242 - Jen Hatmaker on Having the Courage to Choose Yourself | Life Happens

Divorce breaks a million hearts — including your own.

But sometimes, choosing yourself is the bravest and most healing decision you can make.

What if all it took to change your life was the courage to trust yourself again?

In this week’s episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, we’re joined by NYT bestselling author Jen Hatmaker for an honest, compassionate, and deeply moving conversation about life after divorce, listening to your intuition, and finding freedom on the other side of heartbreak.

Jen opens up about putting her life fully out there — the grief, the courage, the fallout — and what it was like to go from deep personal pain to becoming an instant New York Times bestseller. Together, we explore what happens when trauma finds you… and how ignoring your truth doesn’t make it any less true.

This episode is for anyone who feels stuck, conflicted, exhausted from self-doubt, or quietly wondering if it’s time for something different.

💬 In this conversation, we explore:

• Choosing Yourself: Why freedom and joy begin the moment you decide your needs matter.
• Life After Divorce: The heartbreak, the healing, and the unexpected growth that follows.
• Comfort Over Coaching: Why people often want to soothe us instead of supporting real change.
• The Sunk Cost Fallacy: Why no amount of time, history, or sacrifice is worth staying somewhere that no longer feels right.
• Trusting Your Intuition: How we often gaslight ourselves out of the truth we already know.
• Parenting Through Divorce: Navigating change, honesty, and healing with your children.
• Feeling the Hurt: Grieving what was, what could’ve been, and honoring the pain without getting stuck in it.

Barb and Michelle also share their personal experience navigating divorce as a mother and daughter — and how choosing honesty, presence, and self-trust reshaped their relationship.

✨ This episode is a reminder:

You’re not broken. You’re not weak. And trusting yourself isn’t selfish — it’s necessary.

📖 Order Jen’s memoir, Awake, to go deeper into courage, truth, and choosing yourself:

https://www.amazon.com/Awake-Memoir-Jen-Hatmaker/dp/166808368X

💬 We’d love to hear from you:

What moment or insight resonated most? Share in the comments — we truly read every one.

📅 Subscribe & join us next Tuesday for another heartfelt episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle 💕

⭐ Special Guest:

Follow Jen Hatmaker on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenhatmaker/?hl=en

🎙️ Host by:

• https://www.instagram.com/peaceful_barb/
• https://www.instagram.com/michellemaros/

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🎙️ New episodes of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle are released every Tuesday

📘 USA TODAY BESTSELLER — Dear Friend by Michelle Maros

Start 2026 with New Year, Brave You. Dear Friend is the perfect 365-day companion to help you cultivate self-love, clarity, presence, and inner peace—one gentle reflection at a time.✨ Begin the year with intention and courage.

👉 Order your copy: https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg

🎧 listen to the audiobook today and step into a year that truly loves you back. 👉https://amzn.to/459zSdt

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