Hearts at Home #2 – Sticks! A plan for hope and reduced stress

The second workshop that I attended at the Hearts at Home conference was called “Sticks! A plan for hope and reduced stress.” It was led by Nadia Swearingen-Friesen. I appreciated Nadia’s transparency and encouragement. The three main points that I gleaned from this workshop were: Know your dreams for your family and have a plan to implement, Our job is not to raise only good children but kind, compassionate and faithful adults, and Teaching kids the importance of playing with their siblings.

Know your dreams for your family and have a plan to implement

Nadia began the workshop by sharing how “Sticks!” was developed. Life was going at breakneck speed for her family. As parents, her and her husband got into survival mode. One day, Nadia took a step back and had a hard look at the dreams they used to have. Nadia and her husband listed it out and came up with a plan. This was a great reminder to me to make sure I am not letting life overwhelm me.

It also reminded me to be in constant communication with Jonathan about what we want for our family. A plan is so key. Time and time again Jonathan and I have seen the fruit of being intentional. We need to pause and take time out of our busy lives to make sure we are on the same page. I have learned that unless we carve out the time for the most important things, it will not happen. I encourage you to make the time for being intentional as you parent your children together.

Our job is not to raise only good children but kind, compassionate and faithful adults

Another key point that Nadia shared was that our job is not to raise only good children but kind, compassionate and faithful adults. This point really hit home for me. I am guilty of getting too caught up in the here and now. I want my kids to be a certain way right now. But, I am learning that it is not all about the here and now. As we train our children, we need to keep in mind the bigger goal. We want them to be kind, compassionate and faithful adults.

Teaching kids about the importance of playing with their siblings

My final take away from this workshop was the importance of teaching our kids to play with their siblings. Nadia teaches her kids that siblings are a present. It is important for our kids to be connected with one another. After all, they will be with their siblings longer than with us as their parents. This was another refresher for me. We used to have our kids play together but that was when they were younger. I loved being reminded of the “why” and the importance of having our kids play together.

More Intentional

There were so many more points that I could share from this workshop. It was such a blessing to listen to a Mom who has been there and is still there. I am looking forward to being more intentional about our dreams for our family. One way I know we can be more intentional is keeping our eyes on what the end goal is for our kids. We want to raise them to be kind, compassionate, and faithful adults. I look forward to helping our kids to see even more the gift their siblings are to them.

How about you? What are your dreams for your family? For your kids in the future? Do you children enjoy playing with their siblings? I hope this post was an encouragement to you and you walk away challenged to implement something new in your family. Joining you in the journey…