Barbara Rainey's Top 10 Interviews

By: Barbara Rainey
Listen for free

  • Summary

  • Men and women deal with life, it’s trials, transitions and triumphs, differently. Over the years of being on the radio with FamilyLife Today I had the privilege to talk about many of these common seasons of a woman’s life with our huge listening audience. We’ve pulled the best of the best for you to download and listen according to your need of the moment. I hope you will listen, pass them on to others and be encouraged by these conversations!
    © Dennis and Barbara Rainey
    Show More Show Less
Children's Audiobooks Parenting & Families Relationships Social Sciences
Show More Show Less
Episodes
  • Parenting Teens: Getting Ready for the Release

    Parenting Teens: Getting Ready for the Release
    Mar 17 2022

    What are some of the practical life skills parents can help their teens develop as they anticipate leaving home for the first time? Dennis and Barbara Rainey answer that question in this podcast episode.
    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
  • #1 - How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 1) - Mixed Feelings Stirred Up by the Empty Nest

    #1 - How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 1) - Mixed Feelings Stirred Up by the Empty Nest
    Sep 18 2020
    How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 1) - Mixed Feelings Stirred Up by the Empty NestHow Empty is Your Nest? (Part 2) - Changing RelationshipsFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Mixed Feelings Stirred up by the Empty Nest Guests: Barbara Rainey and Susan YatesFrom the series: How Empty Is Your Nest? (Day 1 of 2)Air date: August 1, 2016 Bob: There was a moment in Susan Yates’ life when, as she looked at her empty nest, she started to think, “What’s my purpose anymore?” Susan: I remember the day after Libby’s wedding—she was the last to marry—going up to the girls’ room that they’d grown up in / that they had shared their whole life. As I stood in the room, I looked around at the walls, and there were lines where the pictures had hung. There were pieces of little scraps of paper and, as I looked at these bare walls, I noticed that the closet door was ajar. On the floor of the closet I saw a rumpled, old, blue prom dress. It seemed out of place—it was all alone / it was not needed any more. It, in a way, was out of style. As I looked at that prom dress, I thought, “That’s just how I feel.” 1:00 Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Monday, August 1st. Our host is the President of FamilyLife®, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. We’ll look today at the realities that begin to set in as the nest starts to empty out. Stay tuned. And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us on the Monday edition. I’m just sitting here, doing the math. What’s it been? It’s been more than a decade, now, since you guys became empty nesters? Barbara: That’s right. [Laughter] Are you going to— Bob: Are you still trying to figure it out? [Laughter] You’re kind of silent there! Dennis: I told you— Barbara: I guess I’m a little slow on the math. [Laughter] Dennis: No; that’s not so. No; I’m just trying to realize when it was when you and I finally determined we were empty nesters. [Laughter] Bob: So there was this process, you’re saying? Dennis: I think there was. I think it took us two or three years to come out of—how many years of childbearing and child rearing? Barbara: I don’t know—a lot. Dennis: Twenty-eight, I think. Barbara: I think so. Dennis: I think over twenty-eight years. 2:00 Barbara: I think so. It doesn’t happen automatically. Dennis: No; I mean, it was— Barbara: It was a transition. Dennis: It was all “Hands on deck!” raising children. It took us awhile to get out of the mindset and to finally realize: “You know what? We can kind of enjoy each other now and focus on one another.” It hadn’t been that we weren’t doing that before; but when you’re tending to children, there’s no question—they drain you. Bob: Our listeners are obviously aware that your wife, Barbara Rainey, is joining us today. Good to have you here. Barbara: Thank you, Bob. Bob: We are going to be hearing a message that you and your friend, Susan Yates, did, talking about empty nest issues. But I need to start by saying we got a very nice note from one of our FamilyLife Today donors, who wrote to say: “I’ve been reading Barbara’s empty nest book. I was encouraged to hear about your daughter, who rebelled, to find out that we are not alone. Barbara is so right—we just need to choose our words carefully and to pray, pray, pray. God is faithful and He cares about our children more than we do. Thank you.” 3:00 I imagine you’ve heard from a lot of folks, who have read the book, who have written you personally to say, “Thanks for capturing in this book what we’ve been living through and couldn’t put words to.” Barbara: Yes; we’ve had great feedback from women who’ve read the book because they understand, by reading it, that we get it—because we’ve been there and we’ve felt those things—and we’re trying to help them know that they’re not alone. Dennis: When Barbara and Susan wrote the book, they didn’t offer a “pie in the sky” type of picture of the empty nest. They painted it—flaws, blemishes, warts, and all—because it’s a process that isn’t necessarily neat and tidy as you raise children who become adults. What this lady is referring to there, Bob, is—she just appreciates somebody being authentic and real. I just want to say to this donor / this partner in ministry: “Thank you for being a part of this ministry.” You know, I was thinking, when you read that Bob—that David, when he went to war, had his mighty men. Bob: Right. 4:00 Dennis: Well, we have a group that supports this broadcast and the ministries of FamilyLife. They’re not just mighty men—they’re mighty men and mighty women. Barbara: Yes. Dennis: And they’re mighty because they care about, I believe, the oldest institution in the world / the most ...
    Show More Show Less
    42 mins
  • #1 - How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 2) - Changing Relationships

