Adventure Together - A 5-Day Devotional Sample

Adventure Together DAY 2: 

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Or intentionally chose to do something you knew would be hard? These kinds of experiences are important. They build confidence. They help us grow. They actually breed more success. Doing new and challenging things is also really important for us as parents. Because it puts us in our kids’ shoes for a while, giving us the opportunity to have empathy for their experiences. . . .

As adults, it’s easy to brush our children’s feelings aside, because their troubles often are small in comparison to ours. Have you ever said something like this to your kids? (Be honest.) “You have no idea what hard is! You should try living my life for a little while.” Just because our grown-up life is most likely more difficult than our kids’ lives, we don’t have to dismiss their feelings as they work through the struggle.

Of course, it’s imperative for us to encourage our kids to try new things, to meet new people, and to learn new skills. But we must show them kindness and gentleness during the process. We need to give them grace when it’s hard. We need to hug them and say, “It’s okay to be scared.” We need to root for them and let them know we are standing behind them or next to them, and that we always will be. If we truly want to connect with them in the process of walking through hard things, we need to understand where they are coming from. We need to do the hard thing ourselves.

• So, I’m saying: go for it!
• Be the new kid.
• Be a beginner.
• Be not good at something.
• Struggle.
• Be scared.
• It will help you understand your kids.
• It will help you know your kids.
• It will help you connect with your kids.

Step out of your comfort zone and into your child’s experiences. It will only strengthen the connections between your hearts.