Episodes

Sin is exhausting. You know how children are good at manipulating their parents--they go to the one they think will say “yes” to whatever it is they want, then to the other with “Mommy said” or “Daddy said.” Pretty clever. I’ve done that myself. Manipulation easily becomes sin and will wear us out. Resources: Join the Prayer for Prodigals community here. Sign up for Judy’s monthly newsletter here. Purchase a copy of the When You Love a Prodigal book for you or a loved one here. Check out my l...

When our prodigal, Josh, was 15, and in one of his better seasons as a prodigal, he served for a week as a junior counselor at a wilderness camp for at-risk boys. One activity included a five-mile hike, with each counselor leading a small group. Josh and his boys came to a crossroads, looking for the right turn to take. Unfortunately they took the wrong turn, and their five-mile hike turned into 10 miles. When they finally made it back to camp, they were sore, tired and unhappy. Whether we cho...

How do you keep your sanity when your prodigal drives you crazy? How do you find time for your family, your job, yourself when a loved one takes all your attention? How do you hold on to a relationship with a rebellious one who has run the other way? Gem and Alan Fadling, founders of Unhurried Living, have some very practical suggestions. This conversation introduces four weeks on Rest. Resources: Join the Prayer for Prodigals community here. Sign up for Judy’s monthly newsletter here. Purchase...

“He’s building his testimony.” With those words, God kept reminding me of this important truth from Jesus: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17). When our loved one is doing destructive things, our tendency is often to sigh or cry or despair. Yet God is at work even in all this. He is at work in our prodigals, He is at work in these circumstances, and He is at work in us. Resources: Join the Prayer for Prodigals community here. Sign up for Judy’s...

One of the hardest parts of the wilderness journey with a loved prodigal is the roller coaster—the ups and downs, the unexpected turns, the dashed hope. Why are we surprised? We have an enemy. That enemy is after those we love. Peter tells us: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Resources: Sign up for Judy’s monthly newsletter here. Purchase a copy of the When You Love a Prodigal book for you or a lo...

What do pearls and butterflies have in common? They both start out as something simple and not so beautiful and are transformed into something lovely. How does that happen? Time and pressure. Oh, how we wish our prodigals would return now. How we want them to be changed overnight! And sometimes that happens. Amazing surrender and metamorphosis can happen in a moment or a day or a week. But not usually. Usually it takes both time and pressure. Resources: Join the Prayer for Prodigals community ...

Surely one of the most common questions asked by those who love a prodigal is, “How long, Lord?” As our children grow, we move between “Will this phase ever end?” and “How did they grow up so fast?” But when you love a prodigal, it can seem like time stands still, and you wonder will this never end? Resources: Linger: Listen To Someone You Love Join the Prayer for Prodigals community here. Sign up for Judy’s monthly newsletter here. Stay connected: Website: judydouglass.com Facebook: facebook...

Carol and Gene Kent were awakened late one night with unbelievable news: Their son Jason had killed a man and was in jail. That was the beginning of an horrific journey. That has led to life transformation for all three of them, and to opportunities to touch lives they couldn’t have imagined. Stay connected: Website: judydouglass.com Facebook: facebook.com/JudyDouglass417/ Instagram: instagram.com/judydouglass417/ Twitter: twitter.com/judydouglass417 Youtube: youtube.com/c/JudyDouglass

The young man took off to a far country, found many friends attracted to his wealth. They lived wild lives—until the money ran out. Suddenly our boy was abandoned, broke, hungry. He got a job feeding pigs—what could be worse? What could he do? So headed home, hoping his father would take him back as a hired servant. Would the father accept his request, or reject him completely? Or would the father have an unimaginable response? It’s just two weeks until Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day on June 2....

We were out of town. We had an older woman staying in our home that winter. Our prodigal and his friends showed up drunk. They made themselves at home, eating and doing drugs. Our guest made an effort to engage them to break it up, but they were rude and even threatening. She was frightened and locked herself in her room. What did we do? We chose grace. God was clear: Extend grace. Forgive. Seek reconciliation. Pursue conversation, not conflict. Keep your doors—and arms—open. To request prayer...

One of the most important ways we extend grace to our prodigals is through our words. In Colossians 4:6 Paul reminds us: Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Words are powerful. They have the potential to inflame discord and inflict great emotional harm, or the capacity to encourage repentance and restoration, and offer healing and reconciliation. To request prayer for someone on Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day on June 2, o...

God has much experience loving prodigals—such as you and me and all of humanity. So He is the perfect companion for us on this wilderness journey. He goes with us, He comforts us, He gives hope, He relieves our fears. And He gives grace for all our inadequacies and mistakes, and for the pain experienced by and caused by those we love so much. To request prayer for someone on Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day on June 2, or to join in praying with us, write to PrayerforProdigals@gmail.com or fill out...

