This year our parenting conference is on Saturday May 31st and the theme is Sowing to the Spirit. Why did we choose this as the focus? As parents, one of our primary God-given tasks is to sow seeds of the good news of Jesus Christ in our children. We are to spend our days generously tossing out seeds of truth, praying that God will grow and establish them. The reason we sow to the Spirit is because the Holy Spirit applies the truth to our children’s hearts. We can talk with them, model for them, and pray for them, but we do not have the same access to our children’s hearts that God, their Creator does. We ourselves are dependent on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, the strength of the Holy Spirit, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and the love of the Holy Spirit to do this good work day in and day out, in struggles and in joy.
What does this look like when you are living with a defiant toddler? Where can we look for hope and endurance when we don’t seem to see any spiritual fruit in our child? What should spiritual fruit even look like in a young child? How about when my teen wants to spend more time on the screen than with me? What role does the grace of God and the finished work of Christ have to do with this struggle? How do I cultivate daily and weekly rhythms with my children and spouse that help facilitate peace in the midst of a world with so many chaotic messages?
We are going to look at these questions and more at our conference. Mothers and fathers, you will have the opportunity to hear from special guests, two experienced godly parents, of what sowing seeds of faith has looked like in their parenting from infancy to adulthood. You will then have the option to attend one of two breakout sessions.
One is called Stubborn Sin: from Toddler to Teen, and it focuses on parenting in seasons when our children’s sin feels very stubborn. What does it look like to point them to Jesus in these trials? What about when I feel exhausted and emotionally drained? How to persevere and not give up? What practically can I do to help my child grow in Christlikeness?
The second breakout session is called Cultivating the Mind of Christ in Our Children and it will focus on our responsibility as parents to sow seeds of truth in our children’s minds, and help them cultivate truth-based ways of thinking about their identity, dealing with anxiety, and worldly pressures. Both sessions will be applicable to parents of children of all ages.
We have also designed the morning so that you get to spend time in fellowship and mingling with other parents. Raising our children to be disciples of Jesus is a responsibility given not just to parents but to the whole church community. We need one another.
These sessions and time of fellowship will be a time for you to be mutually encouraged in your walk with God and your relationship with your children. We want you to leave refreshed and hopeful in the love that God has for you, and the way he is equipping you to parent the child that he has chosen you to care for.
We look forward to learning with you, laughing with you, building one another up in love, and experiencing the Holy Spirit sow seeds of truth in our own hearts that will bear fruit in the lives of our children.
“We do not have the same access to our children’s hearts that God, their Creator does.”
