It Starts With Me / From Diapers to Diapers

To be the best parent starts with me not having the best children. I coach my kids baseball. I love it when they perform well in their sports. I love it when they do well on their their their exams in school. I I love it when my teachers have conferences and they say, oh, your child is a joy to have in class. Usually, that's the answer. But my child being the the pedestal child that is that is for all to see how great and amazing he is, isn't the goal of parenting. The goal is for me to be the best person and parent that I can be so I can teach my child how to be a successful adult. [00:02:36] (45 seconds)  #ParentingStartsWithYou

We reproduce the things that are inside of us and our children see that on a daily basis. Our children need to see authenticity. We live in the social media world. Everybody posts all the good things and none of the bad unless they're looking for sympathy. Our children need to see that there is realness to a marriage. There is realness to difficulties going on in our lives and how we overcome or just continue on in life. The goal is not to be the absolute perfect parent. The goal is for us as humans to be humble, for us as humans to continually be growing together, to be filled with grace, emulating the things that Jesus showed to us every single day. [00:11:31] (61 seconds)  #AuthenticParenting

Our children are studying a book every single day. They're studying curriculum, they're seeing every single day who we are and how we react to situations. We as parents are that textbook. They're seeing and they're growing and they're pulling from us every single day. Having deep inside of us the knowledge of the the fruit of the spirit, the knowledge of what scripture has to say, the knowledge of how Jesus lived his life and how he showed his compassion and his grace and his love over and over and over again. What lives inside of us, our children see. [00:07:07] (71 seconds)  #ParentsAreTextbooks

What do we need to see in our own walks? What do we need to see in our own spaces? What do we need to be a little more authentic? How can we build our relationship stronger with our spouse? How can we be the best person and most authentic person that we can be that truly points our children towards who Jesus is? That is how we can be the best parents. We be the best parents by being true and whole and authentic to ourselves. [00:29:55] (35 seconds)  #LeadByAuthenticity

It doesn't talk about how good your children are. No, it talks about us, the condition of us as the parent. Are we healthy and are we pursuing who God is? Are we focused on loving the Lord our God with all of our hearts and all of ourselves? Does his truth, does his word shape who we are on a daily basis? And we take the things that we learn from what scripture says, what God is breathing into our lives, we take those things and we diligently teach our children to follow along with us. [00:04:54] (47 seconds)  #RootedInFaith

And he encouraged them. We can see regardless of what I say at the end of that game, regardless of what I say to these kids, the outcome of the game is done. We've lost. There are more opportunities in in the future, no doubt. But the words in which I use to respond to these kids makes a lasting impression. The words that I use to encourage or to criticize, to build tension or to bring peace, to throw shame or have grace, to desire control or show love and compassion, those words carry on all the way through this season and it's the same in my household. [00:20:40] (51 seconds)  #WordsMatterInParenting

When we lean ourselves and we're transformed by who Jesus is, it's not ourselves doing the work in us. It is us submitting and releasing ourselves to God. Some of you have had situations in your own parents that was not the best situation. I've heard many stories of my my father's upbringing. My my dad and my mother's upbringing were completely separate tracks of life. Yet they got to choose. Do I center myself on God? Do I center myself on the the the ways in which God teaches of us to parent, to be as people in this world? Or do I choose to follow along with what my parents taught? [00:23:05] (55 seconds)  #ChooseTransformingFaith

And he spoke of the simplicity of what it means to have this male role model. The things that he got to experience like a Red Wings game or a Bills game, or going to the movies. He had the simplicity of a male role model simply spending time with him, showing him what it means to be a man growing up. This child went from having all sorts of different issues at school to turning to Jesus and praying. The opportunity is there. God calls of us to be parents in our lives. It doesn't mean that we all have offspring, it doesn't mean all of those things. What it means is that as adults, as we grow up and we we live in this life, we're called to breathe into this next generation. [00:27:01] (63 seconds)  #MentorTheNextGen