Prepare Them For Launch

How do you engage your kids on topics like “wokeism” and cancel culture? Never have opinions been more polarized, and never have we needed wisdom like we do today.  Join in the conversation as we talk to special guest Kevin Zimmerman, a pastor at Friends Church in Orange, who encourages us to let Jesus be our guide in showing grace, empathy, and compassion to others, starting with our children.

What's the most important thing we can do as we prepare our kids for launch? In this episode, we hear from Raj and Lisa Qsar — the parents of Hannah — as they share what her teenage years taught them. Don’t miss this candid and enlightening conversation that dives into their successes and challenges.

Join the conversation as we talk to a teen who’s on the verge of leaving the nest and launching her life. What is she feeling and experiencing? And how have her parents made the transition attainable? Though launching is one of the primary goals of parenting, there are emotions to navigate when our kids finally spread their wings and fly. Listen in as we hear one teenager’s account of this complex and exciting season.

What is depression and how does it differ from anxiety? Can parents really know when their kids are battling it? These important questions are addressed by therapists Leah and Matt Heim as they share how to journey alongside teens who have moved from enjoying life to struggling to survive.

What’s the difference between anxiety and stress? How do you know when your kids’ everyday routines become too much for them to cope with? Join us as we welcome husband and wife Leah and Matt Heim, who are both licensed marriage and family therapists. Together, they unpack how to distinguish stress from anxiety and what parents can do to help. They also discuss “co-regulation,” or how mom and dad can mirror their children’s emotions to help them identify, express, and process their own.

Peer into the brain of a teenager dealing with anxiety and depression and see what life looks like on her side of the glass wall. Listen in as we welcome Mariah, Natalie’s teenage daughter, who shares about her own mental health battle, and hear how and when it started and what she needed to feel loved and supported.

Every teenager is a walking bundle of questions. In their book 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager, Kara Powell and Brad Griffin from Fuller Youth Institute get to the core of what kids really want to know: “Who am I?” (identity), “Where do I fit?” (belonging), and “What difference can I make?” (purpose). In this episode, co-author Brad Griffin shares the findings of the book’s research on the upcoming generation, and he offers us the rare opportunity to ponder these questions before they arise so we can communicate them to our children.

A glass wall is any barrier to having an authentic and transparent relationship with your kids. Though you may see each other and spend time in each other's presence, there are spaces of emptiness between you — hidden assumptions that you can’t or won’t truly understand. Thankfully, with empathy, insight, and the right outlook, glass walls can be broken, and a totally honest relationship is fully attainable. Listen in as we share this important discussion about tearing down barriers between parents and teens.

Natalie Washington and Co-host AJ Dean care deeply about raising a generation of kids poised to change the world.  Listen as they share who they are and why they care about you, the life of your child, and the journey you are on together.