The strength is in the struggle.

Julie Lyles Carr is the author of Raising an Original, She guest posts today at A Holy Experience.

The strength is in the struggle.

Hard as it can be to watch. Fearful as it can make us.

Fear, when fed, grows.


Once fear grows, it becomes contagious.
 And once it becomes contagious, it can limit the scope of a life.Once fear grows, it becomes contagious.
 And once it becomes contagious, it can limit the scope of a life.
But we can’t let that happen.

...Even when it seems easier to intervene in every schoolyard conflict.

Even when it seems easier to protect and buffer and bubble wrap and round off all the sharp edges of life.

It’s time to trust.

We can never clearly see the threads of purpose in our kids if all we can see is the risk, the scary, the unknown. We can never clearly see the threads of purpose in our kids if all we can see is the risk, the scary, the unknown.
We can’t raise an original if we raise them on a steady diet of worry.

For our original kids to reach their full potential, we need to model vision, courage, and daring. We need to show the way.

Ask yourself, Am I parenting in this situation, this challenge, this circumstance, from a place of raising my child’s strength and capacity, or am I wrapping him up to defensively buffer my own anxious heart? Am I enabling or empowering?

Be strong and courageous. Fear not. God commands us to do so (Deuteronomy 31:23).

Originality is not the provenance of copy cats and scaredy cats.

It’s the territory of the brave, the visionary, the bold.

It’s possible to let them boldly go.

Read more, especially about her experience with baby sea, turtles here.