Did you know that we’ve been parents for over 30 years? We can still remember holding each of our children as newborns and feeling overwhelmed by our love for them. But we also had many fears about raising our children in a world that is so broken and full of dangers. While we knew we couldn’t change the world, we did have hope that our children would grow resilient, full of faith in God, and able to cope with whatever life throws their way.

That’s what we all hope for as parents, isn’t it? We want our kids to be strong, brave, and emotionally prepared to face the world. But how can we raise kids who will be strong and resilient when we still know we have areas to grow as parents? To help us answer this question and more, we are excited to welcome Lauren Gaines to the podcast.

Lauren is an author, speaker, teacher, and mother. She is the creator of Inspired Motherhood, a thriving online community for moms to find practical tools to raise spiritually and emotionally healthy kids. Lauren also holds a master’s degree in school psychology and is about to release her first book, Unshakable Kids.

Lauren shares with us:

• The best way to increase our child’s resilience
• Why we should be thinking about our thoughts
• How our brains are constantly learning
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Links:

• [BOOK] Unshakable Kids: Three Keys to Raising Spiritually Strong and Emotionally Healthy Children
• Connect with Lauren on Instagram, Facebook, or her website

Our Takeaways:

1) It’s important to model the skills you want your children to practice. Our children can’t learn things that we can’t teach them. We remember many times our kids picked up a bad habit or behavior we didn’t intend to teach them. Our children are like sponges, and they pick up mannerisms, behaviors, and skills from our example. If we want our children to be emotionally healthy, resilient, and able to cope with whatever this world throws at them, then it’s important to learn those skills ourselves.

2) We can reframe thoughts and beliefs. We used to think that our brains stopped growing at a certain age; we would be doomed to continue the patterns we had learned in our younger years. However, our brains are constantly learning, and new neuropathways can be created regardless of age. Not only can we help our children not get stuck in a belief because of one negative experience, but we can also change the negative beliefs we have carried with us.

3) Make prayer your first response. There are so many challenges you will face as a parent, and it’s often our first response to turn to other parents or get on Google to see what the leading experts recommend. It’s important to make a habit of turning to prayer as our first response. God has promised us all the wisdom and help we need to navigate any of life’s problems. This is also a great way for your children to observe what a personal relationship with God looks like on a daily basis.

Meet Our Guest