about the List

When it comes to parenting, the word difficult is an understatement. When it comes to parenting teens, I'm sure it can feel impossible.  The items in this document are meant to help you as a parent, or your child, deal with the variety of issues teenagers face. There is everything from books and articles educating you on topics, email subscriptions to keep you up to date on trends, apps to monitor activity, devices to help make your home internet safe, resources for counseling, and suggestions for family service projects.


Every family has their own set of ideals and their own preferences and parenting styles. Some of these may seem to overprotective to one parent while another may think it exposes their child to an issue too early. Use your own wisdom before using or going through a resource with your student. 


If you have resources you would like to share or have concerns about the resources listed, reach out to Pastor Jake.

REsource List

** Starred Items are ones that Pastor Jake has personally used.

 

Parenting Blogs/Email Subscriptions

 

Good places to go for general information on parenting and a large variety of topics.

 

**CPYU (Center for Parent and Youth Understanding) - Helping parents, youth workers, educators, pastors and others understand and reach today's youth culture

**Axis - Their culture translator is great!

**Gen Z Lab - Great video interviews on the issues facing Gen Z and how to help our kids address them. I have watched some of these myself, but not all.

Focus on the Family - General articles on parenting teens

Crosswalk - General articles on parenting teens

 


Apps

 

These are great apps that give you parenting advice and/or prayer cues.

 

**Parent Cue (Android/Iphone) - App that tracks (approximately) how many weeks until your kids graduate and move on. It updates weekly with Bible verses, Information on your student’s development, topics to talk about, and conversation starters.

**Pray for Your Son (Android/Iphone) - App with daily reminder and pre-written prayers/topics

Pray for Your Daughter (Android/Iphone) - App with daily reminder and pre-written prayers/topics

 


Bible Study Resources

 

If you want to help your student dig deeper into serious Bible study, here are some great resources.

 

**Logos Bible Software - An amazing computer program for Bible study. Don’t get overwhelmed by the crazy high package prices. Those are meant for people in full-time ministry. They have a nice little base package for free and a great step by step walkthrough of how to do a basic Bible study using the software.

**Moody Bible Commentary - Great one volume commentary on all of Scripture.

YouVersion (Android/Iphone/Web) - Free Bible app with premade reading plans available.

Blue Letter Bible - Free website with in-depth Bible study tools (concordances, commentaries, dictionaries, interlinearies, etc.)



Devotional Recommendations

 

Lighter, beginner resources:

* The Word According to Gen Z - silly "Gen Z lingo" translations with a short 5 minute devo.

* Live in Light / Walk in Faith - 5-10 minute devotionals specific to girls and guys.


More indepth focus on Bible Reading

* Foundations - Walks students through reading Scripture and responding with observations and applications of their own.


Adolescent Development

 

Resources that help you determine what is going on psychologically with your kids in different phases and how to best reach them in those phases.

 

**Phases™ - “Parenting your ____ grader” - great little booklets on what is doing on with their physical, mental, and emotional development and tips for engaging them. The main book is geared towards youth workers, not particularly parents, but it could be a helpful read anyway. Otherwise the booklets are a great overview.

 


Counseling

 

Resources for if you or your student wants to pursue professional counseling.

 

The Third Chair

Centennial Park Counseling

Pine Rest

 


Basic Discipleship/Spiritual Formation

 

Great resources to work through with your kids and begin to have deeper conversations. Think one on one discipleship or family devotion time.

 

**This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years - Jacqueline Crow

**Live Smart - Dan Dumas

Right From Wrong - Josh McDowell

 


Internet Safety/Pornography

 

Variety of resources including app/technology reviews, filtering, and accountability tracking.

 

**Protect Young Eyes - Awesome newsletter to keep you up to date on technology and great reviews on different apps/devices and how to make them safe.

**Covenant Eyes - Filtering and Accountability – This is my go-to recommendation for accountability and filtering. Now can include screen accountability with screenshots taken on devices.

