{"id":301108,"date":"2006-05-10T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-05-10T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/your-home-is-holy-ground\/"},"modified":"2024-10-07T22:42:19","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T02:42:19","slug":"your-home-is-holy-ground","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/your-home-is-holy-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Home is Holy Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donna Otto explains that home should be a safe place where God&#8217;s work gets done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2006-05-10.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"11.35M","filesize_raw":"11902896","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2838],"tags":[4881,2209],"podcast_series":[7450],"cwp_profile":[9009],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301108","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mothers","tag-being-a-mom","tag-parenting","podcast_series-finding-your-purpose-as-a-mom","cwp_profile-donna-otto","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301108\/your-home-is-holy-ground","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301108\/your-home-is-holy-ground","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"2jUL4pvPZ0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/your-home-is-holy-ground\/\">Your Home is Holy Ground<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/your-home-is-holy-ground\/embed\/#?secret=2jUL4pvPZ0\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Your Home is Holy Ground&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"2jUL4pvPZ0\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Donna Otto explains that home should be a safe place where God's work gets done.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2006-05-10.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Moms wear a lot of different hats.\u00a0 One of the hats a mom will wear is \"environmental engineer.\"\u00a0 According to author Donna Otto, what that means is that Mom needs to establish a home where relationships come first.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Make sure that the places that the family needs to be together as a family have the first priority of that physical surrounding.\u00a0 And the truth is home is not a restaurant, home is not a computer office, home is not a schoolroom, it's not a laundromat, it's not an arcade.\u00a0 And today everybody has their own CD, everybody has their own Gameboy, their iPOd, and everybody is playing their games by themselves, and we have turned that place into all sorts of other things besides a home.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0This is FamilyLife Today for Wednesday, May 10th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 If your home could use a little environmental engineering, stay with us as we talk about it today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us.\u00a0 There is a myth that we like to poke a hole in every once in a while, you know?\u00a0 It's the myth that homemaking is no big deal, optional \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0\u2026 anybody can do it \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0\u2026 that's right.\u00a0 It doesn't take a lot, it's not all that critical, it's not all the important.\u00a0 Well, from time to time, we like to pull back and say, \"Hang on, let's think that one through again,\" right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0No doubt about it.\u00a0 In fact, I am passionate about young wives who make the decision, especially when they get pregnant, to go home and to be a homemaker by choice.\u00a0 And I think today if there is a revival that needs to occur, a spiritual revival that is going to reshape our nation, it's going to be the hand that rocks the cradle, and it's going to be that hand that decides to make that their singular focus.\u00a0 They're going to be a wife and a mom to the glory of God, and they're not going to be distracted.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0You have some daughters and daughters-in-law who have done that, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I do, and I'm applauding them, and every time I\u2019m with them, I get a chance to give them a hug, and I say \"You know what?\u00a0 I am really proud of you, because you could do a lot of stuff.\"\u00a0 They're gifted, they're talented, they could be raking in some dollars and increasing their standard of living.\u00a0 It's not a matter of them not being able to do anything else.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0But fewer and fewer of their peers are making the choice that they're making.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Well, you know, Bob, I kind of wonder if that's the case at points.\u00a0 I haven't heard any fresh statistics on this.\u00a0 In fact, maybe our guest on today's program, Donna Otto \u2013 welcome, Donna, welcome to the broadcast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Thank you, it's great to be here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Bob and I are just going to be passionate about this subject.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Can I just applaud?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I see you over there going, \"Amen,\" thumbs up, and being quiet about your applause.\u00a0 Donna is the founder of Homemakers by Choice, and brand-new organization that's committed to just what we're talking about, is that right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Yes, and a minute ago I thought maybe I wasn't necessary in this conversation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0It's nice to have a higher-pitched voice who is affirming what we're talking about here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t[crosstalk] \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0There are a lot of women who could really affirm what Bob is saying there.\u00a0 They're going, \"That's exactly right.