With all the back-to-school hustle, we often remember to buy new sneakers, backpacks, folders, and sports gear but forget some of the essential life tools. Here’s a quick reminder of some of the bigger wins that will help your children succeed in life. Let’s give our kids some power tools to work with!
The Power of Prayer
Your prayers are essential. Let them know you are praying for them. Ask them if there’s anything specific you can pray for them about. I’d even encourage you to take an extra five minutes as a family to lay hands on your children and pray a prayer of commissioning for them to go out into the school-world full of God’s wisdom, love, and joy.
The Power of Your Encouragement
I know it can feel like we are constantly correcting our kids and expecting them to do better. But this turn of a season is a great opportunity to stop and tell them that you’re proud of them. In your own words, express something in their character that is unique and exceptional. If that’s too difficult to do with words, then write it in a note and hide it in their backpack. Look past the problems you see and call out the person you see them becoming.
The Power to Learn, Make Mistakes, and Fail
Kids and teens are under a lot of pressure to perform these days—to have the perfect clothes, look beautiful on social media, be an all-star athlete, or get scholarships with stellar academics. The truth is we learn most through exploration and failure. We learn most by trying something different or original and discovering ‘why’ it didn’t work. We grow through the messy process of practice and perseverance. Cheer for your children’s creativity and mistakes. That means they have the courage to expand their horizons and grow. That means they are confident in their identity and not just their performance. Make learning and growing a joyful lifetime journey, not a pressure-packed sprint to a false finish line.
The Power to Love Others
Our kids go to public school. We’ve felt the Lord’s grace to send them there. One reason is because we want them to learn to interact with and love people who are very different from themselves. We want them to learn to appreciate people and care for people even if they don’t have the same values. We don’t pressure our kids to be extraordinary missionaries, but just to know that the joy of Jesus is a superpower that is inside of them. They can live in the freedom of love and generosity of spirit.
The Power to Discern and Set Boundaries
And, of course, in a generation that doesn’t believe in rules, boundaries, or limitations, it is important to train our children to be wise. Not everything they hear is true. We are teaching them to discern the truth for themselves. We are giving them the tools to select healthy friends, filter their screen content, or dialogue about something the teacher said.
Conclusion
Kids are awesome! And I believe the Holy Spirit is empowering this next generation to solve problems that don’t even exist yet. God is their life source, and he’s got all they need to meet every challenge and live an abundant life in him. As parents, we get to participate with the Holy Spirit in raising beautiful people to be unique, powerful, free, and full of the love and fear of the Lord. How cool is that?!