    #1 - How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 2) - Changing Relationships
    Sep 18 2020
    How Empty is Your Nest? (Part 1) - Mixed Feelings Stirred Up by the Empty NestHow Empty is Your Nest? (Part 2) - Changing RelationshipsFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Changing Relationships Guests: Barbara Rainey and Susan Yates From the series: How Empty Is Your Nest? (Day 2 of 2)Air date: August 2, 2016 Bob: If you work for Hallmark, keep listening. Susan Yates may have a suggestion for you here on a whole new line of party invitations. Susan: I would like to know, with a show of hands, how many of you have ever been to a party to celebrate the beginning of the empty nest? [Laughter] One, two— Barbara: Three. Susan: —four—oh, yay! [Laughter] Good for you all! You may be on the cutting age of a new movement in America. [Laughter] We hope so because we feel like this is a season, not to be dreaded, but to be celebrated—and oh, how we need to celebrate in the seriousness of life today. [Segment of I Just Want to Celebrate] 1:00 Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Tuesday, August 2nd. Our host is the President of FamilyLife®, Dennis Rainey, and I’m Bob Lepine. I don’t know who’s version of Celebrate that was—was that Rare Earth?—I think it was; yes. Celebrating the empty nest may sound like a paradox / a contradiction in terms, but it’s actually not. You can do it! We’ll talk more about that today. Stay with us. And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us on the Tuesday edition. You said it was a while before it dawned on you that the empty nest had finally arrived. Dennis: Yes. Bob: But I mean, you knew— Dennis: I really had all these grand plans of how I thought we would— Barbara: Yes; he did. [Laughter] Dennis: —disengage from being parents. We would flip a switch—in true male-style— Bob: Yes. Barbara: He did. Dennis: —and we’d just be driving off into the sunset in a convertible, laughing and having fun. 2:00 Bob: And the switch didn’t flip? Is that what you are saying? [Laughter] Dennis: Oh, my goodness! [Laughter] The switch may have ground its way to the other side—it took a couple of years, Bob. Bob: Barbara, let me ask you—and by the way, welcome back to FamilyLife Today. Barbara: Thanks. Bob: If you could have flipped the switch, do you think Dennis could have flipped the switch? Barbara: Oh, yes. Bob: So he was ready. He didn’t have the emotional processing moving into the empty nest that you did? Barbara: Well, he had more than I expected. I was kind of surprised because every once in a while he would walk through the house or walk around the backyard and go, “Gosh, I really miss those years with the kids.” It would surprise me because I didn’t really expect him to feel those things that I was feeling. I knew I would, but I didn’t expect him to do so. Dennis: I’d come home from work and the car would be surrounded, like it was being invaded by a group of— Barbara: Yes, all those years our kids were home. Dennis: Yes—bandits. All of a sudden, you pull up in front of the house and— Barbara: Sometimes, nobody is there because I wasn’t always there. [Laughter] 3:00 Dennis: —there is nothing happening! Barbara: I didn’t have to be home—it was great! Bob: I remember you talking—you’d come into the office. The way you described it—you said, “There’s no tension against the muscle,”—this muscle you’ve been working out with for 20-plus years. Dennis: Oh, yes. It’s called the Daddy Muscle. I mean, you’ve had to be a daddy—now, I’m still a dad / I have adult children—you know, you go home, you leave work, you pull up in front of the house, and you get ready for your second job—being a husband and being a father. Well, all of a sudden, the father-thing is out of there—I mean no tension against the muscle. Bob: You [Barbara] spent the first part of the empty nest years together with your friend, Susan Yates, who is a pastor’s wife—lives in the Washington, DC, area. The two of you collaborated on a book called Barbara and Susan’s Guide to the Empty Nest. Then, you’ve had the opportunity, in a number of settings, to speak to women on this subject. You were at Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas, a while back, and spoke to a group of women. 4:00 You outlined the key questions that women ask themselves during the empty nest years. Already, this week, we have heard you address two of those. Refresh us on what those were. Barbara: The first two questions are: “Am I the only one who feels this way?” The empty nest can be a very lonely time for women, and you are feeling things you didn’t expect to feel— and, maybe, some of them that you did. There is a real isolation factor in the empty nest. So I ...
    Show More Show Less
    46 mins

What listeners say about Barbara Rainey's Top 10 Interviews

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.