\"\u00a0 Those guys are not going to sit back and talk about homemaking.\u00a0 You better have a woman on the program.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0What about it?\u00a0 Are there more women today staying at home, fewer women staying at home?\u00a0 What's the status of homemaking?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Okay, there is a huge resurgence of women not founded in the church \u2013 I wish it were, but it's true, they are not founded in the church.\u00a0 They are making, as you just said, as your daughters and daughters-in-law are capable of making high salaries, these are singularly the most educated women that have ever walked the face of the earth.\u00a0 They have careers, they have experiences, and they have education.\u00a0 Now, that group is suddenly says, \"My possession\" \u2013 now, remember they're not in the church \u2013 so my possession, my child, is going to get me because I want my child to represent me and my husband.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0So they're finding their purpose in their children.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0They are finding their purpose in their children, they are finding a sense of no one can keep my child as safe and secure as I can, so I'm going to leave my job.\u00a0 Now, technology has changed her job.\u00a0 She can do some of her job from anywhere.\u00a0 \"I'm going to leave my office surroundings, go back home and raise my own child.\"\u00a0 And when they get there, they don't have a lot of experience at it, so they're calling us up and saying, \"Help.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0You know, it's been interesting to hear Dr. Laura on the radio, as she's been waving the flag for the last, I don't know, five or six years in the culture saying, \"I am my child's mom, I'm going to take care \u2013 if you don't have a child and bring it into the world unless you're going to take care of it,\" and that's starting to resonate with some folks, isn't it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0It is and, you know, I like what she says because of just what you refer to.\u00a0 But she stops.\u00a0 She stops short, obviously, because she's not saying, \"Okay, here is this sinner child who came into this world with his Adam's nature and his temperament, and you, Mother, have been given the greatest job of all to mold and shape this child; to get this child to a place where he can make his own choice about his future in Christ.\"\u00a0 So I think while Laura has done a good job, and she has, and she says a lot of things I would lift up my hand and say, \"Good, go girl,\" but the reality is she stops very short of empowering a woman with the authority that God empowered her with.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Well, frankly, we ought to be thrilled she's made the point, because what she's doing, she's setting the table for some great evangelistic efforts because after those women go home and they start raising these little selfish, sinful, depraved children, who have those natures that are totally bent on their own greed and their own sinful choices, they're going to need help.\u00a0 So who and where are they going to go for help?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Homemakers by Choice \u2013 can I say that?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Well, I did say that, but, you know, Homemakers by Choice can't be in every location like the church is today.\u00a0 It's the church that ought to be seizing the opportunity of hanging a banner out in front looking for help in raising the next generation.\u00a0 We've got some training classes.\u00a0 We want to equip you as a mom.\u00a0 We want to equip you as parents to be able to shape the conscience and the spiritual direction of the next generation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Bob, you and I have talked many times about how there are key and pivotal points in our lives when, all of a sudden, we become very teachable.\u00a0 One is when we take a spouse, and we get married.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0And we realize what we didn't know.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t[laughter] \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I became extremely teachable.\u00a0 I realized that there was a boy who had to grow up at that point.\u00a0 There is another moment that is a profound moment, and I remember when they handed that little bundle to me after 24 hours of labor, and Ashley was placed in my arms, and I'm going, \"There's no instructions accompanying this.\u00a0 How do we do this?\"\u00a0 And I think, Donna, the need for your ministry is evident in that there is a whole generation of young women today who aren't coming out of solidly Christian homes that have all this great vast amount of teaching that has impacted them.\u00a0 Many of them are coming out of broken homes, they're coming out of homes that didn't have spiritual values, and so they really need material, and that really motivated you to write a book called \"Finding Your Purpose as a Mom,\" your seventh book.\u00a0 It's why you wrote it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0It's why I wrote it, yes.\u00a0 It was partly \u2013 the subtitle of that book is \"Building Your Home on Holy Ground,\" and I had a holy ground moment.\u00a0 I came into my home, took off my shoes, as I prefer to do anywhere, anytime \u2013 barefoot am I happy \u2013 and I live in the desert, and my tile was cool, and as I walked through my own home on my cool tile, and my feet were bare, suddenly the reminder of that passage in Exodus was so clear to me.\u00a0 It was just one of those moments in time \u2013 \"Take off your shoes, this is holy ground.\"\u00a0 And I became very emotional in my own home, because I thought, this home \u2013 this mortar, walls, brick, tile \u2013 there's nothing holy about them except that the people who live in this home are holy because Christ lives within them.