From Protected to Projected- Part 1

As parents, we are given our children with the intention that we would parent them according to the plan and purpose of God. Our biggest task in parenting is not to raise our kids needing us to get through life- but needing God. Bottom line, our purpose in parenting is to raise our children to be God’s greatest asset to His Kingdom when they are adults. When they are little, our job is to take care of their physical needs first- feeding, dressing, washing, and loving. As they grow, our job shifts to guiding and directing on a daily basis, then as lessons are learned, it becomes more on an occasional basis that our input is required...if we’ve done our job correctly. Finally, upon adulthood (which is where most of us question the occurrence) our kids should be functioning, additions to our society that draw others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

So,

• How do we parent in a way that result in assets rather than liabilities to God’s Kingdom? 
• How do shift our mindset from that of our current culture of parenting to the challenges laid out before us in the Bible? 
• How do we project our kids into a lifestyle of ministry after we’ve protected them from all that the world has to offer? 

This series is not a manual explaining discipline issues or reward charts, but rather a reminder that our kids have not been given to us to squander, but to prepare to take over the wonderful challenge of reaching the world with the gospel for the next generation. Our kids are not our entertainment or our reason for a packed weekly schedule in our attempt at keeping up with the status quo. Surprisingly enough, raising our children with the final goal in mind is our greatest task as parents. When our daily routines and habits are built in a way that ensures we reach our final goal, our calendars will look much different than others found in our society. Our reasons for setting the standards in our home, participating in community groups, setting our family budget and requiring our children to grow up with God and others on the forefront of their mind is cause for living a radically different life than other families around.    

Some of you might have found this series while your small one’s sticky fingers are pulling at your pants leg while others of you are turning to whatever source you can find to calm your fears about sending your teenager in to the wild world of college- either way, it isn’t too late to rethink and strategize your next parenting moves with the help of our God!

Come back -and sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox- to keep reading! From Protected to Projected will run for awhile and we will see where it goes. I would be honored if you shared (and pinned) this post with your friends and family.

Love,
Lindsay