In this first interview EPISODE we welcome Shaylie Miller – a former youth group member who is now living in another town and practicing “adulting”. She visits with us about how her family practiced “withing” at various stages of her developmental life.
We had a lot of fun as we worked through three of the high points of what it means to practice withing:
- “Withing” has a lot to do with family connection and support. Shaylie reflected on unconditional love and intentional conversations that pushed past the surface level answers.
- The ultimate goal of “withing” is for parents and children to transition through development in order to foster greater independence. Shaylie shared how her parents have transitioned from the initiator to the responder for a lot of her current needs. She also shared how they’ve progressively pushed her to answer her own problems rather than always laying out solutions for her.
- Modern “withing” involves technology. We addressed this issue at length in last week’s EPISODE. Shaylie added some great nuance to the conversation by reflecting on the growth from not wanting her parents involved in her social media at an early age, to a heavy involvement of communication during her adolescent years, to a more balanced and community approach to communications now as a young adult.
If you would like a great resource on this concept, we recommend you check out Kara Powell and Steven Argue’s book Growing With. Additionally, we encourage you to do a “withing” check by asking these questions:
- How are you supporting your children in the stage they are in currently?
- What are you doing to help foster more independence for your child?
- How can you better use the tools available to you to make your child feel supported and trusted?
We REALLY want to thank Shaylie for joining us and sharing her life with us. We are thankful that she has found a place to worship and minister in the town she lives in . She is currently involved in leadership with the young adult ministry at Northpoint Church.
See you next week as we talk about the art of asking good questions! Until then…Be Abnormal!