connection 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 26, 2022July 5, 2023

What to Do When You Feel Alone in Your Struggles

The heaviness was too much to bear alone. I needed to relieve the burden, to share the heartache, to transfer the pain.

My husband and I had just learned our son had been watching pornography. Through an hour-long discussion, my son disclosed his indiscretions, revealing news we weren’t prepared for. Although the conversation had ended well, my brain and body were reacting.

The shock was fresh. The injury was raw. The grief was palpable.

August 1, 2020August 27, 2020

I Get Overwhelmed

holding hands to capture longings being fulfilled

I attended the 2020 Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Online Global Summit (that’s a mouthful!) last week with 15,000 (Yep!) other attendees. It was eye-opening. I listened to representatives from Covenant Eyes, Protect Young Minds, Fight the New Drug, and Reach 10. I sat through presentations entitled “From Problems to Program: Engaging Parents to Protect Their Kids from the Harms of Pornography,” “Our Kids Online: Porn, Predators, and How to Keep Them Safe,” and “Responding to the Unseen Victims of Sexual Exploitation.” I felt uplifted and ready to fight one moment, only to feel overwhelmed, daunted and ready to hide my head in the sand the next moment.