10 Points…
A Manifesto to
Parenting With Purpose, Power & Peace
- Today, I will look into the soul of my children. Busyness will not bury me, worry will not wallow me. I will gaze away from the screen that steals my attention and focus on the work under my roof — the sculpting of their souls and the shaping of their stories — and I know: this is sacred and love is labour. What is eternal is often unseen, so I will learn to love well, listen long, and laugh aloud alongside them.
2. Today, I will give my energy and focus on the nurturing of our relationships — One day they’ll up and leave, but love will always bring them home. Relationships are the bedrocks to influence, and if I want to raise them right, I need to love them strong.
I will work twice as hard and create trust, honour and respect; slowly transition from a position of authority to a relationship of influence, letting freedom grow with trust and responsibility.
3. Today, I will teach the children all things hidden — glorious matters of the heart, issues of eternal values.
I will create conversations around our kitchen island, under the cozy blankets, and in all those kisses and their early morning breaths.
Conversations matter — worldviews are shaped and values imparted along the way.
4. Today, I will be patient — because parenting is a journey and when I can’t see the end I can trust the process.
The more I grow, the better I parent.
Parenting requires my constant changing, my daily dying, so I can truly rise and really give.
If I can learn to reinvent myself as the children grow, with the Word as my mirror and my heart metamorphosis as my goal, I can help our children stand tall in times of their trials and temptations.
5. Today, I will create a home environment where learning is in the air because education is everywhere.
I will not dismiss small questions, but cultivate a culture of curiosity, a desire for learning, a hunger for growth.
I’ll pray that we’ll cultivate grit in our bone, excellence in our spirit, confidence in our calling
6. Today, I will invite the children to slow down and make space for the Holy. This is life’s highest gift — to enjoy God, and glorify Him forever.
Reflecting and being ravished with awe is art. And this breeds identity.
I will model living what I receive, walking tall, living assured.
7. Today, I will assume my full responsibility to parent well. This is my highest calling, my best season in life.
The kitchen island is the pulpit and three times a day I get to preach a sermon. My audience keep my feet to the fire, and their clean white slates keep me accountable not to the words I write but to the life I live.
8. Today, I will create a home that breathes life; my tongue will only give life.
I will chastise and encourage, correct and praise, remind and affirm all in the languages of love. Mountains move when I move my tongue, so I will praise God, then praise each child.
9. Today, whenever a child disobeys, is challenging, or defiant, I will consistently, calmly and confidently work on his heart, then his behaviour,
Moral qualities come in both behaviour and understanding. I will teach them first to act right, then to think right.
10. Today, I will be a safe base for each child to land and crash, no matter how old they get to be.
They get my bear hugs no matter how old they grow to be.
They can fail without ever being labeled a failure, feel lost and still know they are loved, be loud and know they’re always liked.
Warts and all I’ll never stop believing in the highest, greatest version they can be, and at the end of it all, I’ll keep whispering it to them:
“I love you more than you can ever wildly imagine”.