How Can We Raise Capable Kids Without Rescuing Them?

David Thomas, co-executive director of Daystar Counseling and co-author of Capable, joins Curtis Chang for a timely conversation on Christian parenting, kids' mental health, and raising resilient children in an age of anxiety. They explore why today's parenting culture can accidentally make kids less capable—and how faith, courage, and emotional resilience can help families face struggle without fear. If you're raising kids in this world shaped by stress, screens, and social pressure, this episode offers grounded, practical wisdom.

02:32 - It's Been a Decade of Youth Mental Health Crisis and Parental Stress

06:10 - Distinctively Christian Parenting vs. Secular Approaches

11:06 - Parenting as Spiritual Formation

16:31 - Has Language Inflation Made Parental Modeling More Important?

19:26 - How Do Some Parental Practices Undermine Capability?

25:39 - Managing Parental Discomfort and Allowing Growth

30:59 - Parenting as a Context for Parental Growth

32:02 - Death to Self and Parenting Young Adults

34:34 - Empathy and Questions: A Parental Script

36:43 - How Do Empathy and Agency Image God in Parenting?

38:17- Encouragement for Exhausted and Stuck Parents

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Mentioned In This Episode:

David Thomas & Sissy Goff's Capable: How to Teach Your Kids the Strengths, Skills, and Strategies to Build Resilience
David's co-author Sissy Goff
Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation
Jonathan Haidt's substack After Babel
Katherine and Jay Wolf's Hope Heals

Scriptures Referenced:

David Thomas on Parenting Without Panic in an Age of Anxiety