love Archives - HOPEFUL MOM

February 16, 2026February 6, 2026

Love is Not a Feeling: How Parents Can Model Selfless Love

Love. We dream about it, sing songs about it, and talk incessantly about it. We watch mushy movies hoping true love wins. We desire love in our own lives. But somewhere along the way, we confuse attraction, infatuation, and emotion with something deeper. Love is not a feeling, even though our culture treats it like one.

When I was a teen, my primary objective was finding true love. I knew the guy who would sweep me off my feet someday would complete my life and cure everything that ailed me. I would no longer be shy, insecure, or flawed. The ache in my heart would disappear.

September 15, 2025September 7, 2025

The Advocate Every Child Needs

“In 2022, my just turned 15-year-old daughter met someone on an app who posed as a 16-year-old.” I read this on Facebook. This mom continued explaining her story which lasted over two years. Her daughter had an eight-month long “relationship” with this poser before breaking it off. From that point, he exploited, stalked, harassed, and bullied the daughter and family.

When the daughter told her mother about this “friend,” this mom went into “mom mode.” You know what I mean—some Mama Bear action, defending, plotting, advocating, and all-out persisting.

Mom spent over a year trying to protect her daughter from this relentless person. He “used at least four social media platforms and 130 social media display names to pose as a minor and interact with minors on social media.” [i] This man, who was actually 21, not 16, repeatedly contacted and threatened the daughter and her family, even after her mother had called the police and Attorney General and filed a restraining order against him.

A mom fights for her child to protect her from a predator. As parents, we are called to protect and advocate for our children. The Advocate Every Child Needs #hopefulmom #parenting Share on X Continue reading

March 4, 2024March 1, 2024

You Matter

My son exited his bedroom and walked toward the front door.

“Are you leaving?”

Silence.

“Are you going to work?”

He turned to me, stared, then gave a quick nod.

“Okay. . . Have a great day!”

The door slammed.

I sighed. I felt invisible, unnoticed, and depleted.

November 14, 2022February 5, 2026

Defining Love

What is love?

Yesterday, I asked this question in several ninth-grade classes. In each, at least one student said, “Fake.” Actually, to my surprise, most of the answers were pessimistic. And their faces showed signs of distrust.

Several teens implied that love is hard to define. Yes, defining love is confusing and tricky. The purpose of the question was to challenge them—to help them think about love and comprehend how complicated the word itself can be. The goal was to distinguish between a deep-seated meaningful relationship based on genuine love and one based on infatuation or lust.

October 17, 2022October 18, 2022

Young Children See Pornography, Too

Anne,* a friend of mine, contacted me recently about her daughter. That’s not unusual. Since I began Hopeful Mom, formerly Difficult Conversations, many friends have called, messaged, or emailed me concerning their children’s, spouses’, and even parents’ pornography use. I’ve heard stories of parents scrolling through their child’s history and finding pornography, stories of parents learning their child was molested by someone engaged with pornography, and stories of parents who’ve battled pornography in their home for years.

I’m grateful for this space where friends, as well as people I’ve never met, are comfortable explaining their dilemmas and expressing their emotions.

Anne was compelled to tell her story at Hopeful Mom. So, we sat down to chat. The following is from that conversation.

May 16, 2022May 16, 2022

10 Tips to Difficult Conversations with Teens and Adult Children

I’m thrilled to introduce guest author, Dawn Ward. I met Dawn through a friend. Her website, The Faith to Flourish, is for women with loved ones struggling with addiction, mental health issues and life-destructive behaviors. As a seasoned parent, Dawn has wisdom for us about talking with our teens and adult children.

It’s difficult to talk to our children when the topics of our conversations make one or both parties squirm. I should know. I have raised two sons who struggled with addiction and destructive behaviors when they were teens and young adults. When they were kids, I could get by with a quick, “Because I said so” as an answer to their requests. Once those words came out of my mouth, they knew the discussion was over. End of argument.

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021

Holiday Child Protection

I was immediately attracted to Jessica’s enthusiasm, amazing smile, and upbeat attitude when I met her at the 2021 Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Online Global Summit. She is an encourager, urging me and others to continue working to make this world a safer place for our children. It’s my privilege to welcome her to Difficult Conversations to talk about child protection online and in-person during the holidays.

For many families globally the holidays are some of the most vulnerable times for children and families. Excitement permeates the atmosphere and charity fills the hearts of many. The joy of the season and the anticipation of joining family and friends causes a false sense of safety, leaving children exposed to predators and child sexual abuse material.

November 15, 2021November 15, 2021

Responding to Porn Use: Love, Not Shame

I grew up thinking people who watched pornography were shady characters. They were the ones slipping in the back door of the video store—the creepy people who couldn’t control their urges. I’m not sure where these thoughts came from, but I’m not alone. The culture is changing, but until a few years ago this picture was a good representation of how most of society saw the use of pornography, especially those who watched alone.

This stigma contributes to our regretful feedback as parents when we learn of our child’s relationship with pornography.

July 12, 2021July 13, 2021

Celebrate the Wins

My daughter stepped onto the javelin runway. The field appeared to be marked incorrectly, but she was determined to be in the top six and claim her place at nationals.

Her warm up throw sailed out of the sector (the area inside the lines indicating if the javelin lands “inbounds” or not). Her brother walked over and coached her on how to correct her throw to accommodate the wonky lines. For her, a leftie, this proved to be more difficult than the rest of the competitors because the makeshift right line was blowing in the wind, altering what was “inbounds” as the direction of the wind changed.

April 19, 2021February 23, 2026

Pornography and Sexuality

A few conversations I’ve had recently, along with the last post written by John Fort, caused me to think about my past, my thoughts on sex, and the connection between pornography and sexuality. Is one connected to the other? (Spoiler alert: Yes!) If so, how has pornography affected my views on sex and sexuality, and how does watching pornography affect my children’s views?

Before we can help our children with the choices they face, we need to analyze our views and thoughts on our own sexuality. Understanding our hang-ups, the reasoning behind them, our current viewpoint and basis for those beliefs help us have clearer, deeper, and honest, albeit difficult, conversations with our children.