NEED NEW GLASSES?
Have you ever been to the eye doctor and found out that your vision prescription has changed? Similarly, there are factors that can limit our relational vision, and it can change over time as well. It can be helpful to our vision of our relationships to look through different lenses. Below I share some thoughts on different types of lenses for you to consider - especially if there are any hints or clues that your current lens might be causing you to miss something.
Read more...
Season 4, Episode 2
Welcome to Legacy Living Today – I’m Dawn Baggett – today's episode of the podcast is especially for any and all adoptive mothers looking for support, advice and tips gathered and gleaned from experienced moms. Today we're discussing the foundational responsibilities of parenting: protection, provision, and guidance. Plus, particularly if you are a Christian it is crucial to pray for each of your children and your family persistently.
Protection is about keeping your children safe from physical or psychological harm. It can involve a variety of issues that can come up such as shielding them from dangers such as drugs and alcohol, protecting their innocence in terms of exposure to inappropriate topics or activities, providing physical boundaries around the home, enforcing rules that keep your kids away from potentially dangerous situations, setting limits on screen time and internet usage, and more. If this all sounds overwhelming, I totally get it. And I’ll remind you of the old saying, “Don’t borrow trouble” a biblical principle found in Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 6:34 –
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Provision is the responsibility of meeting your child's basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, education, medical care. As an adoptive parent it is especially important that you are able to meet these needs as they may have had difficulty accessing them in the past. Being able to provide a stable home environment with consistent routines can help foster feelings of security and belonging for your adopted child.
However this can be a long process and not automatic. YOU may know you’ll be a stable and consistent provider, but the pre-programming of instability and lack that may be a part of your child’s history can take longer to overwrite and may not be completely overwritten for years.
Guidance is about teaching your children how to become independent adults who make wise decisions. It involves setting expectations for behavior so that kids understand what is expected of them at home and in society at large. It requires modeling appropriate behavior yourself, being mindful of how you speak to them, disciplining with caring respect. Guidance is basically showing the way forward in the desired direction, helping them stay on the best path.
What guidance is not:
Parental guidance is certainly important in helping children develop into well-rounded adults, but guidance is not a guarantee that they will make the right choices. Everyone has their own unique life experiences and beliefs, and even with the best of intentions parents cannot control or dictate every decision their adopted child may make. Ultimately, as they grow and age into teens and young adults, your children must be free to explore their own paths and learn from their mistakes so that they can form their own opinions and values.
When it comes to praying for our children in order to make persistent and continual prayer a fixture in your life to have a firm commitment and to be intentional about making prayer a daily habit and practice.
Taking on the roles of protector provider and guide can seem overwhelming at times. If you don’t have a consistent pattern of prayer, it’s a good time to start making that a daily practice. Remember that every day presents new challenges so don't hesitate to reach out for help if needed!
FREE ONLINE WORKSHOP
The free online workshop will address Second Moms with Secondary Trauma. As a mom who's been there, and trauma-informed coach, this is a topic that I recognize is real and raw in so many lives of adoptive moms and step-moms.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
Which of the the four foundational commitments discussed is the most challenging for you? Leave a comment or send me a message to continue the conversation.
Contact Dawn to leave a message. Subscribe to updates and become one of Dawn's Email Besties!
Keep Learning - Keep Growing - Keep Loving!
The following episode is a video only episode of Legacy Living TODAY in which I share 5 red flag indicators that your teen may be (or be at risk of becoming) abusive.
But first it’s important to mention that this is general information and not intended to be specific legal or medical advice or directly applicable to any particular person.
To enable subtitles - Click to watch on YouTube & adjust settings with the gear ⚙️ or [CC] shown.
