Valentine’s Day is soon. It’s a hard day for parents who find it difficult to love their wayward children, who feel unloved by them, and would give anything to hear them say, “I love you.”

Today’s blog is a video interview of my dear friend, Judy Douglass. She’s the mom of a challenging son she and her husband adopted at age nine from a very dysfunctional background.

Listen and be encouraged as she shares how God poured His strength into her, empowering her to love by faith when her son refused to accept her love for years.

Maybe her story will resonate with yours. Maybe she will give you some comfort and hope.

When Judy felt weak and it would have been easier not to love her son, BUT God did something amazing in her heart. God used her him to teach her many lessons, especially about unconditional love.

Click here to listen to Judy’s story. I’ve shared this before and wanted to share it again because she’s so relatable. You might feel like she’s telling your story.

Whoever is wise, let him . . . consider the steadfast love of the Lord (Psalm 107:43, ESV).

Prayer:

Loving God, You’re the One who defined love for humanity. And You went to great lengths to show Your love to us in the life of your Son, Jesus. Many of us feel weak and powerless today. Please do for us what you did for Judy – help us love our children when we’d rather not.

When they’re cruel and reject us; when they’re hateful and rude; when they refuse to believe that we love them, give us steel-like courage to never give up. Garrison our pierced hearts to wait with faith and hope for the day when we, too, may hear them say the three words we long for. Draw them with your unfailing, unbreakable, deep, deep love.

How marvelous. How wonderful is our Savior’s love. Indescribable. Beyond imagination. No one can grasp it’s fullness, height or depth. This Valentine’s Day, please remind our children of this great love. Make them wise to consider just how very loved they are – by You, and by us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Judy Douglass, office of the president of CRU, founder of Prayer for Prodigals and Worldwide Prayer Day, and author of Loving a Prodigal free e-book (download a copy) and Letters to My Children: Secrets of Success.