Preview:
Juan Sanchez: Number one, you’re not a perfect parent.
Jim Daly: What?
Jeanine Sanchez: (laughs)
Juan: And your child is not a perfect child.
Jim: Hm.
Juan: And your child does not need a perfect parent. Your child has a perfect Savior, and that’s what your child needs.
Jim: Hm.
Juan: What your child needs is for you to be a faithful Christian.
Jim: Wow.
Juan: And, and that’s what’s important for us to understand.
Jim: That’s a big statement.
Juan: Yeah, we- And, and so I think sometimes we overcomplicate what we’re doing. What we’re really doing is we’re growing in Christ’s likeness before our children.
End of Preview
John Fuller: That’s Juan Sanchez, and he and his wife, Jeanine, are with us today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Thanks for joining us. I’m John Fuller.
Jim: You know, John, parenting doesn’t come with a manual. No. Were you scared to death? I remember when Trent, my son, was born, my first son, and they handed him to me. It freaked me out. It was like, “What do I do now?”
John: (laughs)
Jim: There was nothing that came with it, you know? It was like, “You know, what a blessed son you have.” And I was like, “Yeah, I hope I don’t break him,” right?
John: Oh my goodness.
Jim: Today, we’re gonna talk to our guests about (laughs) the ins and outs of parenting and getting on the same page and what happens when you don’t. And, uh, a lot of great tips.
John: Mm-hmm. And reaching your child’s heart is a real critical component of the conversation today. In fact, uh, the book title is Reaching Your Child’s Heart, and, uh, the authors are Juan and Jeanine Sanchez. And, uh, we’re so glad to have them. Uh, Juan is senior pastor of High Point Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. And Jeanine, uh, teaches English and writing to children, and helps women understand how to apply God’s Word to everyday life. They’ve got five adult daughters. Bless you. And a-
Jim: That is amazing.
John: … growing number of grandchildren.
Jim: That is awesome. Welcome to the program.
Juan: Thank you. It’s a joy to be here.
Jim: Here’s the question. What have you learned raising five girls? I’ll ask both of you.
Jeanine: Wow.
Jim: (laughs).
Jeanine: So much. I think one of the big things is that formulaic parenting just doesn’t work.
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: You know, the A plus B equals C, and if you do this, then your children are gonna turn out this way. And the Lord and His kind providence did not allow that in our lives. Um, and what a mercy.
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: Really.
Jim: Jean and I walking through a grocery store when we were first married, no kids, and we’d see a child out of control. And we would say, “You know, when we have children, our child will never act like that.”
Juan: That’s right.
Jim: Right? How many of us say that?
Juan: Oh, yeah.
Jeanine: Well, my child was there.
Jim: (laughs)
Jeanine: My child was that child-
Jim: Oh, yeah, mine too.
Jeanine: Throwing the fit.
Jim: That’s the funny thing. But Juan, um, you did military.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: Um, did you come into the marriage and into the parenting role as dad, as that guy?
Juan: Yeah. I mean, I was Captain Von Trapp without the whistle.
Jeanine: (laughs)
Jim: Yeah, so I thought about that.
Jeanine: (laughs)
John: (laughs)
Jim: The Sound of Music is your story.
Juan: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, but what’s interesting is, you know, kind of like you mentioned, uh, I didn’t know what was going on. And I had a warped understanding of parenting. I thought, “I read the theology books, you deal with the kids, and then once they are old enough to talk and potty train and all that, then I’ll kind of jump in there.” And so when we had our first daughter, very surprisingly, because we were gonna wait two years, get to know each other.
Jim: “We had a plan.”
Juan: We, we had a plan. And six months into our marriage, we’re pregnant. And so we didn’t know what was going on. And so we were making things up as we-
Jim: Yeah, this is good to say.
Juan: We were making things up as we go along. She didn’t sleep through the night consistently till she was four years old.
Jim: Because of the … Yeah.
Juan: And I told Jeanine, “We can’t keep doing this.”
Jim: Oh my goodness.
Juan: And so, yeah, there was a lot of learning, uh, the hard way.
Jim: Yeah. Juan, you said when your firstborn daughter turned six, it was kind of a change of the game.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: What, what happened when she was six that-
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: Changed it?
Juan: Well, one of the things I would say is like Jeanine mentioned, she knows she is not the Holy Spirit. And so she wasn’t critical, she wasn’t nagging, but she prayed for me for six years.