\u00a0 So my heart was, okay, so the young woman who was raised in just the home you described, Dennis, just not even aware of Bible stories, doesn\u2019t know Joseph from Samuel, is now saying, \"What is my home but chaos.\u00a0 There is no calm here,\" and I am remembering, \"Take off your shoes, this is holy ground.\"\u00a0 What makes it holy ground?\u00a0 So my first thought is I want to help that woman find out who she is, being intentional about who she is.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And then, secondly, I want her to understand that within the four walls of her home, she is still \u2013 I don't care what the culture tells her \u2013 she is still the atmosphere-setter of her home.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0You approach this subject of what a home is by defining what it's not.\u00a0 You help us out by doing that, because there are a lot of misconceptions about a home.\u00a0 Share with our listeners what a home is not.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Well, and I want to start with \u2013 I say it's not bricks and mortar, but the physical place called home is bricks and mortar, and we have turned that, in some ways to our credit, into all sorts of other things besides a home, and the old line of \"Your husband is the king, and he's coming home to his castle,\" is laughable to some members of this generation.\u00a0 But the truth is, home is not a restaurant, and since the microwave it has become a restaurant.\u00a0 You can fix a meal for anybody, anytime, anywhere.\u00a0 Home is not a schoolroom, and I know you have a lot of homeschoolers that are listening, and I have a lot of homeschoolers in the ministry, but be careful that you don't turn that home into a schoolhouse, into a schoolroom.\u00a0 It's not an arcade, and today everybody has their own CD, everybody has their own Gameboy, their iPods, their \u2013 listen to me, I sound like I know what I'm talking about, and I don't know any of this technology at all.\u00a0 I wouldn't recognize it if you showed it to me.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0But the truth is, it's become an arcade, and everybody is playing their games by themselves \u2013 another tragic part of this technology that has separated the family \u2013 making them feel they're close to one another.\u00a0 Home is not a computer office.\u00a0 We've got so many offices now in home \u2013 one of the largest asset in selling real estate is if somewhere on that information blank is says there is a home office with some high-level of technology available with it, because we're working from home.\u00a0 Well, all right, if that's what you have to do, but then I'm saying to the wife, make sure that the places that the family needs to be together as a family have the first priority of the physical surroundings.\u00a0 And I've really \u2013 I believe in that so strongly, and I think that's the tone.\u00a0 It's the tone that I've set, but I also know that's what a lot of women are afraid of.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Okay, help me think through this, because you've said that the home is holy ground, and we're not talking about the bricks and the mortar, we're talking about the people who are there.\u00a0 You've said it shouldn't wind up defaulting to laundromat or office or arcade or any of the rest.\u00a0 What should it be, what's the mission, what's the holy mission of the home?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0It's a safe place where God's work gets done.\u00a0 It's a safe place where God's work gets done, and what is His first work as a parent \u2013 and that is to train up a child so that he can make a choice for Jesus.\u00a0 And He has to see authentic Christianity lived out in that house, and that does happen amidst those things.\u00a0 You know, I say home is not a museum, it's not a hotel, there are a lot of things it's not, and yet you just \u2013 a number of those pieces together \u2013\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Sure, we eat in a home, so it's not a restaurant, but we do eat there, we do our laundry there, we do work on the computer there, but it shouldn't define what the home is, that's what you're saying, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Exactly.\u00a0 If the basic principle of what home is is creating these young people to understand who God is and see authentic Christian life that they might choose for Christ in their generation, then it involves all of those activities happening, but the priority is always Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I just want to comment on the concept that home is a safe, a safe place, and you say it should reflect Christ.\u00a0 Well, who is Christ?\u00a0 He is love.\u00a0 God is love.\u00a0 And I don't want to just take the obvious here and act like our listening audience doesn't know this, but I think we've lost the concept of relationships and love in our home and realizing that family is the place, home is the place where we learn how to love another selfish, sinful, human being, whether it's our brother, our sister, our parents \u2013 we first get the concept of how you love another person at home.\u00a0 And who is the one who trains us to do that?\u00a0 Well, primarily, I believe it's Mom and Dad.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Absolutely.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0And so as you shape the purpose of your home as a young mom, I want to take you all the way back up to where your love was first forged that started that family in the first place \u2013 it's called your marriage covenant.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0That's right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I just want to go back, and our listeners know I talk about this a lot, but I just think today we don't have good definitions of love, and there is no better definition of love than a covenant.\u00a0 It's an inseparable commitment to another person for a lifetime.\u00a0 It says \"I'm going to go the distance regardless of how unlovable you might become or I might become.