Bark - Bark's affordable, award-winning service proactively monitors text messages, YouTube, emails, and 24 different social networks for potential safety concerns, so busy parents can save time and gain peace of mind.

 

Other Paid Options

NetNanny - Web/App Filtering

Norton Family Security - Web/App Filtering

EverAccountable - Accountability/Monitoring for Android

Circle by Disney - Amazing gadget from what I have heard. Filters internet from the source and allows you to control individual devices.

 

Other Free Options

**K9 Web Protection - Works well for computers, decent but not great for mobile

**OpenDNS - Web Filtering from your router

 


Evangelism

 

How to help you kids talk to their friends about Jesus.

 

**Dare2Share - Organization focused on youth evangelism. Lots of articles and resources, including the Field Guide and Life in Six Words shown below.

**Dare2Share Field Guide. This is a good resource for practical ways to start conversations with non-believers and people of other faiths.

** Life in Six Words. This is a good summary of the GOSPEL and what it means to  believe in Jesus. If you are not too confident in what Christians actually believe about how we are saved, this would be a good one.

Becoming a Contagious Christian - Bill Hybels - General overall lifestyle evangelism book.

33 Things that happen at the moment of Salvation - This resource is about how to help someone after they have accepted Jesus. Maybe a good second book to go through?

 


Homosexuality

 

Books addressing the issues of homosexuality in Christianity. Most of these are from the perspective of Christians who have wrestled with same sex attractions themselves.

 

**Out of a Far Country - Christopher Yuan - A gay son’s journey to identity in Christ

Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and Gay Girl, Good God - Both were given Christianity Today book awards. I have not read them personally though, to know how age appropriate their content is.

 


Sexual Abuse

 

Mercy Multiplied - Mercy Multiplied is a nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to helping young women break free from life-controlling behaviors and situations, including eating disorders, self-harm, drug and alcohol addictions, unplanned pregnancy, depression, sexual abuse, and sex trafficking.

Violated: Mercy for Sexual Abuse - Available for free as e-book

 


Self-Harm/Eating Disorders

 

Resources for student dealing with issues of self-harm, cutting, eating disorders, etc.

 

Mercy Multiplied - Mercy Multiplied is a nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to helping young women break free from life-controlling behaviors and situations, including eating disorders, self-harm, drug and alcohol addictions, unplanned pregnancy, depression, sexual abuse, and sex trafficking.

Mercy for Self-Harm - Available for free as e-book

Starved: Mercy for Eating Disorders - Available for free as e-book

 

When Your Child is Cutting - A parents guide to helping children overcome self-injury.

Cornel Research - Article from Cornell on signs, symptoms and helps for parents of teens dealing with self-harm.

S.A.F.E. Alternatives - Website with all sorts of resources, rehab programs, and lectures.

*Many of these resources are clinical resources, not specifically Christian responses, but don’t let that deter you!

 


Service Opportunities

 

Great, easy opportunities to serve as a family together.

 

**Degage - Homeless shelter in downtown GR. On Saturday mornings they host game time for patrons. You would be in charge of running the games and bringing prizes. Our family likes to just bring $50 and buy 25 of their $2 vouchers to use as prizes for Bingo. It’s easy and the patrons love it.

**Kids Food Basket - Organization providing sack lunches for school aged kids. The easiest way to serve is to decorate bags. You can do this anytime from home and drop them off at their location. If you want to serve on site, it’s really easy to sign up for a slot on their volunteer portal. Just pick a date and time that works for you, show up and they’ll put you to work packing lunches.

**Urban Family Ministries (Super Saturdays) - Most Saturday’s UFM runs a kids program from about 2:30-4:00. This would look pretty similar to an RBCY or RBC Kids gathering. You and your family can sign up to serve either one time or on a consistent basis as helping hands during game time and small groups.

**North Kent Connect - NKC provides basic needs and training for economic independence for people in poverty in Northern Kent County. They have a variety of service opportunities that can be viewed on their website.