Jim: Ah.
Juan: And then one day she came to me and she said, “Hey, there’s this parenting conference happening not far from us. Would you be willing to go?” And so I said yes. And, and again, my thinking was “I’m in ministry. I have to pour myself into this.” And the speaker spoke my language-
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Juan: … which is biblical and theological. And he helped me understand from Scripture, what is God’s design for the family? What is God’s design for the husband and the wife? And what is my place in all of this?
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Juan: And I realized, oh, my place is to be the leader. I’m supposed to be the spiritual leader and I’m supposed to, uh, in the way that Jesus loved the church with a sacrificial servant and sanctifying kind of love, I’m supposed to be reproducing that culture and that environment in my home, leading my wife in that way, but also leading my children.
So we came back and, and I began reading and thinking about that, you know, very convicted. And it was amazing to me how our home, I would call it, was upside down where Jeanine was leading us in the parenting, the discipleship, the discipline. And within a matter of time, it seemed fairly quickly she began to come to me and ask questions about discipleship and parenting and discipline.
Jim: Huh.
Juan: And we came to it as a team. And, and what we’ve discovered is that there are three pillars to faithful parenting. And the first one is godly parental example. We lead by example. You know, just as elders are supposed to lead not under compulsion but by example, we are, we are displaying to our children who God is, His love, His authority. But secondly, biblical instruction is a foundation and then corrective discipline. And what we found is those three pillars are given to us in Scripture for us to be able to model for our children what the Christian life is like, for us to teach them who God is and what He requires of them. And then that corrective discipline that God Himself uses on us.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: And, and it’s been amazing how it not only transformed our parenting but actually transformed our marriage.
Jeanine: Mmhmm.
Jim: And it’s actually not that complicated.
Juan: Nope.
Jim: It would, but you have to get focused on it and understand what the inputs need to be-
Juan: That’s right.
Jim: … for those predictive outcomes.
Jeanine: Well, and I think too, like I was reading all the parenting books, trying to gather all of the information that I could. And then Juan would come home and ask me. We’d talk about what to do. And that just switched and then he took ownership of that information. And now he was reading and he was formulating what is the best plan for our family? The best plan to handle-
Jim: Hm.
Jeanine: … these types of situations. And that can be clunky at first, right? Especially with a kind of a stronger, “I, I’ve been doing this for six years.”
Jim: (laughs).
Jeanine: Right? And then having to change that leadership over to him, um, but it was such a great thing.
Jim: It’s probably a relief too, to have-
Jeanine: It, it is. And it’s-
Jim: More of a partner in that regard, you know, that you’re in this with me.
Jeanine: Right.
Jim: A lot of wives, I think, are probably going, “Oh, I only wish,” but let’s get you a copy of the book (laughs) that would be a good place to start and talk about it.
Jeanine: Well, and to pray.
Jim: Yeah and pray.
Juan: Pray, yeah.
Jeanine: And to really, really pray. I think sometimes we think of that as a last resort.
Jim: Right.
Jeanine: And that really needs to be our go-to because the Lord was gonna do a better job with Juan than I was gonna do any day.
Jim: (laughs)
Jeanine: So-
Jim: I would say, “Could you repeat that?” But I think we got it.
John: (laughs).
Jim: I mean, that’s so true.
John: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Jim: And that’s true for both spouses, you know?
Jeanine: Right.
Jim: Husbands want change in their wife, and the wife wants change in the husband and you can only work on you.
John: Yeah. Our guest today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly are Juan and Jeanine Sanchez. And, uh, they’ve written a terrific book. It’s Reaching Your Child’s Heart: A Practical Guide to Faithful Parenting. Call us today for your copy, 800, the letter A, and the word FAMILY, or stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.
Jim: Let me ask you, what does healthy, dedicated discipleship look like in a normal busy week for a family? I mean, this is the real stuff, right? Everybody’s moving different directions. You’ve had five girls. I mean, dinner, getting things ready. I can’t imagine the bathroom difficulties.
John: Yeah. (laughs).
Jim: “It’s my time in the bathroom.”
Jeanine: Oh, absolutely. That’s discipleship right now.
Jim: (laughs)
Jeanine: Isn’t it? At that moment.
