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 several of the pieces that ran on Rooted Parent over the 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
Mom Guilt and the God Who Sees by Lauren Whitman, ccef.org. “And what I’ve noticed in myself, in my friends, and in moms I counsel is that those who struggle with mom guilt are really hard on themselves. It’s not only because we see failure first and easily—but also because that’s usually all we can see.”
When Mom Goes Back to School: Lessons Beyond the Classroom by Alice Kim, Sola Network. This article brought tears to my eyes. “I was gifted a priceless moment to bond with my daughter over our shared experiences. I learned that my lack made room for hers. She felt an absence of judgment, condemnation, shame. She felt free to run to me to confess, ‘I messed up too.’ We were able to commiserate, console, and even find comfort together.”
Why We Need to Pray Desperately by J.D. Greear, TGC. “[Elyse Fitzpatrick] contends that the really dangerous problem with … thinking … that we can DIY Christian parenting … is that it keeps us from the one thing we most desperately need, and that is to daily cast ourselves down at the feet of Jesus, looking to him for his mercy in our kids’ lives to do what we cannot do.”
Why You Should Preach the “Family Gospel” by Kendra Dahl, Core Christianity. “As we send our children off to school, and into experiences where they might feel alienated and alone, we can remind them, “You belong here.”
Finding God’s Will (Not Just Yours) For Your Children by Brian Hand, Growing Fathers. “God has called parents to teach his Word to their children. God has not called parents to impose their will on their children.”
Five Things to Say to a Depressed Christian by Eliza Huie. While this one is not specifically written for parents, it includes some general principles that will be very helpful for parents who either suspect or know their child is depressed.
Youth Culture
Table for One by Jeremy S. Adams, Institute for Family Studies. “No matter the focus, parents need to insist on this shared time and shared space. It is the antidote to anxiety, to unhealthy seclusion and separation, and to the alienating idea that family time and obligations are a burden rather than a nourishing and edifying blessing.”
Kids Head Back to School—and Bring Covid-19’s Mental-Health Scars With Them by Andrea Peterson, WSJ. “They’ll be met by additional counselors, plans for mental-health screening and new programs to help tackle anxiety and depression.”
Transcending Genres: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings packs more than the typical Marvel punch by Collin Garbarino, World Magazine. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a Chinese-American story, but it offers universally applicable themes: We’re all born into damaged families, and there’s always the possibility of repentance, forgiveness, and restoration.”
To Share With Your Teenager
We Become Like the Videos We Behold by John Piper, Desiring God. Recorded before the advent of social media, this is a powerful and even more urgent message. “Why are we so hooked on videos and on television and on movies and on the radio? ‘World, tell me, show me, feed me, shape me, make me.’ That’s what we’re doing. ‘Oh no, not really. I’m not the least affected when I watch.’ You become what you behold.”
On Rooted
2021 Rooted Student Devotionals: The Lord Will Guide You Continually by Mac Harris, Good News For Broken Church Camp Commitments by Chelsea Kingston Erickson, God Even Works Our Suffering For Our Good by Ryann Holley, Peace When Life Looks Less Like A Small World and More Like Space Mountain by Anna Meade Harris.
Beyond All Understanding: God’s Promise of Peace in Every Storm by Tracey Rector
The Beauty of the Church: Intergenerational Relationships in Our Children’s Lives by Kristen Hatton
Rooted Recommends: Loving the Parents of Transgender Children by Cindy Matson
Prayers for the Worried Parent by Anna Meade Harris
