Family Discipleship at Pathway

In this special class, as part of our Family Discipleship series, we dove into the topic of Gender Identity and how to navigate this topic as parents. There are no quick-fixes or one-size-fits-all solutions. But as we examine our position and our posture, we want to ensure as parents that we can maintain a firm biblical position while living with a gracious posture.

We aren't meant to have all the answers immediately, but, rather, we want to keep the conversation going, seek understanding, and respond with grace and wisdom. Parenting is hard. We're thankful to be on this journey together!

As our kids grow and develop there are going to be times when we don’t understand our kids or what they are experiencing. It might be because our personalities are different from those of our children. Whatever the reason, we will be faced with times where we just don't understand where our kids are coming from.

So how do we parent when we don’t understand? That is the question we seek to answer in today's video.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fx6E-E9xcUg

Visit our Website: familyatpathway.com

How you manage your own doubt in your faith and with your kids will go a long way in the form of family discipleship. You are leading by example that you don’t have all the answers, questions are okay, doubt is okay, and pursuing honest answers and capital “T” Truth is a worthy endeavor. 

Don’t let doubt discourage you. And don’t let doubt just sit there. Pursue the question until you find the answer. Be willing to ask hard questions and embrace hard truths. That is one impactful way to disciple your kid through their own doubts as you set the example.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/b-Uj8G-xWYM

Visit our website: familyatpathway.com

As parents, we all want to see our kids flourish in their faith. We want to see them take the faith that we are passing down to them and take ownership of it. We want to see them fall in love with Jesus and live lives that glorify him. 

But how do we respond when our kids ask difficult questions or express doubt? What do we do when we see them wrestling with their faith? Those are the questions we seek to dive into in today's message.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AHprkJOYfAo

Visit our website: familyatpathway.com

Parenting takes on many different forms. And it changes in significant ways depending on the phase you are in as a parent, the phase your kid is in, the number of kids you have, and whether you’re parenting as a single parent or with a spouse. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to parenting.

However, today what we want to talk about is the heart of parenting. Though there isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy or approach to parenting, I believe there is one common heart we can have as parents toward our kids.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/miNLK6pUAtM

Visit our website: familyatpathway.com

Distinctive Opportunities are defined as opportunities to help kids to know God, relate to God, and experience God’s love as they move through each phase.

How can we help our kids to know God with all their heart, soul, and strength? Well, we need to recognize that with each new phase, our kids might need help figuring out how to know God in the current phase they are. It won’t be perfect all the time, but being aware of the different needs of each of your kids will help guide your family time. 

Each phase is unique and different and each phase has a new distinctive opportunity that can be used to help our children mature in their relationship with God. God doesn’t change, but we do! As your children change and grow, don’t miss the opportunities you have to help them rediscover how to love God with each passing phase. 

PHASE website: https://justaphase.com/  

PHASE book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Phase-So-Dont-Miss/dp/194125943X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6SHTKYP0HWSL&keywords=just+a+phase&qid=1661445142&sprefix=just+a+phas%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NGVNUR-JAYA

A “present reality” is defined as knowing where your kid is right now and seeking to understand how they are changing physically, mentally, relationally, spiritually, culturally, emotionally, morally, etc. in their current phase. 

As we guide our kids along in these present realities, we do so from a foundation of the love of God toward us. It is through that love and by that love that we guide our kids to know God and fall in love with Him. 

Take a minute to evaluate your relationships: 

FIRST, with God. Are you spending enough time with Him? Are you engaging in prayer and Bible study as more than just checking off your list but instead as something that actually transforms you? 

SECOND, with your kid(s). Are you engaging them intentionally in relationship? How can you make intentional engagement and discipleship a part of your parenting norm?  

PHASE website: https://justaphase.com/  

PHASE book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Phase-So-Dont-Miss/dp/194125943X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6SHTKYP0HWSL&keywords=just+a+phase&qid=1661445142&sprefix=just+a+phas%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-QOZJ0GDKEs

Every Phase has significant relationships that are influential and, as parents, we want to be one of them! 

If we want to have influence over our kids, we need to reinvent the way we relate to our kids as they move through different phases. When we parent young kids, we spend time meeting their physical needs. However, the older our kids get, the more relational we want our influence to be.

We need to be intentional with the time we do have. We also need to keep in mind that the older our kids get, the more voices there will be influencing them. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a voice my kids value. And in order to be a voice that is valued, we need to do the work to engage our kids when they are young so that we build relational trust for the future.

Phase Website: https://justaphase.com/

Phase book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Phase-So-Dont-Miss/dp/194125943X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6SHTKYP0HWSL&keywords=just+a+phase&qid=1661445142&sprefix=just+a+phas%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/scYNqNC0RQc

A parent has about 936 weeks between a child’s birth and that child’s graduation. We don’t want you to miss what’s happening during the critical phases of growing up.

In this week's video, we talk about these phases and the three distinctives of every phase.

Questions to discuss: What would it look like to maximize discipleship at your kid(s) current phase? How have you seen them growing and changing over the past few months or year? 

Your kid doesn’t need you to be perfect through the phase, they need you to be present in their phase and walk them through it.

PHASE website: https://justaphase.com/

PHASE book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Phase-So-Dont-Miss/dp/194125943X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6SHTKYP0HWSL&keywords=just+a+phase&qid=1661445142&sprefix=just+a+phas%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/scYNqNC0RQc

Today we talk about something that happens literally every day, and how to use that for discipleship. This is the key of family discipleship: not adding to our already full calendars, but utilizing what is already there with intentionality for discipleship.

Bedtime. What does the bedtime routine for your kids look like and how might it be able to be used for redemptive purposes of pointing them to Christ? Let’s jump into our Fridays are for Families episode to talk more about it!