Jim: Yeah. (laughs)
Jeanine: We chose to capitalize on things that we could count on that we were doing together anyway. And so mealtime is such an important time in the life of your kids. When they’re young, teaching them just how to sit, how to have nice table manners. As they grow, to consider one another, how to be kind to a host and hostess. And even in the teenage years, that’s where you’re gonna have conversations.
And so, um, God was so kind to help us realize that we have those dedicated times, use those times to be in the Word, to think about issues of the day that we could point the kids to Christ, have those conversations that can mold them. Once again, it’s just another opportunity to point them to God’s Word. And that’s where Juan was able to be at different seasons, it was in the morning.
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: Um, in other seasons, it was during the evening where we were trying to be as consistent as a schedule would allow-
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: … to have time in the Word. Um, we were in the car often, and we also utilized that time to listen to Adventures and Odyssey.
John: Yay.
Jeanine: So many different things that could-
Jim: There we go. Yeah.
Jeanine: … teach the kids and help with some of those gaps that, that we can’t think about.
Juan: Think Deuteronomy 6.
Jim: Right.
Juan: You know, “Teach when you wake up, when you lie down, when you walk by the road.” It’s not either or, it’s both and.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: But we do have to know, like, the age of our children, the development, you know, where they are. And so when children are younger, they’re in that concrete stage of thinking where it’s more facts. You know, they’re memorizing and they’re telling us back, right?
Jim: Right.
Juan: But as they grow older into their more abstract stage of thinking, and then they begin to reason, so we have to know what stages there are. So when they’re very little, we’re just basically teaching them truths. A catechism is a great way for very small children who are in the grammar stage in classical education, that concrete stage where you teach them a question, you teach them the answer, then they say it back to you. And we learned from a very young age. Children can learn a lot.
Jim: Yeah, they’re sponges.
Juan: You know, uh, they can even communicate before they’re verbal, just using some basic sign language. So we just learned some really basic ways to communicate and to do those things.
And like Jeanine said, there’s so much going on in those times, so they’re learning to read. And we’re teaching our children a love of reading. And then when we instill in our children a love for reading, they’ll be lifelong learners.
Jim: Yeah, that’s good.
Juan: They’re also learning how to sit. You’re, you’re helping them learn how to sit. Uh, but we also would give them things to do, like Jeanine said. But it, it’s so s- simple.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: You know, like we would sit at breakfast. I used the New Living Translation, it had just come out, and we were just reading through the Bible. And I don’t know how long it took us to get through it, but we would just read a portion.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: Maybe as much as a chapter. We would say a few words and then we would pray for one another. When they could understand, then we would just simply ask, uh, “What questions do you have?” And then, “How can we pray for you today?”
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: And so we would just do that in the morning, but then in the evenings, what we would do is after dinner, we would check in. I would read aloud. Uh, I love fantasy. Jeanine, not so much. And so I would read the Chronicles of Narnia, uh, The Hobbit. We would do that in the evenings. And then bedtime was just really simple. Uh, we would do the catechism. And then I would, I would sit with them. We would sing three little songs, um, ask them how we could pray for them and just pray with them-
Jim: That’s so sweet.
Juan: … in bed.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: And it just, it, it really was very simple.
Jim: Yeah.
John: Mm-hmm.
Jeanine: And a lot of us have kids in different ages and stages and it’s like, “Oh my goodness, you know, who am I teaching to? Like, am I teaching to the 10-year-old or the two-year-old?” And it’s amazing as you’re teaching to the older kids what the younger ones are getting.
Juan: Yeah.
Jeanine: And, and you know, just doing it again and again.
Juan: Yeah. I remember one time Jeanine was taking the girls to brush their teeth, and I had the two-year-old and, uh, we had been doing the catechism and I, I’m looking at her and I’m looking at what, what do I do? I just wait for them to come back and I, I just thought, “Let’s go. Who made you?” She said, “Todd made me.”
Jim: Todd. (laughs)
Juan: I said, “Well, what else did God make?” “Todd made all things.”
Jeanine: “All good things.”
Juan: Said, “Well, why did God make you in all things?” “Toward His own glory?”
John: (laughs).
Juan: And I thought, “My goodness, she gets it.”
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: She’s been absorbing it as we’re doing it with the older sisters.
Jim: Right. Absolutely.
Juan: And, and one of the things that’s helpful to understand is that little children, they’re like a warehouse. Their brains are like a warehouse and there’s shelving. And what our job is to put the truths of God in those shelves-
Jim: Oh, that’s good.
