connection Archives - HOPEFUL MOM

July 21, 2026July 21, 2026

Tech-Ready, Not Tech-Perfect: 5 Habits for Modern Families

I’ve been a fan of the organization Protect Young Eyes and its founder, Chris McKenna, for years. So I was excited to read his new book, 5 Habits of the Tech-Ready Family: Raising Wise Kids in a Wild Digital World. Glad I did. He did an excellent job addressing the trials that parents face today, offering practical advice, and staying true to the core of parenting.

In the first chapter, McKenna admits parents wrestle with the challenging balance of technology being both a gift and a curse. “Yes, I want my son to take a phone … because the world has changed and there are no pay phones on street corners anymore. But I also need to discipline myself to check his location less and practice being okay with not always knowing. I need to let him be bored and independent sometimes, because those small discomforts are where resilience is born” (McKenna 5).

That’s the crux, right? We want our children to learn how to deal with boredom and become independent. Which means we need to let go and allow them space to grow and become resilient.

In his subsequent chapters, McKenna lists five habits of a tech-ready family.

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.