Discipleship 3.0: Parenting, Schooling, and Holistic Discipleship | Jen Blue

Center for Asian American Christianity

This lecture is from the 2024 Mental Health Conference "Intergenerational Wholeness for Asian Americans: Integrative Approaches to Christian Spiritual and Mental Health Formation." Discipleship 3.0: Parenting, Schooling, and Holistic Discipleship by Jen Blue, recorded on January 13, 2024. Find out more about the conference here: https://caac.ptsem.edu/events/2024-mental-health-conference/ Abstract: In my experience and from what I’ve seen in others, learning how to personally follow Jesus in tangible and real ways is often the first phase of discipleship. Learning how to live in Christian community, whether that be through marriage or intentional community, is a common second phase of discipleship. And for those of us called to be parents, whether of our own biological children or through foster care or adoption, parenting is the fertile field of opportunity for discipleship 3.0. In other words, it is really hard!! Nothing has driven me to the need for deeper personal healing than becoming a parent. I’d love to share my story with you of how my husband and I have tried to cooperate with the Lord and the ways he has used parenting and specifically, decisions about where to send our kids for school in South Los Angeles, to push us to go deeper and further in our faith. It’s one thing to have chosen for ourselves that the call of Jesus and the upside kingdom are the path to life and abundant joy. It’s another thing to make that choice again for our children. One additional note: my husband is African American, so inherent in my story are race and the blessings and challenges of cross-cultural dynamics. I’ll weave those themes into my workshop as well.