Juan: … in the right places so that as they grow and develop, the Holy Spirit has something to work with, those truths to convict of righteousness, truth and judgment and, and to draw them to Christ. And so what we’re doing is we’re just filling the warehouse-
Jim: I like that concept.
Juan: … you know, with God’s truth.
Jim: You know, I’m thinking now for the, the parents of young children, I wanna speak specifically to you. And, uh, Juan, let me ask you about this.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: And certainly, Jeanine, jump in. But one of the things that I felt was the progression for me in parenting was going from expectations of behavior-
Juan: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … whatever it might be, to a little, a bit more relaxed-
Juan: Yeah. Yeah.
Jim: Not to be so uptight. And I think that’s a normal-
Juan: It is.
Jim: Progression of every parent. And that poor firstborn.
Jeanine: I know.
Jim: Oh, the poor firstborn. Sorry, John.
John: (laughs)
Jim: But, uh, you know, you, you take so much because the parents were so rigid. And in that context, how do we learn earlier?
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: You know, like grandparents are awesome, but this is the second time around, right?
Juan: Yeah.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: How do we learn and how do we, um, encourage younger parents to get there more quickly?
Juan: Yeah. Yeah.
Jim: And the get there is to relax.
Juan: Yep. Yeah. Well, let me just say a, a few things. Number one, you’re not a perfect parent.
Jim: What?
Jeanine: (laughs)
Juan: And your child is not a perfect child.
Jim: Mm.
Juan: And your child does not need a perfect parent. Your child has a perfect Savior. And that’s what your child needs.
Jim: Mm.
Juan: What your child needs is for you to be a faithful Christian.
Jim: Wow.
Juan: And, and that’s what’s important for us to understand.
Jim: That’s a big statement.
Juan: And so I think sometimes we overcomplicate what we’re doing.
Jeanine: Mm.
Juan: What we’re really doing is we’re growing in Christlikeness before our children.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: And we’re doing what God has called all of us to do as Christians. We’re modeling Christlikeness. Ephesians 4:11-16, we’re speaking the truth and love to one another until we all grow in Christlikeness. And then we just kind of helpfully correct one another. “Well, no, no, this is not quite right. No, that’s not quite right.” But that’s what we’re doing.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: We’re living it out. And so what we encourage and we advocate for is in the very early years, a more parental-directed home because your children need that. But what you’re doing is, as they learn responsibility, you give them more and more responsibility. When they can accept your authority-
Jim: That’s good, yeah.
Juan: … then what you wanna do is give them opportunities. Because what ends up happening is, is in child-centered homes, they’re giving away all the authority now. And then when the kids become teenagers, they don’t like the choices they’re making. And so they’re trying to reign them in.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: So it’s the very opposite.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: And so if you can do the hard work now or later-
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: … but you will do the hard work.
Jim: Interesting.
Juan: And the later you wait to do the hard work, the harder it becomes.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: That is so true. And Jeanine, let me amplify this a little for moms. What I’ve seen is when moms, when their fear goes up-
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … especially those teen years, and dads can do this too, but I think it’s more prevalent in moms. When fear goes up-
Juan: Mm-hmm.
Jim: Control rises higher-
Juan: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … in order to get their feeling of security –
Jeanine: Right.
Jim: … back with the kids. And man, that can be the exact wrong move at that time because your teenage child is trying to get independence.
Jeanine: Sure.
Jim: Hopefully you’ve done the hard work-
Juan: Yeah.
Jeanine: Right.
Jim: … that they’re wise in their independence. Yeah. But if not, that fear rises and then your control rises higher.
Jeanine: Right.
Jim: And now you’ve got rebellion.
Juan: Yeah, yeah.
Jeanine: Sure. Well, and fear is an awful master, isn’t it?
Jim: Yes.
Jeanine: And it kills relationship.
Juan: Yeah.
Jeanine: And so that’s just one of the things that I think is so important on this journey of parenting. Am I being winsome as, in how I’m dealing with this child, pointing them to Christ, discipling them? Or am I being just an au- authoritarian ogre?
Jim: Right.
Jeanine: And, um, I think that the more permissive we are in the younger years, doing it backwards, we have more fear. We’re more fear driven. And then we get to these teenage years, and we want to clamp down. And it chokes the life out of that relationship because, at the end of the day, you’re not trusting. First of all, you’re not trusting the Lord. You’re not trusting the teen. You’re not trusting in God’s Word. And so this is just such an amazing time to have positive instruction, opportunities-
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: … conversations. And let me tell you, it takes time, but it will not be void.