\u00a0 I'm going to stick it out with you,\" and that's where these little kiddos are getting their picture of what it looks like to have a home.\u00a0 And you're saying that moms, when they do that, are truly homemakers by choice, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Absolutely, and what you say in that covenant love is that it is authentic.\u00a0 He is not perfect.\u00a0 We have this 24\/7 channels on television that tell us about home-embroidered sheets and menus and divine gourmet meals, and we can't get the laundry done regularly.\u00a0 We can't put a meal on the table the whole family can sit civilly through.\u00a0 Where is the duplicity and inconsistency in that?\u00a0 And I couldn't be more \u2013 it starts there, it starts with that love relationship, and that love relationship brings a peacefulness to the home, irrespective of its surroundings.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Yeah, I want to hitchhike off your word \u2013 you said it's \"authentic,\" it's real.\u00a0 That means when we fail, not if we fail, but when we fail we show our children how you move through your failure with another person.\u00a0 You show them how to ask for forgiveness, how another person forgives you.\u00a0 You show how you make up, you show how you make restitution, you show how you reconcile.\u00a0 You show them that thousands of times.\u00a0 You're going to show them that so many times you're going to grow weary of showing them that, but there's a reason why you're showing them that \u2013 because for the rest of their lives, they're going to offend, and they're going to be offended.\u00a0 They're going to have to forgive, and they're going to have to ask for forgiveness.\u00a0 They're going to have to reconcile, and they're going to have to be reconciled, and they're going to have to make restitution for how they hurt another person.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0You know, honestly, when you gave this definition of home as a safe place where someone can make a decision for Christ, I thought, \"Well, how hard can that be?\"\u00a0 I mean, really, how hard can that be \u2013 you make a safe place where somebody can make a decision for Christ, that will take a couple of days, what will you do the rest of the time?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I can tell you how hard it is, I can tell you how hard it is.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0The \"D\" on your forehead is showing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t[laughter] \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0 Will you stop laughing so I can make my point \u2013 for 29 years Barbara and I raised children.\u00a0 I'm telling you, it defined our lives.\u00a0 It is tough to have a good family that does that one thing Donna's talking about here \u2013 that makes it a safe place to experience the love of Christ and to introduce them to who God is.\u00a0 If it happened naturally, it would be like gravity.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Well, it's because we're not just talking about making a safe place where a child can have a momentary conversion experience or can pray a prayer, and then we're done.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Well said.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0We're talking about a place where we can model and demonstrate and live out authentic Christianity so a child can go, \"I get it, I see it, I understand it, I embrace it, I follow it, I give my life to it.\"\u00a0 That does take more than just a couple of days to pull of, doesn't it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Well, that was very nice of you to condescend that way.\u00a0 Well, and as you were talking, I was thinking about one of the things you learn in a family unit is to accept acceptance.\u00a0 And the other thing is you learn not to have an agenda for someone else.\u00a0 It means when you live with a brother and a sister and a mother and a father that Papa has no agenda for Mama, and Mama has no agenda for Papa, and big brother doesn't have an agenda for little sister, and we all don't come out looking alike.\u00a0 We come out with God's imprint as the best of our potential possible because we lived in a family that accepts acceptance from Christ, and that's no easy job.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0But when you say \"no agenda,\" I mean, I've got an agenda for my kids in terms of their faithfulness to Christ.\u00a0 What's the difference between having no agenda and me having that agenda for them?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Well, you know, I like to use the word \"standard\" and not \"agenda.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Okay.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0I think agenda \u2013 maybe it's more of a cultural word.\u00a0 When you say \"I have an agenda for someone,\" it typically means you have a plan for their life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Yeah, I'm trying to control them.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Yes, exactly, and I want them to look like me.\u00a0 I have one daughter, and she really does look like me.\u00a0 She just graduated \u2013 is there a bragging moment here for a moment?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Please go ahead.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDonna:\u00a0Just graduated from Fuller with a master's of divinity \u2013 wonderful teacher, wonderful Bible scholar and just gave us our first grandchild \u2013 okay, I'll show the pictures later.\u00a0 But when I looked at her, she looks very much like me \u2013 the same dark hair, the same big nose, dark looking, she looks like me.\u00a0 And I can remember the years when I had an agenda for her.\u00a0 I wanted her to do it my way.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Now, in some ways we are very much alike, personality-wise, but I was having to learn the differences in my daughter from me and not have an agenda for her.