Starting Off the School Year Well

Today’s big question:

How do you, as a parent, emotionally and spiritually set yourself up for starting the school year off well? I want to propose four truths to consider, and what we might do in response to these truths.

Audible credits have allowed me to enjoy books such as Free to Focus, Atomic Habits, Harry Potter books, and The Body Keeps the Score. I highly recommend Parenting by Paul David Tripp. In it are not tips and tricks on how to be a good parent, but direction on resetting your heart for what God has called you to do.

Want to try audible for free? www.audibletrial.com/letsparentonpurpose

Show Highlights

Truth #1: My children are my Treasure.
1. Is there anything in this life that you have invested more time, effort, energy, and resources in than your children?
2. Family Wealth by James Hughes.
  1. In Family Wealth, Hughes writes about how families can preserve their wealth for multiple generations. The greatest treasures in your family are the individuals in your family, as well as their ideas and their capabilities.
3. We spend so little time strategically thinking through the multiple generations that are going to come out of us. Are you thinking about your grandkids? Your great-grandkids?
4. When I take my kid to school, I am dropping off the greatest treasure God has given me outside of my personal salvation and marriage relationship.
Truth #2: My Children are God’s Arrows
1. Psalm 127:4— my favorite verse.
  1. “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.”
  2. Your children are God’s arrows. You have your children in the quiver. You sharpen them. You launch them into the world as God’s ambassadors. They are your ambassadors, too. Kids carry your family name.
Truth #3: My Children are Excited
1. They are seeing new people, opportunities, clothes, shoes.
2. The unknown creates real excitement.
Truth #4: My Children are Scared
1. There is a lot of unknown with the beginning of each year. We do poorly to minimize what they are scared of, to dismiss it.
2. Middle school is as hard to navigate as any time of life, period. Including adulthood.
3. To the capacity that they are right now, this is as hard as they have ever experienced, and it’s going to push them and stretch them. There is pressure to succeed.
  1. In that pressure to succeed, every child seems to want to really stand out, but also fit in completely at the same time.
4. We are in a hyper-achieving culture. There is high pressure to succeed academically, athletically, and morally. Our children are scared of failure.
5. Being different is awesome except being different is awful. There is turmoil inside. We want to be great, and get recognized and be noticed, but only for that exact perfect thing all the time.
6. It’s very important to pay attention to your conversations as you get your child ready for school.
  1. We may or may not know what we are dropping them into. We do not want to add another weight to their soul as they head into school.

Your kids are your treasure. Your kids are God’s arrows. Your kids are excited. Your kids are scared. It’s good for us to remember that as we set ourselves up to enter the year as best we can, and so we can set our children up to thrive.

What can we do in response to these truths?

Think about grounding routines for you and your family.
1. Your family is more important than school, sports, clubs, and work.
2. What works for you that is regular, rhythmic, and consistent for your family to do as a grounding routine?

1. 1. I recommend my free resource, Fun Family Conversations. Use routine to invest in your kids.

1. Develop statements for your kids’ identity, mission, purpose, and affirmation.

Margin—Everything is easier with margin.
1. Leave space in your day.
2. Don’t’ allow your kids to be involved in everything, they’ll be happier.
Power of the Debrief.
1. Ask questions: “How is this different in light of the fact that Jesus died and rose from the dead?”
2. Teach your kids to apply the gospel to all areas of their life.