** 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.