Becoming A Parent: The Child We Imagined

Send us Fan Mail We all begin the journey of parenthood with dreams. We imagine who our child will be, what they’ll love, how they’ll grow, and perhaps even the kind of relationship we’ll share. But eventually, every parent encounters the beautiful and sometimes difficult reality that the child we imagined is not quite the child we’ve been given. In this episode of Becoming A Parent, we explore the ongoing process of reconciling our imagined child with our real child—and how that process can become part of our own maturation as parents. What does it look like to release our expectations while still faithfully guiding and discipling the child God has entrusted to us? As Christian parents, this journey may also reveal something about our own growth in Christ. Just as parenting invites us to surrender our visions and expectations, following Jesus continually calls us to let go of our imagined lives and trust the life God is forming in us and our child. What if becoming a parent is, in part, an invitation to become more like Christ—learning to love not the child we imagined, but the child we have been given, with humility, patience, delight, and grace? CDC Milestone Tracker App: https://www.cdc.gov/act-early/milestones-app/index.html BabySparks - Developmental Tracker & Online Learning for Parents: https://babysparks.com/ Harvard's Center for the Developing Child: Three Core Concepts in Early Development: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/videos/three-core-concepts-in-early-development/ Building Social-Emotional Skills at Home: https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/building-social-emotional-skills-at-home