A Letter to the Woman Dreaming About the Beach // Noelle Mering

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, and depth that we can encounter when we revisit the familiar—with a special focus on the sea.

So you know it’s going to be good if I put aside my fish fears for thirty minutes to explore this.

In this episode, I sit down with Noelle Merring. She’s the editor of TheologyofHome.com and the co-author of the Theology of Home book series—the third installment of that series just launched this summer and it’s all about the sea. We’re talking about the feminine beauty and mystery of the sea, what the sea can reveal to us about our femininity and motherhood, and the beauty that we can discover when encountering the familiar things in our lives with new attention and depth.

If you want to bring the beauty, mystery, and depth of the sea into your home—and even into your soul, this letter is for you.

Topics we talked about in this episode:

• How the most basic element of water inspired the newest Theology of Home book
• The beauty of friendship (rekindled and new!) in the creation of Theology of Home
• What the intertwining of the feminine and water reveals to us about what it means to be women—and how view of the feminine compares to the present view that we have of womanhood as a society
• How we can grow in an appreciation of the mystery of our femininity without falling into the cultural battle of the sexes
• The history of the Marian title “Stella Maris” and what it means for our own maternity today
• What can happen in our interior lives as women when we take a fresh look at the familiar
• How Noelle lives out the feminine genius in her writing on home, ideologies, and with her family

Resources to check out after listening to this episode:

• Theology of Home III: At the Sea
• Theology of Home Daily Collection e-mail
• A Letter to the Woman Reclaiming the Title of Homemaker (ft. Dr. Carrie Gress)
• A Letter to the Woman Looking for Home (my first conversation with Noelle on the podcast in 2020)
• Visit Noelle’s website
• Email me at letterstowomen@gmail.com or send me an Instagram message with your questions on friendship!
• Subscribe to Naptime Notes, my monthly newsletter
• Order my newest book, Sisterhood: Giving and Receiving the Gift of Friendship
• Check out The Little Catholic Box and access the exclusive bonuses for LTW listeners