Rhythms for God-Centered Parenting

Full disclosure, this post should really be called, “Help!  I am Parenting Teenagers!”  As I enter the teenage parenting years, I am reminded more and more each day that I am not in control of my children.  They are learning to make their own choices, find their own voice and practice independence.  I have laid a foundation for what God-centered living looks like, but at the end of the day they have to make their own choices and find their own faith.  And it is God who changes their hearts.So how do I approach parenting my children in light of my powerlessness to save them and change their hearts? 

Advent

Advent gives us the unique opportunity to acknowledge all our feelings.  God actually wants us to feel all those feelings, to reflect upon them.  The rhythm of Advent, with all our hopes, fears and desires, can show us that we too are threaded into God’s tapestry of redemption.  Because Advent should bring out a feeling of MORE.  A feeling of LONGING.