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: It will bring back that relationship so that before your kid goes out, you’re talking about it. “Okay, what are you doing? What are some pitfalls? What are some dangers you might see as you’re going out? We’re giving you all the freedom. What are some expectations, right? That we have of you?” And we would talk about those beforehand. “We expect you to go where you say you’re gonna go, be with who you say you’re gonna be with, and be home at a certain time.”
And also helping our kids to know, this is really important. This was something that my dad instilled in our home was that if there was trouble, I knew I could call my dad.
Jim: Wow, that’s good.
Jeanine: I, I knew that.
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: And I did. Now, there are consequences to that, but I knew that I didn’t have to handle that situation myself. And I wanted my teenagers to know that. All of these situations are opportunities for discipleship, and there have to be natural consequences-
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: … afterwards if needed.
Jim: Yo- your oldest girl is, is she out of the house?
Juan: She’s 34.
Jim: She’s 34.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: Okay.
Jeanine: Yeah.
Juan: Oldest is 34, youngest is 23.
Jim: Okay. So in that context, you guys have lived this, and I wanna speak-
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: Again, to a different spectrum of parenting where we get a lot of calls for counseling help, which we want you to do that.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: Call us if you need us.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: But it’s kind of that, to your point, where if you were passive in younger years, as you said, Juan, at some point, you pay the parenting piper.
Juan: Mm-hmm.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: It’s gonna come up.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: So these kids that are raised in good Christian homes, they go to Sunday school, go to church, they hear it, they can recite it. They get to a point where they get out of the home, they go off to college or-
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: …whatever they’re gonna do, and they’re free from that parenting throttle-
Juan: Mm-hmm.
Jeanine: Yeah.
Jim: … and they go crazy.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: You hear about this.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: Kids going to Christian schools.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: And it’s a party every night and they’re not controlling those appetites well.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: What, you know, your influence as a parent is really diminished at this point.
Jeanine: Right.
Jim: And there are people that are suffering in that spot right now.
Juan: Sure, yeah.
Jim: They don’t know what to do. What advice would you have for them-
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: … when that control is now gone?
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: I mean, it’s only influence.
Juan: So a few things. Number one, what, what we would hope would happen, it doesn’t always, is, you know, uh, Jonathan Lehman talks about in his book on authority the difference between authority of command and authority of counsel. It’s a really helpful concept.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: So with younger children, we wanna exercise the authority of command. And slowly as we disciple our children and we equip them to make choices, that authority of command then becomes authority of counsel. So we’re reasoning together, we’re exhorting, we’re coaching them before they go out.
But, but what happens when that pattern or that model was not exercised and our children are out of the house? We no longer have command, authority of command, and we barely have authority of counsel. Again, this is where the Gospel comes in. This is where i- if it, if I, if it were me, I would, I would just simply say, “I’ve recognized where I have failed.” And so rather than be exasperated, remind myself we’re parenting for the long haul, not the moment.
Jim: Yeah.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Juan: And so don’t let the moment overwhelm you.
Jim: Mm.
Juan: Right? And, and so long as that child has breath in his or her lungs and Christ is not returned, there is the hope and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Juan: And so one of the ways I would display that is to confess my sin-
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Juan: … confess my mistakes, ask for forgiveness, and then appeal for relationship.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: And then just continue to pursue the relationship and slowly try to rebuild that relationship.
Jim: Yeah.
Juan: To, to get to that place where that authority of counsel has come back in place.
Jim: I thought that might be the direction you would go. And I, I think that’s what’s so critical here. Relationship is so important.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: And oftentimes in that emotional moment, we- I like to think of it like a strand where we’re cutting-
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … bits of the fiber of that tether-
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … between us and our child.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: And when we don’t respond out of relationship-
Juan: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Jim: When we do the, “You must,” you know, lecture-
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: … a little bit of the, the cord is ripped-
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … between you.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: And I, I wouldn’t say relationship at all costs-
Juan: Right.
Jim: … because there are things that occur that you need to stand firmly, drug addictions and other addictions and things that are damaging. You need to be firm and get them hopefully into help. But relationship is critically important.
Juan: Yeah.
Jim: I mean, that’s what we’re made for.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: That’s why God created us was for relationship. So we then can take that into our parenting role to bless our children with the concept of relationship.
