everyday spiritual parenting {update}

we’re nearing the final weeks of our Everyday Spiritual Parenting class. it's hard to capture in a blog post all that's been happening in the class and in the hearts of parents. this i know for sure -- God's spirit has been moving and encircling the groups, and each week, parents have left inspired.  

for this class, we tried a new formula: 

child development expert + faith development expert + practical parent.  

the six-week class focused each week on a different age {Infants/Toddlers, Age 2/3, Age 4/5, K/1, Grade 2|3, Grade 4|5}. FYI: this is a winning combination. 

at the beginning of each class, i remind parents of 3 things: (1) you're doing a great job (2) you're never alone, and (3) every day faith formation is possible for your child. i'm reminded every single time -- there isn't an over-abundance of encouraging voices in parents' lives. positive, truthful words are one of the greatest gifts we offer parents as they seek to grow their children's faiths. 

in last week's class, on grade 2|3 development, christina klinepeter, incredible mom of 2 boys shared her definition of spiritual parenting:

shaping a child’s heart, brain and body to look for, feel and know the presence of God and teaching them to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.

in light of spiritual parenting, success for christina's family looks like: making good choices, developing a servant heart, having resilience, being aware and feeling God's presence, standing up for justice, fighting for peace, loving their neighbors and those different from them, becoming generous, and willing to take risks. i love that she's defined real, tangible points of success. 

AND! her spiritual goals for her children:

• I want their spirituality to be authentic
• I want their spirituality to be intertwined into their every day life. 
• I want them to know the vastness of God. That He is everywhere and in everything.
• I want their spirituality to be life-giving. 

i mean. SO GOOD.  i've learned a lot during this class -- first and possibly most important: always give parents a platform to share their experiences. they're HUNGRY to share. they're experts. AND, in highlighting multiple expressions of parenting, we'll {hopefully} get rid of the comparison game. instead, helping parents see they're best equipped to lead their unique child. my job, as family pastor, is to appropriately facilitate and create experiences for these types of community and learning to happen.

Comments

[Eric Hensen]

Parenting is a skill and act that we should perform sincerely; our child's future is completely depending upon effective parenting skills. Therefore we should play a role model in front of our kids and teach them what is good and what is bad; there are several ways of parenting and from here we aware about spiritual parenting and I hope people should learn some best techniques from here in order to develop their parenting skills.