When You Love a Prodigal

In all my years of loving a prodigal and seeking to help others love their prodigal, one word has been the key, the difference, the change agent: GRACE Early in my journey with my prodigal, God gave me a guiding word. He said, “When you make mistakes with this boy, and you will, (and I did), make them on the side of grace.” There is so much grace for you and your prodigal in this episode. Judy’s R...

About 10 years ago we went through a scary time with our adopted son. Josh had twice, in response to great disappointments, threatened to take his life. We reasoned with him, assured him of our love, stayed with him. Gratefully, he backed down, but we were on alert. Josh’s birth grandfather—Papa—was the most important person in his life. Papa was slowly failing, with various ailments claiming more...

Does that title entice you? In your journey with a prodigal, would you like to be moving from guilt to grace? Our guest today is Dawn Ward, a life and mental health coach, writer, speaker, and one of us. Her ministry is Faith to Flourish and her brand new book is From Guilt to Grace. After a long family journey of prodigalness, addiction and guilt, an “aha” moment marked the turning point. Dawn’s...

It’s noisy out there, isn’t it? Online, at school, in the neighborhood. And certainly in your home when you have a prodigal. So many strong but differing opinions! We often seem to be more committed to making our point and hopefully getting others to agree. We don’t always listen to what others are saying. If you think about it, asking questions implies something so critical to relating to others:...

Today, I am chatting with Nancy Squires, and she's a new friend. And she has a ministry called the Just Be Held Retreats, and we're going to get to learn what those are, how they came about, and how you might engage. Nancy’s Resources: Website: https://justbeheldministries.org Follow on Instagram: instagram.com/justbeheldretreats On the website, you can find information regarding their retreats, e...

It’s the five year anniversary of my book, When You Love a Prodigal , the inspiration for this podcast! So I thought we should take it back to the beginning of the podcast and revisit the core question of “what is a prodigal?”. People ask me what “prodigal” means—there are several definitions out there. We will define what we are meaning on this podcast and the how, when and why a person might bec...

Most of us are bruised people who desperately need to be reminded, however subtly, that hope is real, grace is often present, goodness counts, love is possible and our lives matter. I believe this is more than mere artistic preference: the human race depends upon it. And people who love a prodigal depend on it. Here are 10 reasons you can keep hoping. Judy’s Resources: When the News Is Bad…Here’s...

You don’t expect to find one of your best gifts ever when you are wandering through the wilderness. A walk in the wilderness might be lovely if you’re a nature lover and you keep your eyes open. You could discover some real gems: colorful creatures, spectacular plants, encounters with startling animals, an astounding array of colors and shapes underwater, hidden waterfalls. But a walk in the wilde...

Most of us want our own way. And when life is going our way, we are happy, even joyful. But when circumstances, or our prodigal, or God interferes with our way, our joy can disappear. We also have an enemy, who is enticing our prodigal, and loving to steal our joy. Resources: Read the devotional: judydouglass.com/blog/joy-3-winning-the-war Joy—Jonny Diaz https://youtu.be/-GjW1pSYgUk Joy of the Lor...

Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring--it didn't matter. The years of our prodigal journey unfolded with occasional good days, but with many more challenging ones. I could easily be overwhelmed, until I slowly learned to look to God and hold on to the truths I was slowly absorbing. I wrote this simple list of the top ten lessons I’ve learned from God and the more I focused on the Lord and these truths, the...

If we could relate to our wanderers as Jesus would have, we just might see a difference in the atmosphere in our home and relationship. Today we take up gentleness. Harsh. Angry. Strident. Contentious. We can easily be drawn into the debate, the disagreement, the conflict. Our opinion is right, and we must affirm it. So we join the cacophony. This scene displays anything but gentleness, and surely...

My husband was a hard-working man. Our prodigal, in his younger years, was not. One day my husband came home and our son was sitting on my car watching his friends work on his car. My husband’s response was, “Can’t you help them fix your car, or at least learn from them. You’re just sitting watching them work.” My husband rarely got angry, but he did that day. He came and sat down to talk to God a...

This is the third episode of a three-part series on Prayer that Opens Doors. We looked at Praise first, then Thanks last week. And today we consider a powerful key that can open tightly shut doors—and minds and hearts. When someone near you sneezes, do you, or does someone nearby say, “God bless you”? It happens often, doesn’t it. Do you hear or say “God bless you” any other time? Not too often, I...

