I’d like to continue to share about how 8 Weeks can change your parenting and your family forever. In my last article, I talked about a heart-based approach to parenting and the importance of parent coaching. Let me start by reminding you that I believe every parent would benefit tremendously by working with a Parent Coach. Think about that for a minute.  Are you working with a Parent Coach?

We use coaches in sports, fitness, and education. There are “Life Coaches” and “Career Coaches.” I already mentioned my life-long passion for coaching. I didn’t tell you that I probably spend more time playing tennis these days than I do any other sport. I was a tennis coach during my summers in High School. Tennis was my favorite sport when I was young. My Junior High School music teacher was also the High School Tennis Coach in my town. He would somehow find out which of his students had an affinity for tennis and hold special tennis classes after school. (I think he was seeking to develop the pipeline of talent or his High School Team.) He would also invite us to the country club where he was the local pro and give us instruction. This is where he would really do his coaching. He would teach, instruct, correct and encourage and demonstrate proper form. He helped us develop a winning strategy by matching us with some of the stronger young players at the club.

One of the things that was most helpful about having a coach was the support and accountability it provided. My coach knew me and was always looking for ways to help me improve and take my game to the next level. He would hold me accountable to working hard and point out weaknesses that needed to be corrected. I continued to work with this coach through High School, but I still remember those coaching sessions at the country club.

I would suggest that parenting is one of the hardest and one of the most important jobs in the world. Parents need everything that I’ve just described above, so why don’t we seek out a coach? It’s not like we start out our journey in parenting as experts. And babies don’t even come with an instruction manual. Yes, we can attend seminars and read books, but there’s nothing like a coach to walk along side of us in this journey and help us develop an effective training plan. That’s because it isn’t just about learning more information. A coach knows how to pass information on to parents in ways that they can understand and work into their lifestyles. That requires wisdom and experience.

I challenge you to consider working with a Parent Coach in 2017. You might want to seek out a leader or more experienced parent in your church. I’d also be eager to help you find a Biblical Parenting Coach or Online Support Group. Here are some of the benefits of working with a Parent Coach.

1. You receive new information, ideas, tools, strategies, and techniques that bring a fresh and powerful dynamic to your parenting.
2. A Biblical Parenting Coach will help you focus on where your child needs to go and what life skills need to be developed in order to overcome the current challenges. This works better than simply trying to stop an existing problem.
3. A good coach will encourage you to make a concerted effort to change relating patterns, adjust inappropriate activity and move the child forward. A concentrated period of coaching is the key ingredient.
4. With the encouragement of a coach, you can engage in practice sessions over and above normal family activity. This increases the opportunity for new patterns to change.
5. A coach will provide insight and accountability that will help you turn ideas into actions.

If you’d like to learn more about the Biblical Parenting Coaching Program from the National Center for Biblical Parenting, go to our website or call our office anytime. 609-771-8002. You can also email me at ed@biblicalparenting.org.

I’d like to invite you to work with me for 8 weeks this winter starting on February 19, 2017. This is an Online Biblical Parenting Support Group.

Group parent coaching will be just like a group clinic for a sport or a fitness class. You’ll working through the same training material; doing practice sessions and journaling. In addition, you’ll be writing about what you’re learning on our Online Forum and getting feedback from other parents. I will still be providing some input on the personalized plan you’re developing with one of your children. The other benefit is a lower cost.