About the Guest
Becky Baudouin
Becky Baudouin is an author and speaker. She is the author of Enjoy Every Minute and Other Ridiculous Things We Say to Moms, and Cancer, Faith, and Unexpected Joy: What My Mother Taught Me About How to Live and How to Die. A former columnist for Chicago’s Daily Herald newspaper, her three daughters supplied her with enough material for a five-year-run with her column, “A Mom’s Point of View.” Several of her articles have also been published in Focus on the Family’s Thriving Family magazine.
Becky loves speaking just as much as writing, and speaks regularly at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groups and women’s events on topics such as parenting, marriage, and faith. She believes in the power of groups and helps lead marriage and grief workshops, walking alongside those in seasons of difficulty and loss. She loves to cook, and her favorite place to be is around her dining room table, sharing great food and connecting with family and friends.
Becky grew up in northern Michigan and now lives in the Chicago area with her husband, Bernie, and their three daughters. Find out more at beckybaudouin.com
Episode Transcript
Bob: Grace is the right word; isn’t it? If we don’t have grace, then we’re in trouble when it comes to parenting; but God’s grace covers a multitude of parental sins, and we can find hope in that.
Dave and Ann Wilson have been talking today to Becky Baudouin, who has written a helpful book called Enjoy Every Minute: And Other Ridiculous Things We Say to Moms. Becky’s book is a book we’re making available this week to FamilyLife Today listeners, those of you who want to join the team and help extend the reach of FamilyLife Today, help us reach more people, more often, with practical biblical help and hope. Your donations are serving to disciple young moms and dads, young husbands and wives, people who are turning to us from all around the world. Our mission is to effectively develop godly marriages and families, and your donations help make that happen.
Again, if you can make a donation today, we’d love to say, “Thank you,” by sending you a copy of Becky Baudouin’s book, Enjoy Every Minute: And Other Ridiculous Things We Say to Moms. Donate online at FamilyLifeToday.com, or call 1-800-FL-TODAY to donate. Again, the website, FamilyLifeToday.com; or call 1-800-358-6329; that’s 1-800-“F” as in family, “L” as in life, and then the word, “TODAY.”
You know, Dave and Ann’s conversation today with Becky Baudouin reminds us that parenting is both exhilarating and exhausting. There’s great joy and there is great challenge in raising the next generation. David Robbins, who is the president of FamilyLife, is here with us. David, as the dad to four kids, you’ve experienced both of those feelings; right?
David: I have, absolutely. Really, in a season right now, where there’s been a lot of exhaustion. Meg and I are finding ourselves with some empty tanks that we’re needing to address with one another. Meg’s parents came for a visit; we were so grateful for them to get to come see us, and our kids, and our new home. While they were here, Meg’s 85-year-old dad got COVID. It got scary; but the Lord was faithful, and he made it through; and we just sent him and his wife home.
Meg and I looked at each other, going, “We need to be intentional. We are exhausted and empty.” What we did is we pulled back out FamilyLife’s new resource—the Dates to Remember—we took out Moment 1. We had an amazing/it prompted an amazing two-hour conversation.
It just reminded me that, when we feel exhausted and empty, when we listen to one another with empathy, quality conversations can fill an empty tank. Meg and I were able to hear one another and where we’re really at. That resource, Dates to Remember, took us to that place. It did the hard work of setting up the conversation, where we could really go to the places underneath the surface that we needed to go to, looking back at the season we just walked through.
If you’re finding yourself exhausted at all, if you’re feeling like you need some intentionality—just a little bump and set in order to have some real, honest conversation and quality conversation with one another—I would really encourage you to check out the Dates to Remember resource that we have.
Bob: There is information about Dates to Remember on our website at FamilyLifeToday.com. You can order it from us online; or if you have any questions, give us a call at 1-800-FLTODAY. Thank you, David.
We hope all of you have a great weekend. Hope you’re able to worship together with your local church this weekend, and I hope you can join us back on Monday, especially if your house is a mess. If there is clutter around, if you’re having a hard time keeping things picked up/straightened up—whether it’s you or the kids; it doesn’t matter—we’re going to have a conversation about that Monday. We’re going to hear from Kathi Lipp, who has some great suggestions how to deal with our messiness. I hope you can tune in for that.
On behalf of our hosts, Dave and Ann Wilson, I’m Bob Lepine. We will see you back Monday for another edition of FamilyLife Today.
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