Empowered to Connect is an annual conference we simulcast to benefit CPO families. We highly recommend you take advantage of the opportunity and join us on April 26th & 27th. You can register here.
My name is Serena Lowe. My husband, Brad, and I have 5 children. We are a blended, traditional, and adopted family. There is Zach (18yrs), Hannah (15yrs), Addie (11yrs), Andrew (10yrs), and Ava (1yr). Our belief is that children are a gift from the Lord, however, they don’t come with instruction manuals and we wanted to do this parenting “thing” right. We both have always said they would be raised differently from our childhood experiences. Our desire was to follow Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
I hungered to learn a different, more effective way of parenting. There had to be something to teach and make sense to everyday parenting, that taught us to honor our kids as much as we expect to be honored, and with tools to help us to not provoke our children to anger. After adopting Ava 10+ years after our last was born, learning how to parent a child with ADHD, and raising up preteens and teens…all at the same time, we became desperate for better tools and skills to help us ALL enjoy life under one roof, anchored in peace.
Two years ago, I attended my first Empowered to Connect conference. Brad was running kids to and from sports, while I sat and soaked up every spoken word. I felt throughout the entire conference every speaker was speaking to me about my hope for new parenting styles. I learned so much and couldn’t write fast enough to collect all the wisdom and knowledge I wanted for our family. My eyes were filled with tears, hearing stories of things that touched my heart as I yearned for answers. I believed this was going to be what we needed to effectively and lovingly nurture our kids.
I learned that even though my adopted daughter was born physically healthy and brought straight to our home from the hospital, she had experienced trauma. I learned that this may come out developmentally; helping her to have a voice, while understanding non-verbal cues, I could help her. Learning about time ins instead of time outs would make all our kids feel valued and secure. How to listen and speak with my eyes, while offering time and connection, is going to help us build better relationships with our teens. Learning how to read the temperature of any situation, helping my child regulate with decreased frustration, along with connection will be a game changer for my child with ADHD.
Through the Empowered to Connect strategies we feel much more equipped to understand the needs of our children. We are now able to better give them a voice along with honor as we meet their needs, while at the same time building trust. We look forward to the next conference to refresh our knowledge as we continue this parenting journey, empowered to connect with our children!
CPO is hosting this powerful conference at Christian Chapel on April 26-27, 2019. Register here to attend for free.