EMAIL 1
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Subject Line: Having Healthy Conversations
Dear Parents,
As you move through your daily life with your family, there are lots of conversations that happen along the way. Unfortunately, some of those conversations can turn into conflict and create distance between you and your child. Learning how to have healthy conversations and navigate conflict well is hard for everyone, and your child is hopefully developing the tools they need in this area of life. As their parent, you have the opportunity to lead them to the healthy thoughts and practices they will need as they deal with conflict in their lives.
This month’s Online Parenting Class will give you some practical suggestions on how to approach conflict and have healthy conversations in your family. We highlight a few verses in Ephesians 4 where Paul says, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” We also want to equip you with a special Parent Toolbox Resource that will encourage you to focus on building solid relationships with your child so that you can have the conversations you need to have with them as they grow. This downloadable PDF reflection titled “Their Voice” shares some thoughts and a few thought-provoking questions concerning the importance of affirming the voice of your child as they grow and develop their own voice through their opinions, desires, passions, and thoughts. Imagine what having healthy conversations around conflict in your home would do for you and your family.
To watch this month’s video or download the Toolbox Resource, click on the links below.
[ INSERT LINK TO ONLINE PARENTING CLASSÂ VIDEO ]
[ INSERT LINK TO TOOLBOX RESOURCE ]
You can do this! We are always here for you if you need us.
Cheering you on,
[ INSERT LEADER’S SIGNATURE HERE ]
EMAIL 2
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Subject Line: Encouraging Healthy Conversations with Your Children
Dear Parents,
In today’s fast-paced, screen-filled world, our kids are increasingly reliant on technology for information and communication. As they move deeper and deeper into the digital space, they can lose the ability to engage in meaningful face-to-face conversations. As kids learn and grow, it’s so important for parents to help them develop the essential communication skills that they will need along their journey of life. They need to be able to have face-to-face conversations where they can build relationships, ask questions, and learn to share what is going on in their life. As a parent, you have the opportunity to model to your child what it looks like to communicate well and have healthy conversations that are grounded in faith.
We know all this can sound intimidating, but remember, you are not in this alone. We are here to walk alongside you, pray for you, encourage you, and even equip you with tools to help you live this out. If you haven’t checked out this month’s resources, we hope that you will. They can help you continue to grow in your own communication and lead your family in a healthy direction. Take a few minutes to watch our Online Parenting Class for some needed encouragement, or read this month’s blog article titled “Two Cans and a String – Building Strong Connections Through Conversation” for some ways you can practice connecting with your child through great conversations. Also, don’t forget to download the Parent Toolbox Resource that will give you a series of questions to work through as you seek to parent well. Each of these incredible resources was created to equip, encourage, and help you be the best parent you can be. You got this!
To watch this month’s video, download the Toolbox Resource, or read the Blog Article, click on the links below.
[ INSERT LINK TO M2P PARENTING BLOG ARTICLE ]
[ INSERT LINK TO M2P ONLINE PARENTING CLASS VIDEO ]
[ INSERT LINK TO TOOLBOX RESOURCE ]
We are in this together! Let us know if there is ever anything we can do for you or your family.
Praying for you as you lead at home,
[INSERT LEADER’S SIGNATURE HERE]
M2P KIDS July Parent Video Script
One of the things that is difficult about parenting is the fact that there it feels like there is so much to pay attention to. As our kids get older and encounter more things, there is more that we have to teach them so that they can effectively navigate the world. At the same time, it feels like an entire generation is losing a skill that is vitally important, and that is the ability to simply have face-to-face conversations. They are learning to communicate with each other and with us through screens, devices, and apps, and all of this is being introduced to kids at earlier and earlier ages. They use and need devices in school and their friends get phones and learn how to communicate via text or some other social media. If we’re honest, we, as parents, can play into this trend because allowing our kids to use all of this technology sometimes makes life easier for us. But our kids need to learn that communication happens best when we can just talk … when we can have a conversation about what is going on, and we can deal with whatever issues are at hand.
Here are a few suggestions for you as you think through helping your kids learn how to have healthy conversations. And I want to frame these suggestions with this scripture: Ephesians 4, starting in verse 1: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
First, model living a life of faith. Model doing what you can to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Now, you may wonder what this has to do with having conversations, and I would say it has a lot to do with it. When we, as adults, are grounded in our faith, and we are modeling what it looks like to authentically follow Jesus, it speaks volumes to our kids in every way. The picture of faith that our kids see in us has an impact on how they see their life and their faith. What we think, what we say, and how we act influences what they think, what they say, and how they act. If our kids can see us stepping into our conversations with a foundation of faith, they are more likely to do the same.
Next, model having healthy conversations. Let your kids see you talking to your spouse or your parents, or your siblings in healthy ways, especially when there is conflict or tension. If we hope to have good and healthy conversations with our kids, then they need to believe that we are capable of having good and healthy conversations, and that starts with what they see us do. If our kids know that we have issues with a family member or a friend and they hear us either talk bad about that person or lose it in a conversation with that person, they may shy away from talking to us because of what might happen. But, if our kids are used to seeing us doing what Paul says in Ephesians … “Being completely humble and gentle; being patient, and bearing with one another in love,” … then they’ll believe that’s how we’ll be in our conversations with them, even when there is conflict.
Finally, when it comes to having real conversations with your kids, resist the urge for most of your real conversations to be lectures or sermons. Sure, there are definitely times when we need to be firm and take the time to instruct our kids on certain things, but I would encourage you to make that the exception rather than the norm. Build a relationship with your kids that is based not on what you need to them to do or learn but on who they are and the connection you have. I once had someone tell me that we, as parents, need to learn how to talk about everything so we can talk about anything. We need to have a thousand small, maybe meaningless, conversations so that our kids will get used to talking to us. We need to care more about the connection we have with our kids than we are with the content we deliver to them. If we’re going to be able to have the kinds of conversations we want and need to have with our kids, we need to have the kind of relationship that can bear the weight of those conversations.
The last part of the scripture I shared from Ephesians says this: We need to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” In our relationships and our conversations, particularly with our kids, we have the opportunity to build unity and bring peace. What would it look like in your home if the conversations you had didn’t bring division and angst but they brought unity and peace? My guess is that your home would be a more joyful place to live, and you would be more likely to have the conversations you want and need to have and build the relationships you want to build.