Preparing to Parent TeensSample

Day Five: Your Vision

Let’s cast a vision to our kids that extends beyond the teen era of delayed responsibilities and thickening drama. Let’s wreck our teens the way Jesus wrecks us. For him. Let’s weave our own story and passions with our values to hold out a vision of a bigger story. If we’re not living a small story, why should our teens?

And you know what? Kids respond so much better to vision than correction! We could focus on too much gossip about a certain friend or we could reframe the narrative to be about a kind and caring heart that loves the hard to love. We could easily harp on excessive amounts of screen time or we could remind her about her goals and vision and ask if another episode helps her get there.

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” You’re on the cusp of parenting a teen. Before it’s too late, imagine them in 20 years. Imagine the kind of man or woman you want them to be.

My hope is that you dream of more than just a good job, marriage, 2.5 kids, and a house. If you’ve become a mom who has made coherent sense of her story, named her passion, and defined her values, you’re a mom who knows she's been called to a much bigger story.

Reflection: Would you dream this for your child? If so, how are you going to get them there?