Mothering From The Heart - January 22, 2013

My husband is deploying next week for 8 months. We have 2 daughters and 1 son. Our son will be turning 8 in March. Do you recommend a book or special activities I can do with him since Daddy is going to be home? He'll be living with a house full of girls:) We go to Awana and we homeschool. Thank you so much, your advice is appreciated.

My goodness sister, can you preach it or what!?! I just wanted to send a quick note first admitting that I am a committed Christian/Husband/Father and I occasionally cheat and listen to you on WVNE in Worcester (sorry! lol...)... but in this environment (New England) you are like a cold spring in the sweltering desert! I love how you preach to women and young ladies. Please let me encourage you to embolden you!! We need you desperately to raise a Godly generation of women (and boys!).

I spend much time putting a chain saw in young men's hands, getting them to pull up their pants and tuck in their shirt, handle pain and discomfort, and hold their head and shoulders high, and stop acting like infantile idiots around girls their age. I also make sure that they get the message loud and clear that they are neither girl scouts nor babies, and I have taken boatloads of flack for it, from parents and children alike, in coaching and even at church. We critically need men that act like and think like Godly men.
But we have an epidemic on our hands of effeminate, wet noodle young men, with little to no ambition or protective instinct. Please preach to young ladies that they must insist (!) that any young man that would get their heart must be Godly, masculine, level headed, and protective of his bride and family. We need them to pray for us and our wandering spirit, and submit to our authority... for God's Glory. We need for them to get dressed, even at the beach, and get demanding in the realm of character. Accept no substitute. A wet rag man with desert his wife, family, his church and ultimately God. It is sickening for me out there now... we seem to get no more mature than 10 years old. So preach it my Sister in Christ... we need you.

Hi Audrey - I was wondering if you could help me with a question I have concerning a friend of mine. She has 5 adopted children and has always had a desire for a birth child. She doesn't feel sorry for herself and she knows she is blessed to have the children she has but she is under the impression that she is being punished. The only references in the bible that she knows on barren women are because of a punishment from God. Is this true? I can only think of one of David's wives. Other examples that come to mind of barren women are Sarah and Hannah but since they did end up having children in God's perfect timing these aren't examples that apply to her situation. Can you point me to some passages on this topic? 

What would be your top 5 books on marriage and godly womanhood/wife?

Have you seen the trailers for the disney movie, "brave"?  The girl disobeys her parents (because of course parents are stupid).. and then she goes off and fights.. etc. etc. I don't know. I could go on and on about this

My husband and I are at a transition time with our boys... especially our oldest who is 8.. . We have been having some heated conversations regarding him wanting to do "more" grown up things. For example.. movies.. TV shows.. video games. I recently am shocked that some of my dear friends just took their children.. ages 8-5 to see the Avengers movie (PG13). I read reveiws about it.. it's full of curse words, violence, sexual content. My own family tends to "mock" us.. saying that we are strict. My mother continues (which feels like a threat to me) say that if I don't give a little they will be wild when they get older and I will "lose" my children. They do see movies. They see G movies.. they have seen some PG movies WITH us and we have fast forwarded through parts. WE are guarded with what they are exposed to. They watch sports with us.. we fast forward commercials or turn the station... They have appropriate video games. I just don't feel comfortable with these movies. Am I being too strict? how did you guys handle these things? I thought my friends and I thought the same. It's making me second guess. Why does my 8 year old need to watch a PG13 movie? WE've been letting him watch other shows like Little House.. and there are a lot of things on National Geographic that we watch together. I've been taking the boys running with me.. running errands.. I've given them "older" chores like taking out trash and working in the yard jobs.. which they love.. they feel big... But I just don't have a woman in my life that has parented before me that I really trust to tell me if I'm too strict or harsh. I don't want to withhold from my children. I love them. My goal in keeping movies from them isn't to "Lord" over them. I want to protect their eyes... their hearts. I would LOVE your thoughts and how you handled this. Maybe you could talk about it on your radio show.

Before I had my first child (who is now four months),I was working with a wedding photographer, doing all of her administrative work, emailing, album design, etc. I worked from home with pretty flexible hours and really enjoyed it. Before I took off to have my son, my husband and I decided I would wait to decide about continuing to work once our son was here. The time has come for me to decide what to do and I am so torn. I would mostly be doing it because we could use the extra income but I also don't want to commit to something that will take away from being a wife and mom. Since my son’s naptimes and lengths aren't very consistent yet, I'm worried I might be trying to work at night, instead of spending time with my husband. My boss has offered to let me try out working for a few weeks to see how it goes and I think that is what I might do. Thankfully she also just had a baby in December and is being very understanding!!