It’s not surprising that when you look at the description for each of the generations — like Baby Boomers, Gen X, and the Millenials, known as Gen Y and Gen Z — that I tend to think more like a Millenial than my own generation. That’s because I was immersed in their world for nearly two decades, as I lived at a boarding school where my husband was a teacher. Through that experience, I was able to walk with them through disappointments and failures as well as through triumphs and the precious moments of success.
It only made me want to be more skilled at connecting with them, as I knew that beyond their tough exterior were hearts crying out for soul deep love.
So when I embarked on life coach training, it was really for the sake of gaining a skill-set to use in my informal role as mentor to teens. I had no idea that God planned to use it in entirely different way.
Apart from time spent steeped in the Word and going to counseling for whole-heart healing, the training I experienced in becoming a life coach has literally become the greatest investment into my development as a mom.
Through learning how to ask open-ended, thought-provoking questions, while actively listening to the heart, I’ve been able connect on a deeper level with my own growing-up next generation children. Whether it is sitting at the kitchen counter with my college-bound teenage daughter or interacting with my tween-agers and their peers, learning how to ask the right kind of question at the right time has transformed my ability to really get into their thinking and help them process life through an eternal perspective.
It’s always amazing to me how the right kinds questions, asked at the appropriate time, can open the doorway to a teen’s heart and establish a meaningful connection.
So how about I share with you a sneak-peek of what I’ve learned and how you can apply it in your relationship with your tweens and teens?
