A PARENTING JOURNEY

This month I’ve been writing and preparing for THRIVE – Epic’s annual parenting seminar. As my husband and I have debated and discussed parenting questions and conversations, we keep returning to metaphors to describe parenting over the years. We’ve landed on one we like and we’re going to frame up our seminar this Saturday using its imagery. Here’s just a peek at what we have coming…

Mom or dad, close your eyes. Scrunch up your shoulders…then relax them. Take a deep, lung-filling breath. Hold it for just a moment. Now release that life-giving breath S-L-O-W-L-Y. Repeat one more time. Breathe in–and–out. Now, imagine a highway that is beckoning you to take a drive. Maybe it’s the Pacific Coast Highway (in California or Oregon) where you can view stunning sunsets while listening to the crash of ocean waves along the rocky shore. Maybe it’s Route 66, where you can just imagine Mater meeting Lightning McQueen alongside the earth-toned mesas rising up from the scrub brush plain. Perhaps it’s an east coast route like the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia that snakes along the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains. Wherever your highway is placed, take in the sights, sounds, and smells of being on the road.

Now imagine that you are joined by your child. He or she sits, wide-eyed at the panorama before you. Then imagine you get to view a 60 second film of your son or daughter maturing and growing from infant in the car seat to confident driver as they motor along with you on this journey. What a rush! Open your eyes. Really. Open them wide. Do you see what a gift God has given you? You get to be a parent on this journey of life.  What a trip!

On this parenting road trip YOU are maturing and growing too. Changed from – perhaps – the party bus of young adulthood (what seat belts? And how many people can we fit into the Mazda 626 on the way home from the mall?) into the mama who triple checks the locks on the car seat and also drives by the local fire station to ensure the base of her Graco infant seat is snugly fastened in the Honda minivan, ready to bring baby home from the hospital. A little later on the journey, mama becomes an expert in doling out Goldfish crackers and juice boxes,  breaking up back seat spats, and redirecting focus to the audiobook so she can drive without hitting the brakes hard every other block. (I speak of my own journey of course.) Thank goodness we can grow through all these stages, learning lessons at each pit stop, ready to return to the highway that God has placed before us, with a map to guide us and a tune on the radio to hum along with as we navigate what it means to be parents.

For parents who are followers of Jesus, we can be bold and confident, knowing that we can use God’s word to guide us–Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105–what better map for our journey than the Bible? In addition, prayer and people who help us navigate our family vehicle draw us ever closer to the path of spiritual wisdom, which can bring light and awareness to ease those miles as our kids move from rider to driver.

I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. Ephesians 1:16-19 NLT

As a community of praying parents, we might notice after time and miles of steady instruction that our children have sprung upwards and are clamoring to drive themselves. Tentatively, and then more confidently, we check off the pre-driving checklist. Does she know how to love God and others as herself? Does he model humility in asking for forgiveness and grace, and also extend mercy to others? Do they both care deeply about building their faith toolkit so they can weather the storms on the road? If the answers to these questions are YES for your children, then they are ready to be handed the keys. For their journey has just begun…

Want to get even more practical? Toss the metaphor and get real about raising children to be successful on their own journeys! Join us for our THRIVE seminar on Saturday, October 21st from 8:30am - 11:30am at Epic Church. RSVP today and we’ll have breakfast for you, family style worship, childcare for your little people, and then we’ll discuss the lanes of the parenting journey: spiritual, physical, emotional, and academic. Hear from several parents in our community who have traveled with Jesus on their parenting journey – be encouraged.

Join us! You are loved and your family’s presence is a blessing to our community!

Grace and peace,

Annikki

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October Epic Kids Elementary Unit Verse

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