Spiritual Parenting Class ~ Week 1

Life aspects I'm passionate about are plentiful.

Lip gloss.


A new read.


Having friends over for dinner.


Baking cookies, then eating them directly out of the oven~ doughy and gooey, leaving chocolate chip strings all over my mouth.


A curly hair product that actually works, without leaving crunchy leaves in my do!

Those are some of the frivolous things.


Serious passions, those that leave lasting fingerprints are ~

Being lovingly called-to-the-carpet by my hubby about a personal growth opportunity.


Watching my son apologize because of his heart, not because he was told to.


Experiencing answered prayers.


Seeing hearts softened by the Holy Spirit.


But, there are few things that get me more jazzed, more piping passionate, and pull at my heartstrings like no other, than the topic of parenting.

No, not the

Do you use organic milk?

or

Oh, you spank?


type of parenting.

But the gut-honest-raw-vulnerable-I'm-trying-to-survive-each-day-and-raise-these-lil'-buggers-to- know-God-and-love-people parenting.

That's when my passion level is at an all-time high.

Which is why I'm beyond freakin' excited about the next six weeks, as Bryan and I take the Spiritual Parenting Class at our church. Spiritual Parenting. Facilitated by staff, and taught by author, Michelle Anthony, in video format, I know we are in for pivotal, parenting wisdom.

If you've got the parenting thing dialed in, good for you! You deserve a big gold star!

As for me, I need all the help I can get~ all the prayer friends can send up, endless mugs of caffeine, and a life-time supply of Kleenex for tears already, and yet-to-be shed.

It's super hard, this parenting thing.
Unlike kids that are placed on Pre-School waiting lists long before they are even born, I was on the Spiritual Parenting Class waiting list before the book was written!

So grab some tea, give yourself a big fat pat on the back, and allow me to share the weekly highlights from the Spiritual Parenting Class.

~ Obviously as spiritual parents, we want to raise awesome, Christian people.
With great intentions, we often sprinkle them with a little Jesus talk, hope their Sunday School teachers do the rest, and pray!
As parents, it is our responsibility to teach our kids about faith. The family is God's best plan for teaching  faith.


~ And what is faith?
Belief in the unseen, a personal surrender, and a transformed life. If all three ain't happenin' it ain't faith!


~ Spiritual Parenting is not perfect parenting!
Phew, this was good to hear, since I'm quite far from perfection. 


~ God is my only audience! In a culture that compares everything and everyone, I can't measure myself to another parent, nor my kids to other kids.
This one especially pricked at my heart. I can't say how many times I look at other moms that appear to have it all together, or their lil' angels appear like... lil' angels, and my brain starts the downward comparison spiral. 'God is my only audience' is the newest tattoo etched on my heart.

~ The goal of Spiritual Parenting is to give God His place as first in charge. Bryan and I get to come alongside Him, and create a home environment for our kiddos to rely on the Holy Spirit. It's not about managing behavior, and creating polite and moral kids {even though that is a good thing}, but passing on a vibrant, transforming faith to our kids! A faith in which they would hear God's voice, obey His voice, and rely on the Holy Spirit {not themselves} to obey.

Practically, this is seen in the everyday. In the conversations I have with them as we clean up toys, go on walks, as I discipline, and when I encourage my boys to listen for the zillionth time. If I remember that God is redeeming every moment to create transforming faith in my kids, I'll sure as heck take advantage and view everyday concepts as teachable moments!

Michelle shared a cool illustration of a faith continuum, with the left side being parents that protect their kids from "the world" by only letting them hang out with other Christians, attend church activities, and "act good." On the far right, are the parents who let their kids jump into "the world" and figure it out as they go.

The left spectrum can easily concentrate on what our kids "don't do"~
well, they don't smoke, or drink, or blah blah blah...


But what if instead of concentrating on what our kids don't do, their good deeds separate them from the world? After all, we are to be in the world, not of the world. We want to raise kids that go boldly into the world with a vibrant, authentic faith!

This point was tidal wave huge to me. I strive to raise polite, obedient children, but unless their hearts are transformed by the Holy Spirit, I'm simply managing their behavior, as opposed to encouraging them to live a full life of faith, not fear!

~ Another highlight specifically struck a heartstring with my hubby, and involved how we relate with our kids.
As they get older {especially with boys}, yes, we can keep the computer in the living room, barbwire it with filters, and instruct them to
Not. look. at. porn.

Or, we can have a conversation with them. About how real the struggle is. About, how as parents, we struggle with our own sin issues {whatever that be}. We reach our children on their level, and share the messiness of our own faith. This not only creates a safe place in us as parents, but it proves we are not perfect, that we have our own struggles, and we too, rely on the Holy Spirit.

Bryan and I want our boys to talk with us. Share with us. We realize at some point we won't be cool. What? you ask, how this can be possible with all the dance parties and ice cream you eat?


But we know that day will inevitably come. Our prayer is that by sharing our faith journey with our kids, our own struggles and strengths, that hopefully they'll be more apt to talk with us about the deeper issues. Together with the Holy Spirit, we can be a family that exudes vibrant faith!

There you have it ~ highlights from our first Spiritual Parenting Class. Stay tuned for the next five weeks.