But how does a parent that is just, “Uh, you know, it’s so hard because my child is be- behaving in such a way,” that it’s difficult, one, to have a relationship with this son.
Juan: Yeah. John Piper wrote an article on how to continue to pursue your wayward child that I think is really helpful. But I do think, you know, we’re kind of at the mercy when they’re outside the home. And so if we have asked for forgiveness, uh, I find letter writing is helpful because you can write down your thoughts and that child can take that letter. And I, I trust that the Lord might allow them to read that letter and to really think through-
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Juan: … without the pressure of having to respond immediately in conversation.
Jim: That’s good.
Juan: And so you write the letter, you let them read it, you let them have it, you give them every opportunity, but you keep sending Christmas cards, you keep sending birthday cards. You know, you, you give texts, you send texts, you send scriptures, you, you keep praying for them, right?
John: Yeah.
Jim: You do the relational thing.
Juan: We, we are wrestling with God for their souls.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Juan: Um, and so you-
Jim: That’s good.
Juan: … you never stop doing that. You never stop trusting the Lord for that-
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Juan: … and you never stop inviting them to come back.
Jeanine: Mm-hmm.
Jim: Yeah. But, uh, man, this has been good. What a great start. This is just like sitting in a living room and having a conversation with good friends.
Jeanine: Praise God.
Jim: So this has been really good. Thanks for being here.
Jeanine: Thanks for having us.
Juan: Yeah, thank you for having us. And that was the intention of our book is, is to give it to folks as if we were sitting down with them for coffee.
Jeanine: Yeah.
Jim: Yeah. It’s good. I mean, this has been such an encouraging reminder that parenting is about more than behavior and those busy schedules. It’s about shaping hearts and pointing our children toward a lasting relationship with God.
Let me turn to you, our listeners. Here at Focus on the Family, we’re here to help you and your family to thrive in Christ. We want to equip you, mom and dad, as you’re raising the future, the next generation. We have a whole library of resources designed to encourage and equip you. Articles, programs like this one, video series, and so much more. Our parenting team works really hard to stay ahead of the challenges families are facing, so you don’t have to navigate them alone.
A great place to start is by signing up for our Age and Stage eNewsletters. Each week, you’ll receive a short email tailored to your child’s specific age and stage, offering practical, biblically grounded insights to help you parent with confidence in the twos and the eights and the 15s. I mean, it’s great. You only have about 940 weeks, zero to 18-
John: Hm.
Jim: … to shape that child’s character. So think of it that way.
We also have Juan and Jeanine’s excellent book, Reaching Your Child’s Heart: A Practical Guide to Faithful Parenting. It is filled with biblical wisdom and practical insight for every age and stage. And it’s a great reminder that our calling as parents is to point our children to God and cultivate a love for Him in their hearts. And when you make a gift of any amount to support the work here at Focus on the Family, we’ll send you, uh, that book as our way of saying thank you for being part of the ministry.
Let me share this note from Carly who wrote in to tell us this. “Because of the insight I’ve gained from listening to your show, I was able to help one of my teenage students navigate a very tense and difficult family situation with advice that was godly, Christ honoring, and respectful. The conversation addressed so many challenging issues, and I’m deeply thankful for the wisdom you’ve shared and how clearly it helped guide my response. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you do. I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned with my own kids as well.”
John: Well, that is tremendous to hear.
Jim: It is. And I’m thankful that we’re able to help together. You and us here at Focus, we’re able to help with very specific situations like that one.
When you support Focus on the Family, you’re helping parents like Carly gain the confidence and biblical wisdom they need to raise their children in healthy Christ-centered ways. But this kind of ministry is only possible with support from friends like you. You can provide that much needed help when you do your ministry through Focus on the Family. So consider donating today.
John: Yeah, reach out and make your contribution and learn more about that free parenting assessment when you call 800, the letter A, and the word FAMILY. 800-232-6459 or online focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.
Well, next time we’ll hear from three adoption experts about some of the wounds caused by adoption and how God can heal.
Preview:
Jodi Jackson Tucker: Now, many adopted children do beautifully-
Jim: Right.
Jodi: … grow up and do amazing things and are incredible overcomers, but we still need to acknowledge that God’s design was not for a family to be broken.
End of Preview
John: Thanks for listening today to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I’m John Fuller, inviting you back as we once again help you and your family thrive in Christ.
