Leveraging Other Influences
Your kids need other influences. This will require humility and vulnerability on your part. Vulnerability will allow you to move surface-level connections to deeper connections. And this is so important at earlier ages that we think because we don’t live in the 90s or 00’s any more. The ‘school bus’ is the new ‘basement’. Even if our kids don’t have phones yet or are very limited, their friends have unlimited access to everything.
That’s why we want to widen the Circle of influence. You are not the only influence your kids need. And you may not feel like the biggest influence in their lives. Is it:
o Their friends?
o Youtubers?
o Tik-Tok theology / philosophy?
o Teachers?
From what you do know about the influences in their life, where will they be in 4 years? Is that okay with you?
Now, what if we moved from being reactive to what is happening in their lives to being proactive? What if we sought out people to place around them in an attempt to set them up for success?
Here are just some people you can surround them with:
o Coaches
o Family friends
o Small Group Leaders
o Maybe for you, it’s your local church staff
When I think back to my late elementary years through my high school years, I had consistent people around me who were not just friends my own age. There were
o Family friends
o Adults at church who knew my name + my family
All of this means we can’t coast along. We need to be INTENTIONAL and PROACTIVE about who we surround our kids with. Passivity in our parenting will not do our kids any good. It could actually do them harm.
So here’s a challenge as we end today. Invite the outside influences to attend your kids’ events together.