How do I know when protection becomes overprotection?

Scarlet Hiltibidal (0:09)

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Hello, and welcome back to Pardon the Mess. I'm your host Scarlett Hiltibidal. It's October. We're here. I'm ready to talk to you. I feel slightly insecure with this topic today because I have four kids and I'm just thinking back to my filter on this topic and I have changed so much as a mom, four kids in, and I feel like I definitely did this wrong from the get-go and but that's okay because here's the thing, we here at Pardon the Mess are not trying to be perfect moms. We are trying to point to a perfect Jesus and we're trying to talk through these things that feel messy and that feel unanswerable and we're trying to look at what God's Word has to say about it and learn from each other, right? So that's why I'm doing this topic. And I told you I'm a little insecure. It's funny because when I started this podcast, you know, if you are a longtime listener, this podcast has been around for years, but it was an interview-style podcast. And I switched it to topical. And of course, I started with my best topics, you guys.

I started with the things that I'm most comfortable talking about, that I feel like I've got a grip on, that I'm like, this is how I do it. And I feel really confident sharing this with moms. And I know it'll encourage them. But the thing about a podcast is they keep coming every week, you guys. Like, every week. I'm like, okay. Now, I do plan out my topics way far in advance. And I've had this on my list since the very beginning. But honestly, I kept bumping it down on the calendar because I'm like, man, do I have wisdom to share? Or am I just gonna share ways I've done it wrong? And I mean, here I go again. I've got an almost two-year-old. So, you know, how am I gonna do it this time? This is a tricky one, you guys. But I like to bring us the tricky ones because that's what we're here for, okay? We're gonna untangle this mess and talk about the question. I'll share a little bit. I've got a really great Messy Mom Moment, a really great guest who's gonna share her experience. Yeah, let me just tell you about her. Okay, guys, Christine Hoover. Have you heard of her? I've talked about her on this podcast. She's amazing. She is the author of a bunch of books. One of my favorites, You Are Not Forgotten. She's a Life Way Women Bible study author as well. So that's where I met her because I have some, I did Anxious and Ashamed with Life Way Women. And so we met at a Life Way Women author retreat. We'll talk more about that when I have her on. But we just instantly loved each other. I think she's amazing. She works in women's ministry at her church. And I just always love to read what she writes and hear what she has to say because I just love watching her walk with the Lord and she's just, I just like her a lot. So I'm happy to introduce her to you if you haven't already met her. But anyway, okay, so protection versus overprotection. This is what we're talking about today, you guys. You know, my excuse for seasons where I've done it wrong has always been, well, you know, I was adopted by a SWAT cop. How am I supposed to be as a mom? Of course, I'm going to be overprotective. With my first kid who is 15 now, oh my goodness. I was helicopter mom to the maximum. I have definitely cooled off on that over time.