Category Archives: Parenting

I know this has been in the Media a lot lately. But I thought this was important to highlight. Radio times spent almost an hour discussing the early onset of Puberty in girls. I thought this was really interesting and it has implications for our families and for our faith communities. Parents may need to begin having conversations about puberty with their daughters at an earlier age. Families will also need to teach their daughters to deal with the interest of older boys. This also has potential implications for girl’s emotional and spiritual health as they will physically mature faster.

I thought this article on YM today was great (Check it out) !It is an open letter to parents from a youth director. Obviously this youth director does not represent everyone. Every good youth director tries to partner with parents. I just wish we (youth directors) and parents could have a more open discussion because it is true Youth Director’s do what they do because they love working teens. When a yd is in a partnership with a family or a parent it is much easier to listen to complaints and to work toward real solutions.  After reading this I was left pondering these questions….

What should a youth director do to be better partner with parents?

What should parents do to better partner with youth directors?

How can churches support both parents and youth directors?

How should a youth director respond to a parent who only complains and never encourages?

I heard an interview the other day with Bruce Feiler. He was promoting his new book The Counsel of Dads.  After hearing the interview, I am very curious to read the book, which expounds upon Bruce’s idea of forming a counsel of men to speak into the life of his children. At the time the counsel was created Bruce was struggling with a rare form of cancer.  He spoke with six men and asked them to speak into his daughters lives around a specific skill or quality they possessed; for example, he considered one the men “travel dad” because he had a great love for travel.  “Travel Dad’s” role was to help instill a love and passion for travel.  This is saying a lot from an author who has written such titles as “Walking the Bible” and has much of his adult life traveling.

One of the things that I talk about in The Real World Parents Seminar is the need for parents to maintain healthy friendships with other adults.  A parent that is able to maintain these relationships will provide a teenager with a panel of adults to help steer them through difficult times and act as sounding board when they push against boundaries. I have personally watched as teenagers have made positive decisions or display better judgment after discussing an issue with a close family friend.

This panel or counsel of adults can also help to reinforce family values. There are points in every teenager’s life when they simply will not listen to their parents. This panel or counsel provides an effective way to reinforce healthy decisions.  Bruce Feiler has come upon a powerful idea; as parents we should strongly consider providing a “Counsel of Dads” and “Counsel of Moms” for our children to help them better navigate life’s challenges.