Welcome to this month’s Rooted Parent Top 10- a list of parenting articles from across the web for the Rooted community. This list represents ten articles we believe will encourage and equip you as you parent your kids. At the end of the list we have included all of the parenting articles that ran on Rooted last month. If you have an article you’d like to contribute to the next edition of the Top Ten, please email Anna at anna@rootedministry.com.
Gospel- Centered Parenting
Eight Ways to Persevere in the Parenting Marathon by Chap Bettis, TGC. “… seeking to faithfully disciple our children as Christian parents is a long, varied, and painful journey. It is not a sprint. There are certainly moments of joy, but also moments of pain when you want to quit. But this is expected when you realize you’re running a marathon.”
Gatorade And Gum and the Grace of Christmas by Carrie Willard, mbird.com. “Gum and Gatorade may not seem like they have anything to do with the Christ child. But they represent the kind of outrageous generosity that Christmas brings to our lives, and the way that only God can bring us the objects of our hearts’ desire.”
Confessions of a Wandering Mom by Christina Fox, desiringgod.org. “While we may not bow down to idols made of wood, stone, or metal, as many have, we bow in our own ways — to children, to success, to comfort, to control, to approval.”
May She Be Beautiful and Strong by Carolyn Mahaney, desiringgod.org. “Not only is God calling us to faithfully mother our daughters according to his word; he is also inviting us to bring all our mothering concerns and desires to him.”
Melissa Kruger on Discipling Teenagers, TGC (short audio). Melissa Kruger shares several important insights on discipling teenagers that relate to the mission of parenting, expectations of our children, how we invest our time, the ways we build meaningful relationships, how we respond to their suffering, and how our identity in Christ can be compelling to our teenagers.
Teen Culture
Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex? By Kate Julian, the Atlantic. A frank discussion of sex and teenagers that includes valuable observations about the current state of teen culture, particularly the potential impacts of “helicopter parenting” on sexual behavior. And a Christian response to Julian’s cover story: The De-Sexing of the American Teenager by David Zahl, mbird.com. “…the timing of these reports is a little uncanny, coming as it does during a time of year when we contemplate the most important teenage pregnancy of all: when God took on human form, and divine love was concretized in flesh, cloaked in vulnerability.”
From the Gen Z Perspective by Tobi Park, Sola Network. “To a generation that values genuine, authentic, and raw relationships, the Church can come off as fake and threatening.”
Harvard Study Reveals Religious Upbringing Better For Kids’ Health, Well-Being by Tristan Justice, stream.org. “… this decline in religiosity among Americans could drive up the unhealthy behaviors that religious upbringings are shown to reduce, such as drug and alcohol addiction and depression.”
How Can We Improve a Teen’s Brain? One Sleep Study May Have a Surprising Answer — Good Pillows. By Adriana Galvan, The Washington Post. “In a time of borderline hysteria over the effects of technology on sleep and brain development, little attention goes to the fundamental elements of good sleep in adolescents.”
And On Rooted
Home For the Holidays by Carolyn Lankford. “I found that agreeing to both our adjustments and our shared expectations with our children on the front end benefited our family greatly.”
I Am Coming Down: Mourning A Child While Waiting for Jesus by Seth Stewart. “And all of the sudden, it’s not just the fathers and mothers of Israel who mourn the loss of their sons – God does too. All of the sudden, it’s not just my wife and I who’ve lost a son. Jesus, God’s firstborn, dies too.”
Christ Came For Our Coal by Ben Sciacca.“Christmas season presents a unique time to nudge our children into believing in the unbelievable.”
Redeeming the in-Between Time by Luke Paiva. “What do you think about when you have nothing else to think about?”
The Presence of God in Our Anxiety by Eva Parker. “My attempts at self-sufficiency always lead to spirals of doubt, insecurity, and fear. What has helped immensely, though, is the promise that I am never alone.”
Jesus, Take the Wheel: Parenting Through Panic Attacks by Anna Meade Harris.”Over the years though, God has used my weakness to display His strength. As my children watch me struggle, they are learning that they don’t have to “man up” and white-knuckle their lives either.”
