Well, it may be that as a mom or a dad, you've found it intimidating or difficult to figure

out what to say or do for your child when they're really struggling with something difficult.

Many times though, just being present there for them, being available is what they need.

I'm John Fuller along with Dr. Danny Werta and Danny's in charge of our parenting

and youth department here at Focus on the Family. Let's go ahead and hear a clip now

from Jim Daly who spoke with author and grandparent Michelle Howe who's really

authentic and offered tips about guiding your child through a tough time and no

matter what age and stage of parenting you're in, you're going to find this encouraging.

Michelle, in our culture today, there's so much family fragmentation.

So children, grandchildren, are facing issues of divorce separation, having a step-parent, those kinds of things.

What advice do you have for those grandparents in that situation where really the

family the biological family has been lost even within the Christian context

I mean this is happening in our churches as well.

So what can a grandparent do to be there

for that grandchild who's really suffering?

Well, I suggest first you pray because I think a lot of times grandparents' first response is to run right in and fix it and try to solve it.

That one you can't fix, typically from a grand position you can't and I know even in the small group I'm in I mean we have what eight or nine women and three of them have heroin addicted adult children so they've taken on the role of parenting their grandchildren.

Far more common. It's happening more and more and more. So not only divorce, but just adult

addicts or just they're not stable enough to be grandparents.

So what do they do? They do what they can one day at a time, they rely on the Lord,

they just get other people to help them them but it's tragic and they find out

that their retirement years are not at all turning out like they expected yes

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