Kingdom Parenting

Kingdom Parenting

Partnering with our child's Creator

COVERING YOUR TEENS

Two of my teens were working through some big things. It caused us all to find a new way of responding and relating with each other. They aren’t five years old anymore and need to be given the space to manage things on their own, even if it means they are waffling a bit. It’s challenging for me at times. God woke me up quite early, and I snuck out of bed to spend time with Him. I heard Him tell me to pray for the kids, but I got this sense I was to sit outside their bedrooms. I grabbed my worship music and AirPods, sat in the dark at 4am outside their bedrooms, and just prayed in the spirit. I began seeing things affecting them, weighing on their hearts, and I felt an overwhelming sense of compassion for them. I asked, “God, how come I haven’t seen that before?” and heard Him say that I so often expect the kids to come into my world – my agenda, my schedule, my teaching, my instruction, my leadership, etc., but haven’t been very good about crawling into their world. UGH! I repented! And then prayed like a mama bear for her children.

WORD CURSES

When I hear of parents saying their kids are such brats, mean, little devils, terrors, a little spoiled diva, crabby, disrespectful, or a nightmare, what I hear is, “I have not yet figured out how to be an intentional parent to teach, train and equip my child with skills that will make them successful in life.”

GENERATIONS

We all must stand at the crossroads and decide what part of our parent’s parenting we want to keep and what needs to be brought into alignment with His Kingdom. We do so honorably to our parent’s own journey knowing that they were simply walking out their own story of what they experienced.

LINGER WITH JESUS

Fight to be a Mary in this loud season. Find His feet and linger there. This affects your mind and heart and brings a calm and peace your children are desperate for at this hour. They don’t want to be doing more; they want to know the peace from a mother that has gazed upon Jesus long enough to transform her.

JOY IS ESSENTIAL IN THIS HOUR

If you are having waves of stress from all the uncertainties in the world, can you imagine how children feel? JOY is essential in this hour!!!!!

GOOD FRUIT

I once heard a leader say he never once responded to his children in anger (not once, people!) At first, I thought he was bluffing as he has three children. Never? Not once? In all honesty, it agitated me for a few weeks. Maybe because I knew I couldn’t say that, or maybe because him saying that cut him off from anyone else being able to relate to him. I wanted to ask him further about it when God spoke this to me. He said, “Lisa, this son is a FIFTH-generation believer. His life is what it looks like when generations honor and follow me.” WHOA. I became deeply encouraged that my children and children’s children will do it much better than I did because of what I am sowing into. Give yourself some grace for how God has chosen to use your generation to impact future generations.

TEACH IN THE TIME OF PEACE

May I encourage you to see something?

Think of the last thing you disciplined or got frustrated with your child over. Now ask yourself what you have done to proactively teach your child in that area. Parenting equals being a teacher, not just a disciplinarian. Set your child up for success by teaching them what you DO want, not just reacting to what you don’t want.

BABY MOSES

Baby Moses was the answer to the Israelites’ plea for help from their bondage that lasted for generations. So, what is God birthing through your child? Time will tell. How you steward the calling on their life is the difference between slavery and freedom for others.

WATER WHEEL

Have you ever watched a water wheel? Water wheels turn the energy of falling water into power. Let me put that into context with parenting. When parents take something and pass it down to their children, it becomes power. When parents read the ongoing content to Let the Children Fly and pass it down to their children, it becomes power. I am not looking for an AMEN (or likes) with every single post. I am looking for parents who are willing to be intentional to steward it and share it with their children in the van, over dinner, or at bedtime. The families that produce the most amount of POWER are the ones who hear the word of the Lord and PASS IT ON to their children. Become a water wheel parent giving your children constant drips of truth and watch and see the POWER that is generated from a family dipping in Him.

SOBERING REALITY OF PARENTING

When my daughter was 10, she was working through being honest with her heart. She would often have tears in her eyes but a smile on her face. I could tell something wasn’t right and that she was dealing with something heavy, but she always told me she was ‘fine.’ One night, we went for a family walk, and the smile on her face didn’t match the heaviness all around her. After the walk, I sent everyone inside and sat with her on the driveway. I told her that lying, even to herself, is still a sin and that the truth sets us free. I was not prepared for what she was about to tell me. She told me that she had been battling thoughts of suicide for the past year. It started as a foreign thought, and she took it captive, but the thoughts kept coming back again and again. Each time she dealt with it knowing it was a lie, but she was getting overwhelmed by the rapid rate at which the thoughts were coming to her. My baby girl was battling the same thing I did as a child, and I felt so overwhelmed with guilt that I had opened the door and paved the way for her struggle. I was dumbfounded, felt paralyzed, and was crushed. I knew I needed help processing it, so I called a mentor friend and asked her to come over. I cried through an entire Kleenex box, and she just listened to my sobs. She finally responded and said, “Lisa, it doesn’t work that way. You HAVE repented and closed the door to suicide. She isn’t struggling because there is a legal right of the enemy. The enemy throws the lie out to anyone who will listen. She discerned it was a lie and was dealing with it. She never acted on it, and it came to light tonight.” I learned a very sobering reality about parenting that night. Our children have an enemy and must learn how to fight their own battles. They do not get a ‘get out of jail free’ card just because you have overcome your battles. They have to pick up their sword and fight for themselves. Of course, our freedom makes it easier for them, but they have the same enemy and must be taught how to overcome it with the tools of heaven. We need to be teaching our children how to: hear God’s voice, discern the enemy’s lies, renounce the lie, and ask Jesus for His truth.