Was Parenting Always This Hard… Or Are We Just Failing?
The Intentional Parents Podcast
Intentional
4.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2026
⏱️ 73 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is parenting harder than it used to be? In many ways, yes. Today’s parents are navigating a faster, louder, more complex world than generations before us — marked by decision fatigue, rising costs, less community support, and the constant mental load of trying to care for both our kids’ emotional needs and our own. Add in technology, shifting family dynamics, and the pressure of “intentional parenting,” and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
But these challenges aren’t excuses; they’re the context we’re parenting in. And the good news is that God meets us right here, not in our perfection but in our limits. His strength shows up most clearly in our weakness. Parenting isn’t about getting everything right. It’s about humility, repair, and learning to depend on Him. In our moments of distress, we’re invited to release the burdens and anxieties we were never meant to carry alone.
We also talk about practical steps: starting small instead of waiting for a full “village,” and learning to regularly release fear. Thankfully, we’re not doing this alone — God is with us, strengthening and sustaining us in the middle of it all. Parenting today may be hard, but He has already provided the help we need.
Scripture Mentioned: 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Psalm 55:22, Isaiah 66:2, 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 61:2, Isaiah 41:10-13
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Attention mothers. We have the intentional motherhood retreat in Franklin, Tennessee in April, April 23rd, through the 25th to be exact. And if you haven't gotten tickets yet, we want to remind you, grab some tickets. We have group rates. We also have volunteer tickets. So if you're looking for a discounted ticket and want to come help a little bit, go to our website, Intentionalparents.org, get your tickets. |
| 0:24.3 | Megan Fait Marshman's going to be there, Rhettah Eskridge is going to be there, Elizabeth and Diana sharing, and other guests that you don't even know about. |
| 0:27.4 | Plus, incredible worship. |
| 0:28.8 | Can't wait to have you all there. |
| 0:30.0 | See you soon. |
| 0:34.2 | You're listening to the Intentional Parents podcast, brought to you by Intentional. |
| 0:39.2 | Intentional is all about spiritual formation in the family. |
| 0:43.0 | We desire to bring biblical hope and practical hope. |
| 0:46.5 | Enjoy this week's conversation. |
| 0:53.8 | Well, welcome back to the Intention podcast and Phil and Diane, Elizabeth, and I today talking about is this generation as hard as it feels? Are we just making it up? Is parenting actually harder than when Phil and Diane, you guys are raising kids? |
| 1:19.5 | And what are the maybe details that we're experiencing right now, Elizabeth and I, our generation, as we're raising kids now, versus past generations? |
| 1:24.6 | And what are five different things we can do to actually, if it is harder, wink, wink, it might be. |
| 1:26.3 | What do we do about that? |
| 1:28.8 | Biblically, practically, psychologically, relationally, all all that stuff so that's where we're going today we are in the middle of what |
| 1:34.3 | is it was today march we're in March March March people are on spring break right now |
| 1:38.8 | we're about to be on spring break as well we have all that fun fun stuff happening we |
| 1:43.3 | have no plans for that |
| 1:44.3 | because life has kind of been up in the air for lots of reasons. But Phil and Diane, you guys are |
| 1:50.1 | about to go away to something special. We are. God willing. We'll tell us what's happening. |
| 1:55.1 | If you and I get back from our speaking in time. I feel everything's through the lens of death. |
| 2:01.8 | Well, if I land on the plane and then if I don't get a car accident and then I don't die on |
| 2:06.0 | the way to the airport, it's good. |
... |
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