TLP 247: The Future of Your Parenting

And I do believe in the sovereignty of God. I believe he uses teachers to prepare his people for the challenges they're currently in and the struggles they will soon face.

Welcome to Truth. Love. Parent. Where we use God's Word to become intentional, premeditated parents. Here's your host, A .M. Brewster.

Season 9 Ends and Season 10 Is Introduced

We're going to do something a little different today. And it won't take too long, so I hope you'll stick with us for the next few minutes. Today is the last day of Season 9. We just finished a series, but instead of tossing in another topic before starting our next series or starting that series early, I thought it'd be helpful to give you an overview of what's coming in Season 10.

It's an overview of some of the ways God wants to mature our parenting this year. If you're new to TLP, we have four three-month seasons a year, and we try to have an overall, loosely-based theme for each season.

If you haven't taken this journey with us from the beginning, you really should. I know what it's like to start listening to a podcast and imagine that simply listening to the new episodes alone coming out each week would be too much, let alone going back and listening to their catalog of archived episodes.

But let me give you a few reasons to reconsider that approach when it comes to Truth. Love. Parent. Number one, this podcast represents a parenting journey. Now, I'm not suggesting that everyone takes the same journey.

In fact, if I could take these 200 or so episodes and rearrange them to naturally build off each other in an even more valuable framework, I would. I'm not saying the order of the episodes is somehow inspired.

Far from it. But it does represent an organic growth on my part. My personal family life and the lives of the families with whom I work produced this podcast, and that particular journey is best appreciated in order.

Number two, our content is not tied to cultural ebb and flow. You won't find episodes that are outdated because that parenting fad is no longer in style, that person is no longer popular. Other than our parenting trends episodes, we really don't deal with current events.

Number three, our content is grounded in God's eternally relevant Word. If we're doing our job to rightly divide the Word of Truth and apply it to our lives, then there will never be a time that this information won't be helpful.

And number four, our content builds on itself. Like a good story that requires the backstory in chapter one to appreciate the twist in chapter nine, our later episodes sit squarely on the foundation laid in the prior shows.

Now that's not to say that our episodes can't be appreciated in a vacuum. The vast majority of our shows are very valuable in and of themselves, but you'll still benefit far more if you're on the same page with us.

Those are just some good reasons to go back to our pilot season and listen with us from the beginning. So let me give you a quick overview of the season topics before I tell you all about season 10. Number one, early on in our ministry, our pilot season was a collection of studies and articles I had already written on marriage, parenting, and family.

I'd been counseling and ministering to families for seven years by that time when I decided to start TLP. So though the podcast was new, the content was not. Season one dealt with very foundational issues, such as the only Christ-honoring parenting style, the place of emotions in our lives, dating, music, sexuality, terrorists, children, communication, and the like.

Season two was all about knowing your child. We talked about their response to truth, apologetics, failure philosophies, and the second most important question to ask your kids as you learn your children from the outside in.

Season three took those foundational concepts and dug even deeper. We had a beautiful series on peaceful parenting. We discussed our role in our kids' education, parenting 100 miles an hour, discipline, and tackling tattling where my sister and I just had way too much fun.

And season four dealt with the non-negotiables of Christian parenting, including the Mearest Christianity series, which answered why our children do what they do and how to help them really change. We also talked about how to be your kid's interpreter, the Rock, the Bread, and the Donut series, one of my personal favorites, how parenting is far more than a formula, speed parenting, and a lot of holiday-based episodes exploring the place of celebrations in our homes.

Season five is all about love and relationships. We talked about how to experience joy in your parenting even when the relationships are broken. We spent the whole of February discussing biblical love, including the four family loves, and we did our first Teach Your Children series called Teach Your Children to Obey.

Then season six was about super practical things like pets, chores, family talk, porn, games, anger, how to handle I don't know from your kids, friends, and how to help your children discover God's will for their lives.

But I have to say that season seven is one of my favorites. In that season, we focused on the supremacy of God's Word. We discussed the sufficiency of Scripture in parenting and decided that our families need to go to church.

