Making a Mother E4: Why Aren’t We Doing Things To Change This?
Release Date: 01/22/2025
When Faith and Doubt Go Hand in Hand
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
In today’s episode, we’re taking a slight detour from friendship and hospitality to dive into the writing process with our resident “Writing Yoda” — Callie Feyen. How does doubt fuel our writing? How do we keep a posture of curiosity while witnessing to the world? What might happen to our art if we viewed creativity as part of our inheritance? We hope this conversation gives you a peek into the behind-the-scenes writing process of You’re In Good Company, and perhaps even inspires you to write a story yourself (no happy ending required). This show is brought to you ad-free by our...
info_outline
Food is a Love Language
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
Food is a love language, and if it’s your love language, this episode is for you. Ruth Gyllenhammer, writer and content director for Coffee + Crumbs, joins Ashlee and Katie to talk about getting out of your comfort zone, the gift of being fully present, and what it looks like to feed our families. Whether you’re away from home, or looking to start new rhythms around your family table, we hope this episode encourages you to practice hospitality right where you are. This show is brought to you ad-free by our generous Substack community. If you’d like to support the work we do for as little...
info_outline
Hospitality Is For Strangers Too
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
Today, in our ongoing You’re in Good Company series, Molly Flinkman tells us about the time she invited nine strangers into her home for Thanksgiving. She fully owns what an insane situation it was while also making a compelling case for why it mattered so much. In this episode, you’ll hear how Molly came to value this kind of hospitality—why she keeps her eyes open for strangers in need—and she’ll also give some smaller scale suggestions about how this can play out in our real lives. In all the stories she tells, Molly invites us to consider the question she continually asks...
info_outline
“What Can She Have?”
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
Today, writer Becky Morquecho joins us to chat about the challenges of food restrictions and what they’ve taught her about hospitality. She shares the hardships of her daughter’s medically necessary strict diet but also encourages us with big and little ways friends make them feel included in the midst of barbecues and birthday parties. Whether you or your child is gluten-free, diabetic, has a dairy or nut allergy, or a rare metabolic disorder like Becky’s daughter, we hope this episode says “We see you!” and maybe even inspires you to keep an extra jar of pickles in the fridge for...
info_outline
Hospitality as a Creative Calling
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
Today we’re joined by Adrienne Garrison, a writer, educator, and podcaster, whose life and work explore hospitality as both a creative practice and a form of survival. From a years-long holiday cookie swap that followed her across states, to designing meaningful learning experiences for her children, to podcasting as an act of deep listening, Adrienne invites us to consider what it means to host others with intention. We talk about loneliness, belonging, and the fierce hope that generosity might lead to connection, and how these experiences shape the stories we tell. Whether you love...
info_outline
The Hospitable Power of Words
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
From lessons learned while living overseas to her small town library storytime, today author Kim Knowle-Zeller shares how blessings can bind us together. You’ll hear how she started offering and receiving blessings and how it may be easier than you think to create a welcoming culture with your own hospitable words. Kim reminds us that building community takes time but encourages us to keep initiating. We hope this episode inspires you to see the power in gathering and offering words that bless others along the way. This show is brought to you ad-free by our generous Substack community....
info_outline
Expect the Mess
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
Welcoming others into our lives and our homes can get messy. Food spills, a glass breaks, dinner burns. Even when it all goes according to plan, there are still dishes to wash and tables to clear. But today, we're talking with C+C writer, Sarah Hauser, about how we can expect, and even embrace, the messes. Be warned, though. This episode may end up inspiring you to throw literal confetti in your house. Make sure to have the vacuum cleaner ready. This show is brought to you ad-free by our generous Substack community. If you’d like to support the work we do for as little as $3/month, head to ...
info_outline
We'll Be Your Family
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
When it comes to hospitality, for author, yoga teacher, and C+C writer Melanie Dale, it’s a family affair. Join Ashlee and Katie as they talk with Melanie about one of her essays in YIGC, “We’ll Be Your Family on Christmas Eve,” and get the scoop on her annual Christmas Eve party. From what her parents taught her to what she’s passed on to her kids, Melanie shares her tips for leaving a legacy of hospitality. Find out which ingredient in her chili recipe is straight out of a horror movie, her worst dinner party ever (oof, the smell!), and how she pivoted from Christian nonfiction to...
info_outline
You're In Good Company
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
We are thrilled to be back with a brand new podcast series to go along with our brand new Coffee + Crumbs book, You’re In Good Company. In upcoming weeks, you’ll hear from every writer who contributed to this collection of essays—a true preview of what’s inside these pages. First up, Katie shares how making sourdough is a metaphor for letting grief and healing take its time, while Ashlee introduces us to the idea that “friendship” can be a verb; it’s something we do with commitment and consistency. We hope this episode (this whole series, really!) encourages you to live out the...
info_outline
Foster Care: Everyone Has a Role to Play
Coffee + Crumbs Podcast
Today, we’re talking all things foster care with Jessica Mathisen, a foster, adoptive, and bio mom. Jessica sheds light on the enormous need for vulnerable kids to have a safe place to call home, misconceptions about foster care, challenges for foster families, and how churches, neighbors—and essentially everyone—can help in some capacity. Good news: being a Super Christian is not a prerequisite for making a difference. If you’re feeling convicted by this conversation (we sure are), she encourages us to take the next baby step because we’ll never know all the good that God is doing...
info_outlineJerrell’s first baby is born six weeks premature, despite an otherwise typical and healthy pregnancy. At her postpartum appointment, she learns that Black women are 60% more likely to give birth prematurely than white women, and that Black maternal and infant mortality rates are more than double those of white women — regardless of socio-economic status or education. Experts weigh in on why these disparities exist and challenge all of us to ask: what are we doing about it?
“Making a Mother” is a production of Coffee + Crumbs.
Executive Producer, Writer: Ashlee Gadd.
Producer, Writer, Host: Julie Vlahon.
Writer: Sonya Spillmann.
Music, Sound Design, Mix Engineer: Scott Vlahon.
Special thanks to Dr. Lauren Bouchard and Cecily Smith. To learn more about Abide Women’s Health, the Cleveland Clinic or any of the information we shared in today’s episode visit our show notes at coffeeandcrumbs.net/makingamother. If this story impacted you, please consider sharing it with a friend and leaving a 5-star review wherever you listen to podcasts.
This episode is brought to you by Needed—offering Radically Better Nutrition™. Use CC20 at checkout to get 20% off your first order.
Thank you for supporting the brands that helped make this series possible.