I used to think I knew how to pray. Then this wilderness journey with my wandering son required desperate prayer. And I moved into a new dimension of what it meant to pray. Even now I realize I still know so little about praying. Prayer is a wonder I can barely comprehend. Sometimes I feel woefully inadequate and terribly ineffective—does anything happen when I pray? Resources: Free Ebook: https:/...

In kids’ sports there is often a “mercy rule.” If one team gets far ahead, the game is called. It seems only kind and fair to not embarrass or demoralize the kids who are losing so badly. In life it rarely works that way. There is no mercy rule, no rescue from your losses, your hurts, your failures. But in God’s Kingdom, Jesus instituted a Mercy Rule. Resources: Mercy Music: Mercy, Matt Redman htt...

I would love for you to celebrate Steve with me on July 12, which would have been his 79th birthday. Steve had many gifts, strengths and qualities, which blessed me over and over. Here's a replay episode full of Steve’s wisdom: Steve always wanted his life—the way he lived, loved, spoke, treated people, used his time, everything—to reflect Jesus. He wanted people to be drawn to Jesus because of th...

From the day I was born, I wanted my own way. Growing up, my getting my way pretty much determined the peace and happiness in our home. As a teenager, getting my own way included secretly seeing a forbidden boyfriend for most of a year and other things. Do you identify? Don’t most of us want our own way? Why? Resources: Read: Growing a Tender Heart for Prodigals and Those who Love Them https://bit...

Last week was the 150th episode so I thought we’d go back and revisit our last milestone with episode 100: I had never even listened to a podcast when I was asked to do this one. But my team and my husband said, when I was reluctant, “You can’t turn down this great opportunity God has given you!!” So I said yes. And it has been such a privilege to travel with you on your prodigal wilderness journe...

My special guest today, Margaret Philbrick, will take us on an intriguing journey through an unusual approach to loving our prodigals. Today we are talking about art, a topic I know little about. But Margaret does. She will take us through an introduction to Henri Nouwen’s book The Return of the Prodigal Son, a reflection on Rembrandt’s painting of The Prodigal Son. And then on to adventure and in...

What I want to share with you today are some practical ways for you to REALLY love your prodigal. Your situation may be very different from ours—and the illustrations I use, but the suggestions I will give you can be helpful whatever your reality. And I’m giving you an easy to remember acrostic: R.E.A.L.L.Y. Resources: Learn about love languages: https://5lovelanguages.com/learn Join the Prayer fo...

We did it! We prayed for all those names on our list of treasured prodigals. What a privilege! And what a battle it was--always! I am always exhausted at the end of the day. We—and those we pray for—have an enemy who doesn’t like that we are on our knees on their behalf. He will do all he can to keep us fearful. And he sought to interfere with our efforts. But “thanks be to God, who always leads u...

This is the third of three posts leading up to June 2 Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day. Our theme this year is Fear Not. Some time ago, in the midst of some hopeful signs in a long-ongoing situation, that fear returned. With force. Irrationally. Because when I hoped, when things looked like they were changing for the better, but then maybe they weren’t, I became afraid to hope. I remember the past, a...

This is the second of three episodes leading up to June 2 Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day. Our theme this year is Fear Not. These articles are designed to prepare us as we engage in battle for the hearts and minds of loved ones who are “prodigal” in one or more of many ways. And if you have fears of any kind, read on. When you love a prodigal, the fear can be overwhelming, can’t it! Whether your pro...

Our world is full of fear. Wars, earthquakes, terrorists, volcanoes, racial strife, hurricanes, fires, mass murders, floods, bombs, tornadoes, disease….did I just raise your fear level? And when you love a prodigal, fears multiply: Is he safe? In jail? Overdosed? Will she survive? Why is she rejecting me? Will I ever get to meet my grandchildren? Where have I gone wrong? Afraid. Fearful. Even terr...

Most of us, as we encounter challenges with our loved ones, try to handle it by ourselves. But as time goes on, we often need more help—professional counseling, medical attention, interventions, spiritual guidance, and various kinds of programs. Today I’m chatting with Stefani Monn, who went through a program called House of Hope—the same one our son went through. Stefani is coming to tell us abou...