Our New Culture Kids

I recently was able to take a TCK (Third Culture Kids) class as a beta participator - giving feedback for this new class.  I really enjoyed taking the class because it didn't spend too much time defining TCK, but rather focused on parenting TCKs.  I am always looking for ways to improve my parenting, so this class was right up my alley.

One of the great take-aways from the class for me was developing a "family culture" for our children.  Our children will never fully fit into 1st or 2nd culture where they have lived, but giving them a family culture to belong to is important.  As a part of that we have developed a family mantra and family rules that travel with us no matter where we are located.  The fun thing is at the same time we were studying knights in school - so we ended up calling our family rules our family 'code of conduct'!

The second focus was parenting in a way to help our children find their identity in Christ.  We listed worldly identities we often strive for (or for our children) versus our identity in Christ with Biblical references.  Helpful to have so many minds brainstorming!

cookie plates for outreach

even the youngest helped

Another activity looked at liabilities for TCK's and how they can be turned into benefits.  For example, loss is a huge difficulty for many TCK's, but it can turn it into empathy for others who have loses.  In many cases difficult experiences help the TCK relate well to other people.

Finally, it was fun to think of ways to get our children more involved in our ministry activities.  We used that this past Christmas when the children were vital in helping to make cookie plates with an invitation to the Jesus film for our neighbors.  I would also like to get out and just walk and pray through the neighborhood while visiting with those we meet more often with the children.

-- La Maestra