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0You know, if you want something that is perfect and the same, and you can set the agenda, then make a batch of cookies and use a cookie cutter.\u00a0 But if you want something that's going to be different, that's going to challenge you to the core, have a houseful of kids, because they will be different.\u00a0 They may come from the same two people, but they will have the imprint of God stamped upon their lives, but they will be very different in personality and looks and behavior, and they will challenge you to your core, because they won't be motivated in the same way.\u00a0 But that's why I think being a mom is so important.\u00a0 Because it demands a skill level \u2013 I mean, I'm sorry, but I brag on my daughters.\u00a0 I now have four of them who are married and have chosen to stay home.\u00a0 They are having children, lots of children.\u00a0 We now have eight grandchildren, and I look at my daughter, Ashley, who has now had her fourth child \u2013 she could do a lot of things.\u00a0 She's a talented woman.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Bob, to help get through med school, she came in here once a month and did some radio with you for a weekend broadcast.\u00a0 It didn't take away from the children.\u00a0 They needed a break from her, and it was good for her at that point.\u00a0 But, you know, there is no more noble calling, no more dignity in terms of a path for how you use your life than to invest in a houseful of kids.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0I was reading an article online just recently \u2013 I don't know if you've seen this professor from a university on the East Coast who has been on morning talk shows and has been written up in a number of newspapers.\u00a0 She is telling capable, talented young women who choose to stay at home that they are betraying the feminist agenda, and that it should not be an option for them to stay at home.\u00a0 They have a social obligation to get back out into the marketplace and, I guess, let somebody else raise their children.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Well, I don't know whose thinking today is counter-cultural \u2013 whether it's her thinking or Donna's thinking, but I know more of our listeners would support the idea that motherhood ought to be, at the very least, a choice for any woman and certainly a priority for a woman who wants to honor and please God.\u00a0 And yet we've got a lot of women today, a lot of young women who, when they think about homemaking and motherhood, there is a blank screen that comes up, because they haven't had any instruction, and they didn't have any good modeling, and they need help.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd that's what you have tried to provide for a lot of young moms, Donna, in your book, \"Finding Your Purpose as a Mom, How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground.\"\u00a0 We have the book in our FamilyLife Resource Center, and I want to encourage our listeners to go to our website, FamilyLife.com, and click the button that says \"Go,\" in the middle of the home page.\u00a0 That will take you right to a place where you can find out more about Donna's book.\u00a0 You can order a copy of it, if you'd like.\u00a0 Again, the title is called \"Finding Your Purpose As a Mom.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe also have copies of a book you wrote called \"Secrets to Getting More Done in Less Time,\" and any of our listeners who are interested in getting both of these books, we will send along at no additional cost the CD that features our conversation with Donna Otto.\u00a0 We'll also send you a bookmark that has many of your mottos \u2013 Otto's Mottos \u2013 on it.\u00a0 Again, there's more information about these resources on our website at FamilyLife.com, or you can call us at 1-800-FLTODAY.\u00a0 That's 1-800-358-6329, and someone can let you know how you can get these books or other resources sent out to you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen you do get in touch with us, if you are able this month to help us with a donation for the ministry of FamilyLife Today, there is an opportunity for that donation to go a little farther than it otherwise might go.\u00a0 We've had some friends of the ministry who came to us recently who are excited about the direction things are going here at FamilyLife; how God is using this ministry; and they offered, during the month of May, to match every donation we receive from listeners on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to a total of $350,000.\u00a0 They are excited about what God is doing here.\u00a0 They want you to be excited about it as well, and they thought maybe they could encourage you to make donation this month by offering to double that donation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo we are hoping to take full advantage of their generosity, but if we're going to do that, we need as many of you as possible to go to our website, FamilyLife.com, make a donation online or call us at 1-800-FLTODAY, making a donation over the phone and, again, whatever amount you donate, it's going to be doubled thanks to this matching gift opportunity.\u00a0 The website, again, is FamilyLife.com, and the toll-free number is 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY.\u00a0 And we hope to hear from you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tTomorrow we want to talk about what you can do to make your home a more peaceful home, and I hope you can be with us for that conversation.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t__________________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you.\u00a0 However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would\u00a0 you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/site\/c.dnJHKLNnFoG\/b.3782043\/k.384D\/Support_Us.htm\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife.\u00a0 All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.FamilyLife.com\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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