My 23-year-old daughter is dating a man who fathered a child out of wedlock. The child is seven months old now. As a Christian mother, how do I handle this situation?

Advice: How should you handle your daughter’s dating situation? Tactfully, unobtrusively, carefully, and prayerfully.

Remember first of all that your daughter is an adult and has a right to date whom she please. If you come on strong, you might put her defensively in the man’s corner.

You need to counsel you daughter through difficult situations. But be careful that when it comes time for your input, you must carefully work in things you want to say. So for now, just be open and show interest in what is going on between her and this man. Thus she may be inclined to be open with you and perhaps seek some advice from you. Let her talk. Pray and ask the Lord to help you perceive when you can get something in without rocking the boat.

Early on, if you get the opportunity, you might suggest to your daughter that if this man didn’t marry the mother of his child he might not have serious intentions to her either. Also, if the right time comes to say this, point out to her that if she marries this man she may have to sacrifice and get along with less when she has children because he will have to pay child
support.

May the Lord guide you.