Former sitcom star now an advocate for moms

Lisa Whelchel, a star of the 1980s television series Facts of Life, lives in Southern California with her husband, Steve, and their three children. Whelchel started MomTime, a ministry for moms, 10 years ago. MomTime can be accessed at LisaWhelchel.com. Recently Whelchel spoke with Kirk Noonan, associate editor, about her passion for moms and families.

PE: Why did you start a ministry for moms?

WHELCHEL: It was an outgrowth of my life. I filmed the last episode of Facts of Life in March 1988 and was married that July. Steve and I started our family soon after we got married, and within the next three years we had three children. I found myself in suburbia with three kids in diapers. I was lonely for adult conversation and interaction, so I put together the first MomTime group.

PE: What’s a MomTime group?

WHELCHEL: It’s one day in the week where moms can laugh, cry, talk, eat and have fun with other moms. The gathering is a time for moms to take time for themselves because they usually put themselves at the bottom of the priority list. It’s about refueling and refreshing so moms can give and give again for another week.

PE: Why are relationships with other moms so important?

WHELCHEL: It’s biblical to talk with other moms and glean practical wisdom from each other. We live in such a spread out, disconnected, fast-paced world that it takes time to build relationships. Moms have to be intentional about making and fostering relationships because when the hard times come they need a supportive infrastructure in place.

PE: Should moms work or stay at home?

WHELCHEL: The ideal situation is for moms to be home with their children. But I know we don’t live in an ideal world. There are circumstances where a mom would love to be home, but can’t. For me it’s ideal to be a stay-at-home mom and homeschool my children, but I don’t think it’s God’s written law that we do either.

PE: Your ministry must be time-consuming; does it take you away from home?

WHELCHEL: Sometimes it takes me away from my husband, kids and home way more than I want and way more than it should, but I also know that I would be disobeying the Lord if I did not do this ministry.

PE: What advice would you give dads?

WHELCHEL: In some homes it’s as if Mom and the kids speak a different language than Dad. But the common denominators in the most successful families I know are dads who are intentionally and actively involved in the lives of their wife and kids.

PE: What encouragement would you give to moms?

WHELCHEL: Moms need to know they are not alone. Some moms feel like they yell too much or that their kids’ attitudes are stinky or that their house is a mess. Many moms feel like failures.

PE: How can moms deal with those feelings?

WHELCHEL: It should move a mom to pray for her children. Whenever that feeling of failure comes, moms should start praying. When we turn ourselves and our children over to God, good things happen. It’s only when God touches a mom’s heart that it will be changed.

PE: What’s the best thing a mom can do for her children?

WHELCHEL: Pray and consecrate them to the hands of the Lord. He will train and keep them even beyond 18 years of age.

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