Companion Journal https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/51mvoso Pre-order Loving Your Wayward Child: https://amzn.to/3P71fQ2 Momentum Conference: https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/vtsyykt

    22 min

  7. MAR 10

    When Every Conversation Turns Into a Fight

    Send Erica a text If every conversation with your teen ends in a slammed door or dead silence, you've probably told yourself the same thing: Tomorrow will be better. And then tomorrow isn't. You weren't trying to start a fight. You asked a simple question. And somehow you're standing in the hallway wondering how you became the person you swore you wouldn't be. Erica names the four reactions most moms default to when conflict takes over — isolate, fixate, manipulate, vacate — and why every one of them makes things worse. Then she walks through what actually helps: a conversation technique that lowers defenses and keeps connection alive, even when your kid is acting like a stranger. You'll learn why silence isn't the peacekeeper you think it is, why lectures only deepen the wall, and what to say when your child shares something that makes your brain short-circuit. The friction in your house isn't failure. It's a season. But you don't have to white-knuckle your way through it alone. Grab your free EBook on Prayers to Pray for your Hardest Motherhood Moments + From Despair to Repair: Your Personal Podcast Companion Journal https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/51mvoso Pre-order Loving Your Wayward Child: https://amzn.to/3P71fQ2 Momentum Conference: https://a.ericawiggenhorn.com/vtsyykt

    19 min
  • 7 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

When your child pulls away, pushes back, or makes choices that break your heart, motherhood can feel like a weight of fear, guilt, and grief you carry alone. The silence at the dinner table. The text that never gets returned. The argument that erupts out of nowhere. These moments can quietly convince you that you've failed. The Momentum Podcast is where host Erica Wiggenhorn meets moms in that painful space with honest conversation, practical tools, and biblical truth that actually holds weight in the hard moments. Drawing from her own raw experiences, current research, and her book Loving Your Wayward Child, Erica walks through the real challenges of parenting teens, young adults, and estranged children, from navigating volatile conversations to setting boundaries without severing connection. This isn't a podcast that rushes past your pain with easy answers. It's one that helps you move closer to Jesus so He can move your family closer together, one faithful step at a time.

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