"Mom, why isn't Dad going to church?" When Your Spouse Isn't the Spiritual Hero - THE AWKWARD MOM

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“Mom, why isn’t Dad going to church?” When Your Spouse Isn’t the Spiritual Hero

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Maybe you know all too well that awkward, disappointing moment. When a spouse doesn’t step up.

When the person you’re married isn’t the spiritual hero. And then? Your kids ask about it.

I need to communicate that what he’s doing isn’t fine … Should I be shielding him (or her)? Should I fake it, and pretend he’s just tired?

GAH. I feel like I’m on damage control for his decision. Since when am I the PR department?

All the complexity and emotion behind your spouse’s decision runs through your mind’s machinery, and you’re hoping for something to pop out, simple enough for a kid to understand.

(Maybe it would be a poop emoji?)

I’m wrestling with how to deal with spiritually-related disappointment in your spouse over at FamilyLife.com today. CLICK HERE TO READ “Mom, why isn’t Dad going to church?.

If this is you: I hope it somehow offers a hand for a slumped shoulder. Hop on over and check it out.

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About author

Janel Breitenstein is the author of Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids’ Hearts (Harvest House, 2021), plus a few more in the pipeline—including IRL Parent Prayers (Andrews McMeel) and The Cool Mom: Putting Anger on Ice When Life Boils Over (Kregel). Her work can be found on Christianity Today, Focus on the Family, and FamilyLife. She graduated summa cum laude from John Brown University and began her career with NavPress, where she worked on The Message Bible. She then moved to FamilyLife Publishing. In January of 2012, Janel and her husband packed up their family of six and moved to Uganda to serve with Engineering Ministries International (eMi), an organization focusing on poverty relief and development, providing structural design and construction management for Christian organizations in the third world. After five and a half years there in East Africa, she and her family returned to the U.S., where they continue to work on behalf of the poor. She speaks, writes, and loves on her family from Colorado. Her fresh, authentic, intimate style connects with readers around the globe. You can find her—“The Awkward Mom”—having uncomfortable, important conversations at JanelBreitenstein.com.

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I'm totally #thatmom--the one diving into all the weirdness with my kids, sidestepping a few eyerolls.

Pull up a chair for practical ideas and discussions on the parenting, relationships, and spirituality we're all army-crawling through every day.

After five and a half years in Uganda, my family and I returned to the U.S., where I write and speak professionally, and we continue to work on behalf of the poor.

My first solo book, Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids' Hearts (Harvest House), released October 2021.