Holding On, Letting Go: A Hope-Filled Conversation for Parents of Adult Children

There’s a reason conversations like this are striking a nerve with so many parents right now. Across dinner tables, in church foyers, during late-night phone calls, and in quiet moments after graduation parties, moms and dads are asking the same aching question: How do I keep loving my child well when they’re no longer really a child anymore? That tension between holding on and letting go can feel confusing, lonely, and even heartbreaking. And for many parents, nobody prepared them for this phase of parenting, the phase where children become adults, make their own choices, and sometimes walk roads that deeply challenge the hopes and prayers of the people who raised them.

In this special live conversation, Dr. Kathy opens her heart about her newest and perhaps most personal book yet: a book written for parents navigating the complicated, emotional, and deeply spiritual realities of having kids who are now adults. The discussion moves beyond theory and into the raw realities families are facing right now, hard topics like estrangement, identity confusion, prodigal children, same-sex relationships, adult kids moving home, criticism, boundaries, grief, and the lifelong challenge of releasing children into the hands of God.

This isn’t simply a conversation about parenting techniques. It’s a conversation about identity, surrender, grief, grace, and the lifelong work of loving people well. For parents standing at the edge of adulthood with their children, or already walking through the pain and beauty of that season, this discussion offers something increasingly rare in today’s culture: wisdom that is both truthful and deeply compassionate.