Parenting Above FearExemplo

Questions to Reflect On

What do I need to understand to live a fearless life?

How does that affect my parenting?  

Devotion

We are all creatives and life is filled with our imaginations of potential futures. What kind of creativity and imagination are you wedded to? Are you going to use your creative energy to lean into love, power and wise discernment or will you use your creative energy to create imaginations of fear which lead to uncertainty, anxiety and the necessity to control? 

It is easy to allow instant information and the overwhelming availability of ‘knowledge’ to convince us that we lack wisdom when it comes to parenting. This is also an expression of fear, which always drives the belief that we are alone and we don’t have within us what it takes to parent well. Lies reinforce the illusion of separateness, but the Truth is the inclusive and ever present nature of God in us. 

Who dwells within you? The spirit of fear, or the Holy Spirit who fills us with power, love, self discernment and self control, the Spirit of the Ultimate Parent, who loves your children because they are His very own.  

When you feel fear rising and your heart begins to race, practice slowing down and turning inward. Ask yourself if you are functioning from a place of fear, or a place of love. If fear is the answer, call it by name. Let it be for only a moment, and then ask love what is the Truth. Love has a name and He is always calling us to freedom from fear and into trust. 

Verses to Meditate On

2 Timothy 1:7-12:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.

That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.

Galatians 5:18-25:

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well. Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Jeremiah 29:11: 

'For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, 'plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'

Including Kids in the Conversation

When we feel afraid we begin to worry about things that might or could happen to us. The problem with this worry is that we cannot control or interact with it because it is not real. We all have amazing imaginations and we tend to use our minds to create every potential of what could go wrong. 

I want to remind you that we have been given the Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us. Read together or put into your own words Galatians 5:22-25. If the fear or worry you are experiencing does not reflect the Fruit of the Spirit, we have the power to ask the Holy Spirit what the truth is. Name your fear and say it out loud. Truth is not always the easy answer we are hoping for, but it will help us see clearly instead of becoming stuck inside our fear. 

Put into your own words or read Jeremiah 29:11 together. You are not alone and I (we) want to acknowledge how easily it is to fear instead of trust. The beauty is that we can start today.  

Questions to Ask Your Kids

Who dwells inside of you? 

Have you experienced the voice of the Holy Spirit? Can you tell me about it?

Do we have control over what happens in the future?

Do you think you can practice naming your fear when you feel stuck? Maybe it would help if we practiced together?