When You Feel Inadequate as a Parent
In this episode of Purposeful Family, Linc and Elizabeth get honest about a barrier most parents feel but rarely say out loud: inadequacy. It’s easy to spend more energy on where we fall short than on what God is actually calling us toward, and that fear can quietly convince us that leading our families spiritually is someone else’s job. Linc and Elizabeth name a few of the lies underneath that fear: that every other family has it more together, that staying in our comfort zone is safer than doing the hard, costly work of moving forward.
They also offer a reframe: the same people who say goodbye to us in the morning are the ones who welcome us home at night, which makes home our first mission field. Just like a hiking trail gets easier to walk the more it’s used, leading our families intentionally starts awkward and gets easier with repetition; kids don’t need us to get it perfect, they need to watch us try. And when we do get it wrong, saying “I’m sorry” and asking for forgiveness becomes one of the clearest pictures of the gospel we can give them.
The episode closes with four simple, repeatable habits: spend one-on-one time with your kids, ask them real questions, pray together before bed, and read a short passage of Scripture together in the morning. None of it requires having it all figured out; it just requires starting. As Linc and Elizabeth put it, we’re not pursuing perfection, we’re pursuing purpose.
Share this podcast with someone who feels like they don’t have the right words, is comparing their family to everyone else’s, or feels like they’re the only one who doesn’t have it all together.