Last Friday, you put on some tunes and busted a move in front of your totally-mortified middle school sons. Then tonight they came home from the dance doing the sprinkler, just like you taught \u2019em\u2014only they gave credit to Jeff, their small group leader and not you, the parent. What gives?<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just your own kids, either. One of the toddlers you teach at church lost it over a missing toy\u00a0on Sunday. You tried to talk her through it with no luck. In the end all she needed was a big hug from mom and the tears dried right up.<\/p>\n
You might be wondering if you\u2019re doing it all wrong.\u00a0You\u2019re not.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re simply living the reality that kids benefit from having solid relationships with adults both inside and outside of the home. That\u2019s because some things are better received from parents. Other stuff lands easier on the ears when it\u2019s coming from anyone\u00a0but\u00a0mom and dad.<\/p>\n
And hey, that\u2019s just a part of what makes this dynamic duo\u2014parents and small group leaders\u2014so powerful. Your influence in each role matters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Parents lead the way.<\/p>\n Besides the whole \u201cput a roof over their head and food in their mouth\u201d thing what, exactly, do parents offer kids that they can\u2019t get anywhere else? Historical knowledge.\u00a0No one knows a kid like mom and dad do.<\/p>\n Seriously. You can conduct all the studies and read all the research and every individual kid will still be exactly that: an individual. Every kid is nuanced, unique, special. And only the folks who are there in the wee hours of the morning and cuddled up before bedtime at night\u2014only\u00a0those\u00a0people know what a kid is truly like and what they really need.<\/p>\n And we don\u2019t even have to mention\u2014but we will\u2014that no one, and we mean no one, loves a child like a parent loves a child. It\u2019s a magical thing.<\/p>\n Then\u00a0why do kids need more\u00a0than just their parents? Well, parents start out with this thing called low relational influence. Newborns don\u2019t need to\u00a0connect\u00a0with parents as much as they need to be cared for by parents. Feed me, hold me, help me fall asleep.<\/p>\n But the jump from baby to toddler to\u00a0graduation happens fast. Crazy fast. Which means parents aren\u2019t really raising kids. They\u2019re raising adults.<\/p>\n Managing the transition is tricky. As a parent you\u2019re trying to slowly increase your relational influence and decrease your \u201cbecause I said so\u201d influence. It can be pretty tough to get right.<\/p>\n This is where the church comes in.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Churches work with kids of all ages every week. That means they have a good idea of what life will look like when a teen goes from ninth to tenth grade and a toddler becomes a preschooler because they see the shift happen year after year. With this knowledge, churches can help parents prepare for what\u2019s ahead.<\/p>\n This is why\u00a0Small Group Leaders are so important. Just like a parent is an expert on one kid, Small Group Leaders are experts on a group of kids in one phase of life.<\/p>\n As an expert, small group leaders learn everything they can about the phase of their kids. Then,\u00a0and this is key, they show up. Week after week, month after month. Small Group Leaders offer a consistent, non-parental adult presence.<\/p>\n Studies show that kids who have regular, positive adult influence outside the home are more likely to win in life. And every kid, no matter their age, needs a leader who shows up.<\/p>\n Preschoolers\u00a0need a consistent adult because they can be terrified of an unfamiliar face.<\/p>\n Elementary kids\u00a0need a consistent adult because they will tell anything to a stranger.<\/p>\n Middle schoolers\u00a0need a consistent adult because nothing else in their life is consistent.<\/p>\n High schoolers\u00a0need a consistent adult because they only trust people who show up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And really, that\u2019s what we\u2019re talking about here. Adults who show up. In the home and out of the home. Because every kid needs someone who knows their history. And every kid needs someone who can rediscover them now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last Friday, you put on some tunes and busted a move in front of your totally-mortified middle school sons. Then tonight they came home from the dance doing the sprinkler, just like you taught \u2019em\u2014only they gave credit to Jeff, their small group leader and not you, the parent. What gives? And it\u2019s not just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75,82],"tags":[96,97,326,106,61,102,85],"authors":[1815],"life-stage":[64],"class_list":["post-31719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parents","category-volunteers","tag-child-development","tag-childrens-ministry","tag-ministry-leader","tag-orange-strategy","tag-parents","tag-small-group-leader","tag-volunteers","authors-think-orange-team","life-stage-kids-ministry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Importance of Parents in a Child’s Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Importance of Small Group Leaders in a Child’s Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n