We also introduced disciple-making parents that season, the parents' five jobs, ten things all parents should hate, family worship, and how to be an all-Bible family. And season eight was also a lot of fun because we thought a lot about correct thinking.

We discussed the nature of your children's sin, parenting a zombie, teaching your children to learn and think, gratitude, and how to think about Christmas. But we also challenged ourselves to think correctly by discussing the chief of sinners in your home, parenting like Lot, parental burnout, and terrorist parents.

And then this past season, we focused on the process of becoming the parent God called and created us to be. We did a nine-part series on becoming an intentional, premeditated, disciple-making ambassador parent who teaches, interprets, counsels, and trains their children.

We also discussed teaching your children to apologize, and we just finished our Parenting in Christ series. Of course, each of those seasons had many more topics and episodes I didn't mention, but I hope that either whets your appetite or reminds you of the amazing truths you learned when you went through it the first time.

And the nice thing is that you can go back anytime you want to access that free content and brush up on that facet of your home life. So now let's talk about Season 10 and then be done for today. I definitely have seen a pattern developing in our topics.

One season will revolve around the application of deep doctrinal issues, and the following season will focus on a collection of functional items. For example, Season 9 dealt primarily with the doctrine of change in our personal lives.

Season 10 Topics: Holidays, Fun, Sustainability, Family Talk, Devotionals, and Struggles

Season 10 is going to cover at least six different main ideas. So in no particular order, please allow me to introduce the ideas, then finish up with a challenge for us today. Number one, holidays. Over the course of the season, we'll have the opportunity to discuss Easter, Mother's Day, and Father's Day.

I'm going to introduce a broader discussion also concerning the Proverbs 31 mother and the Isaiah 11 father, and I have a lot of great stuff. It's been a blessing to me as I've been studying through this, the things I want to present to you about Easter.

We're also going to discuss, number two, fun. This will include a show all about toys and games, but more specifically, what those toys and games are teaching our children to become. We're also going to have a discussion about the trajectory of sports and the interpretation of movies.

Then we have sanctified sustainability at number three. I was recently listening to the Real Men Connect podcast and was delighted to hear that Dr. Martin invited a guest to discuss the importance of interacting with God's creation.

We humans are missing so many valuable things by failing to fulfill the creation mandate in our lives. So we're going to have an episode about how your family can glorify God by reducing waste in your home.

We're also going to talk about, number four, family talk. Specifically, we're going to discuss the importance of forgettable conversations and the difference between socializing and civilizing our children.

Five, we're going to discuss devotionals. My hope is to have a couple guests on the show this season specifically to talk about devotionals that will benefit you, the parent. And the final topic of the season is a smattering of, number five, family struggles.

There will be episodes about hidden sins, how to handle failure, a biblical response to shame, consequences, and parenting angry children sprinkled throughout the season. And Lord willing, each of those episodes will be accompanied by free show notes.

God Uses Teachers to Prepare His People

Now, I'm not arrogant enough to suggest that this is the complete and utter future of your parenting, but TLP can be part of the process that God uses to change us as you spend time with us. And I do believe in the sovereignty of God.

I believe He uses teachers to prepare His people for the challenges they're currently in and the struggles they will soon face. You will need these truths, just as I will. So I hope you're looking forward to this season.

We're going to start it off in preparation for Easter because I think we need to help our families be a little more intentional how we approach and celebrate the season. But I also want to share with you some noteworthy research from my past year of Easter study.

It may cause you to rethink some of your Eastertide traditions as well. Now, please allow me to close with a challenge. We just finished a season all about how we can start the process of change. How are you doing with that?

Romans 12 1 and 2 reads, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Team TLP and I pour so much time and effort into these episodes because we're trying to glorify God by helping you not be conformed to the world, assisting you as you present your bodies a living sacrifice to God, and supporting you as you are transformed into the image of our Lord.

This podcast exists for your change, for my change. It exists so that Christian parents all over the world can be changed into the likeness of their Savior and not be conformed to the world. We love you, we love your families, and we desperately love God.

So thank you for allowing us to be part of your sanctification.

I'll see you next time. Truth. Love. Parents is part of the Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional premeditated parent. Join us next time as we search God's Word for the truth your family needs today.