Growing With By Kara Powell And Steven ArgueSample

Day One

A Mutual Journey

Scripture: Philippians 1:6

As parents, we often feel the gap between us and our kids widening as they grow up. We fear the gap is not just a symptom of growing up but of growing apart. That’s where Growing With parenting comes in. We define Growing With parenting as a mutual journey of intentional growth for both ourselves and our children that trusts God to transform us all. 

Let’s unpack this sentence. Growing With parenting is . . .

. . . a mutual journey, meaning a relational odyssey with our kids. Growing With parenting values relationship and responsiveness over tasks and techniques, pursues our kids rather than waiting for them to go first, and accepts the kid we have, not the kid we wish we had. 

. . . of intentional growth in that as we watch our kids gain more autonomy, we are not rendered irrelevant (even when we feel so). Instead, our kids need us in crucial new ways. Growing With parenting works toward solutions rather than only identifying problems, catching our kids doing things right rather than only naming the things they do wrong. 

. . . for both ourselves and our children, meaning we shift focus from getting our kids to do or change something to how we change with our kids. That means Growing With parenting pays attention without obsessively controlling.

. . . that trusts God to transform us all, so while we can pursue relational, intentional, and personal parenting goals, we acknowl¬edge that there are no parenting formulas. The only sure thing is that God loves our kids and us and has entrusted us to each other. Let’s be faithful parents who commit to develop alongside our kids, while trusting God’s commitment to transform us all.

Growing With parenting believes that God is working in us as much as through us. It reflects the truth of Philippians 1:6 that God is completing his good work in each of us. It nurtures our kids to grow in God’s image, not ours, and believes that no parenting situation is a “lost cause”—because with God there’s always hope. 

Jesus, by your grace, grant us faith to trust you with our kids as well as courage to grow with them through our parenting. Spark in us a more expansive vision for this journey—a vision not only about who they might become, but also about who we might become. Amen.