Ten Tips For Parents of Teens

1) Support...don't smother. I have seen too many well-meaning parents over-protect and over-parent their teenagers. By the time they are  teens (older teens ), your children should be able to navigate everyday life pretty much on their own. That includes things like turning in assignments, relating to peers, interacting with teachers and other authority figures when neccessary. Remember, you are training them to be independent, confident young adults who will be well equipped and ready when they leave the nest.

2) Allow teens a measure of freedom that is in line with their level of maturity. It's important for teens to know that you trust them. That is, as long as they have done nothing to break that trust. Remember though, that your job is to be their parent not their best friend.

3) Encourage your teen in areas where they have special talent or apptitude. For example, help them find a teacher for music lessons, go to their sports events and tell the coach you are willing to help, tell them why you think they would make a great class president...help them make posters! You know their strengths sometimes better than they do.

4) Have regular family time where your teen can relax and feel loved and accepted. Teens still enjoy family time whether they will admit it or not. Have a family game night, go out to a favorite restaurant, go putt-putt golfing...just spend time together as a family.

5) Physical touch is still important after your child becomes a teen. Continue to give hugs and pats on the back. (just not in public!)

6) Encourage your teen to have friends over. Be polite and welcoming to them...feed them! Make your home the gathering spot.

7) Pray with and for your teen. Be involved in your local church and take your teen with you! There they can build Christian friendships, study God's Word and grow spiritually under godly teachers and youth leaders.

8) Capitalize on those rare one-on-one times with your teen.Find out what is going on in their life. Do more listening than talking. Be prepared to put down what you're doing and listen when they want to talk.

9) Help your teen plan his or her future, whether it's college, technical training or the mission field. They may need you for practical help in this area. Be excited as you talk with them about their future and what God has in store for them. Point them to God for direction and guidance.

10) Treat your teens with respect. Be fair, consistent and patient with them. We, as parents, need to model the behavior we want our teens to display to others.

10 Things For Which I am Thankful

1)  A Christian husband who works hard to provide for us and who loves the Lord  Jesus Christ.

2)  Two wonderful sons, a daughter and a daughter-in-law who know Christ as their Savior and who bring great joy to our lives.

3)  A warm and loving extended family with whom we can share our trials and triumphs.

4)  A comfortable home in a quiet, safe neighborhood.

5)  A circle of Christian friends who pray for us and love us in spite of our many faults...and who also bring us great joy.

6)  The privilege of serving in a music ministry where God is glorified rather than individuals...and also, the joy of playing the piano and praising God in our wonderful church choir each Sunday and Wednesday.

7)  Never going hungry...when so much of the world is starving...having clean water at our fingertips.

8)  The privilege of living in the United States of America and enjoying the freedoms that generations of young men fought and died for.

9)  My health and the health of my family.

10)  That Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins that I might have eternal life and be with God himself in heaven one day. 


What are you most thankful for?  Please share in my comment box.

Is Christian Education for Me?

For purposes of this article, I will be referring to traditional, full time Christian education at private schools. I will discuss homeschooling in a future blog.

 When considering whether or not Christian education is for you, the first order of business is to determine if it is important to you that your child grows up with a Christian versus a secular worldview. It is inevitable that he or she will become an adult who holds to one or the other. What is a worldview? It is the belief system in which your child will reason, make choices and determine his or her life goals. We all function within one of these belief systems.

What exactly does this mean in the school setting? Well, a school that is educating students towards a Christian worldview will be teaching that God is the beginning, middle and end of all knowledge. Whether it be science, language, history or even math, he is the creative genius behind it all. As a matter of fact, he is the one who made the mathematical formulas to work so beautifully. And he is the one who set history in motion at the time of creation. A Christian worldview is based on Biblical truth.