Laura Holmes
July 3, 2024
Parenting can be described as a long string of many, many decisions made minute after minute, day after day. What words to say, how to say them, what consequences to give, what skills or virtues to prioritize, whether something is age-appropriate, whether you just turn a blind eye and hope your child thinks you didn’t see their misbehavior – these are all questions that a parent must answer constantly, and the responses have repercussions. Even before we got married, my husband and I knew that the principles I grew up with from the Growing Kids God’s Way parenting class were going to be crucial as we worked through this mountain of parenting decisions.
Here are our top three reasons why we will use the principles learned in Growing Kids God’s Way with our children:
1. Our marriage: Parenting advice must strengthen marriages to be of any real value. Growing Kids God’s Way doesn’t just acknowledge the importance of functioning as a team; it outlines very practical tools for prioritizing the husband-wife relationship. Additionally, the child-raising principles flow out of a worldview that sees the married couple as a complete family unit to which children are a welcome addition.
2. Knowing the “why”: There is a plethora of parenting tips and tricks available to anyone with an internet browser or a library card; plenty of them will even work, at least in the short-term. Instead of trying any idea that seemed good on its face, Ryan and I knew we needed to start from a foundation of Biblical principles. Growing Families Int’l (especially the toddler materials) has taught us to start by examining our beliefs and goals. Only after we come up with our “why” do we explore our options for “how.”
3. Consistency: Knowing the beliefs and goals behind our decisions is a major factor in making consistent parenting decisions as well as being consistent in our implementation. We don’t have to try every how-to out one by one, throwing ideas out when they didn’t work after a few days. When the going gets hard, we have a lot more staying power, holding each other accountable for maintaining the parenting “how-to’s” we’ve chosen.
Prioritizing working as a husband-wife team also encourages consistency. We have worked together to figure out our goals and the methods we are implementing. This has resulted in stable expectations that our children can rely on from both parents and clear progress toward our goals.
Because of its Biblical foundations, the principles we have learned in the Zoom Growing Families Int’l classes line up with our beliefs and goals in marriage and parenting. Because of its many practical applications, which the Mom’s Notes share many more of for each age group, GFI has taught us how to be consistent in our parenting. It has proven to be an invaluable resource for our family as Ryan and I learn how to shepherd our little ones for whom God has made us responsible.
“Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”
Psalm 34:1
Laura and Ryan Holmes have 3 young children and one on the way and live in
North Carolina.
Have you listened to these Mom’s Notes?
“Parenting as Partners”, “Fighting the Consistency Battle”,
“Training Toddlers” and “Training Preschoolers” yet?
Why should you get the Mom’s Notes?
You do not have to have gone through the Growing Kids God’s Way or Parenting from the Tree of Life parenting classes to get full usage from each of the 40+ Mom’s Notes sessions. They are full of practical “how-to’s” on the topic and share doable ways to implement the teaching
for toddlers-college age.
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