Josh McDowell, apologist, evangelist, author of more than 150 books and my good friend joins me on this episode to talk about the 7 A’s on Building Relationships that Transform. He explains and illustrates from his own life essential actions to build and maintain relationships with your children or with any person you work with, influence, care about. These 7 A’s are powerful connectors with the people in your life. To be entered into a drawing to win one of three copies of Josh’s book, How to ...

What did your prodigal do this week to stir up your fear or ignite your anger and make your love shrink back? How do you love them when they don’t deserve it, when they show no love to you? In this Part 2 of How to Love a Prodigal we will consider five ways to put our love into action, to love like Jesus loves us—and them. To request prayer for someone on Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day on June 2, or to join in praying with us, write to PrayerforProdigals@gmail.com. Resources: Sign up for Judy’s...

We are called to love like Jesus—unconditionally. Is it even possible to love a prodigal unconditionally? What is unconditional love? They challenge, betray, defy and deny our love. How do we keep loving them? Today’s episode is Part 1 of some practical ways we can live out loving them as Jesus has loved us. Resources: Sign up for Judy’s monthly newsletter here. Join the Prayer for Prodigals community here. Purchase a copy of the When You Love a Prodigal book for you or a loved one here. Stay c...

Fear is a close companion when you love a prodigal. Addiction. Pregnancy. Overdose. Wrong friends. Cutting. Suicide. Wasting away because she won’t eat. The call from the jail and the hospital. An accident—injuring self or others. Doing something crazy while high. A visit from the police. What do you do as fear lingers and lurks? Resources: Sign up for Judy’s monthly newsletter here. Join the Prayer for Prodigals community here. Purchase a copy of the When You Love a Prodigal book for you or a ...

Often it’s not easy to love a prodigal. Our love is tested and stretched. Unappreciated and questioned. Not returned—even thrown back in our faces. We grow weary and discouraged. What does love look like when our prodigals keep making bad choices? How do we love and keep on loving our often hard-to-love prodigals as the years unfold? Resources: A Redemptive Community blog post I AM the Vine blog post Sign up for Judy’s monthly newsletter here. Stay connected: Website: judydouglass.com Facebook:...

Our son – the proverbial tough guy – came home with fear in his eyes. His friends, his gang, had gotten in a dispute with another gang. Somehow he became the focus of the anger of the other gang. Threats ensued. His bravado was gone. The fear was real. He wanted to get to a safe place. Where do you find help? Resources: Tenacious Love video What Do We Do Now? blog post I AM the Vine blog post Sign up for Judy’s monthly newsletter here. Stay connected: Website: com Facebook: com/JudyDouglass417/...

Dan Wolgemuth is not a prodigal, has no prodigals, but, as President of Youth for Christ, his life revolves around at-risk kids. So much so that he chose to spend some time in Juvenile Detention. Stay connected: Website: judydouglass.com Facebook: facebook.com/JudyDouglass417/ Instagram: instagram.com/judydouglass417/ Twitter: twitter.com/judydouglass417 Youtube: youtube.com/c/JudyDouglass

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 become a prodigal. Some are rebellious or "bad," but many begin to make destructive choices because of the challenges in their lives, because of many levels of trauma. Resources: Turning Curses into Blessings blog post Restoring Prodigals blog post Sign up for my monthly newsletter here. Stay connected: Website: judydouglass.com...

We all said I do and became one family. We thought peace and calm had arrived, but instead we entered a wilderness journey. Trouble at school, a gang, addictions, Juvenile Detention Center, and a House called Hope. I do was just the beginning. Resources: An Adoption Story: Part 3 The Hard Years An Adoption Story: Part 4 A Future and Hope Sign up for my monthly newsletter here. Stay connected: Website: judydouglass.com Facebook: facebook.com/JudyDouglass417/ Instagram: instagram.com/judydouglass...

If this was a gift, it was a grievous gift. How does the arrival of a wounded boy become the hardest time of your life and a beautiful gift? Judy Douglass was not prepared for all the trauma this boy had experienced and the challenges he would face, and she would face. After three years of foster care, the Douglass family was asked to adopt him. They did, life became more difficult, and that gift was nowhere in sight. Resources: An Adoption Story: Part 2 The Road to Adoption An Adoption Story: ...

Who signs up for a 15-year prodigal wilderness? No one does, on purpose. But that’s what Judy Douglass got when she said “yes” to God. Today we get to know Judy Douglass. She made a decision to choose God's way when she was 15, which launched her into repeated choices to surrender "her way" and walk in God's way. God's way has inevitably revealed as the best, until she said "yes" to a nine-year-old foster child. The wilderness ahead was formidable. Today we get to know Judy Douglass. You can l...

Loving a prodigal is a long, desperate journey. Fear. Worry. Anger. Blame. But God intends to use your valley to fill you with grace and hope.