Parenting

Trusting God for the Heart of Your Prodigal

June 4, 2025June 2, 2025 RefreshHerLeave a comment

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“Mom, Dad. We need to talk. I’m …

pregnant.”
not sure the God you’ve taught me about all my life is real.”
quitting college and moving in with my boyfriend.”
leaving home. I’m tired of all your rules.”
choosing another lifestyle.”

Many, many Christian parents who thought they were doing the right thing with their child for all their growing up years have had to hear hard words like these. The parents’ hearts are torn apart. I’m not sure if there is any pain as difficult for a mother or father to endure than when their heart is breaking over their child who has gone astray.

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10 Ways to Support Your Adult Child Without Smothering

April 23, 2025April 22, 2025 RefreshHerLeave a comment

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The year was 1978, and all in one weekend, my twin sister got married, and I moved out of my home to go teach school in a state about 7.5 hours away. Our other sister was already married, so this left my parents with a double empty nest all in one swift swoop! My mom told me later that for a day or two she was sad, but then she said,

“After a few days, I realized, ‘Hey, this is pretty nice!’”

She never looked back. Every time I’d call home, my parents were headed here, going there, enjoying this new phase of their lives. It gave me security to see them happy, even now that their lives as parents was now very different from the previous 19 years! What a great example and blessing they were to me! I felt “free” to do whatever God called me to do!

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Motherhood · Parenting

How to Influence Your Children Beyond the Nest

February 5, 2025February 4, 2025 RefreshHerLeave a comment

You can listen to this post here on Refresh Her podcast.

Being a mother is filled with emotions. There’s joy when the baby is born! Joy at their first coos and words. Weariness at their crying and fussiness. Excitement at their understanding of new things like reading and numbers, and Who made them and the world they live in. No one could deny the feeling of anxiety when their child goes through hard things – whether it be just learning to obey or enduring the pain of a bully at school.

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Gifts · Parenting

The Most Valuable Gift – You!

November 8, 2024November 6, 2024 RefreshHer2 Comments

With our grandson’s birthdays approaching, the question in our minds was,

“What can we give them that will be meaningful?”

If we had asked them, their answer would have been another leggo set or some other favorite toy that is on their list, which would have been fun, of course! However, as we considered our choices, we decided we would rather spend time with them. Also, being a twin myself, I also decided that we would have them one at a time, rather than together so we could focus on each boy.

As I prayed about it, I asked the Lord what we could do that each of them would enjoy. The results were a passel full of memories made and such sweet times together!

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Parenting

Responding to Our “Wild Child”

May 17, 2024May 16, 2024 RefreshHer4 Comments

We know that children are a gift from God – especially when they first come into our family. Whether it’s a natural birth, fostering or adoption, they were leant to us from the Lord, and we recognize this.

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5

They are squishy, funny, curious and precious. But they can also be messy, sassy, and willful. They act out in public and we blush and say, “This is my ‘Wild Child’.” A parent can be at their wit’s end to know how to deal with them, and if they were honest, they might even admit that they’re afraid to try to deal with them because of the backlash they would encounter from the child. Does this sound like you and your son or daughter? How can we deal with these difficult things and keep pointing them to Christ so that they will live out their days for His glory?

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