Ask Dr. Joannie Questions

Question: Should I attend church or stay at home when my family who are atheists come to visit? Response: This is a common concern for many Christian grandparents, so I am sure that my answer to you will be helpful to other grandparents. I appreciate your sensitivity to their beliefs but encourage you to attend […]

Question: Any suggestions for building relationships with my grandchildren when parents do not encourage it or even stop it? I have 11 grandchildren, yet only 2 can I have a relationship with. 3 out of our 5 children either don’t talk to me or it is very limited. I’ve had holidays and birthdays with not

Question: How do I bring up Jesus with my grandson so he will listen? He’s 11 years old and is not being raised as a Christian by either parent. It was easy to expose him to Jesus when he was younger and in my care off and on. Whenever I bring up the subject now

Question: Would you have any words to share with grandparents who lost a grandchild? They already have 2 young adult grandsons, but this was their younger child’s first child. One day they felt movement, but the next day at the doctor’s appointment, there was no heartbeat. They are all heartbroken, of course. They are also

Question: My daughter and son-in-law have a very close relationship with his family. They are together every Saturday for our grandson’s baseball games, attend the same church, and often go to lunch together after those events. When my husband and I would like to spend some one-on-one time with them, our son-in-law still invites his

Question: How can I encourage my husband when our daughter, who is a prodigal, has words with him that reopen old wounds? We don’t want to lose the connection with our 3 grandkids and don’t want to be cut off from visiting them every 4 or 5 months, since they’re out of state. We used

Question: My grandchild is not a reader (by choice) nor does he like to talk on the phone or FaceTime. The thing he gets his enjoyment from is his video games. How can I compete with that? We were very close until I had to move homes 3 years ago. I do pray for him,

Question: How do I maintain my faith witness while also keeping a relationship going with my transgender granddaughter? She is an adult now and has legally changed her name. My daughter has told us that if we don’t call my grandaughter by her male name and use male pronouns (“he, him, his”) we will no

Question: I did not grow up in a Christian home and became a Christian soon after getting married. My parents have been vocal about their disapproval of my husband and Christianity. How much time should I let my young children spend with their non-Christian grandparents? Any resources on biblical forgiveness are welcomed too. Response: This

Question: I’m off to a rocky start with my son and his wife after an early birth of their daughter (37 weeks and first grandchild). I mentioned that the baby had a bright red rash from the wipes (which I experienced with my first). This led my son to research and they ended up using