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
Someone Will Catechize Your Kids in 2021. Don’t Outsource It. by Collin Hansen (TGC)
When you realize your duty to catechize your children, you’ll soon learn the delight of this privilege. The joy doesn’t come in guaranteeing your children will walk in all the ways of the Lord. It comes in knowing you’ve helped to lay a foundation of biblical truth that will support your family’s faith no matter what may come.
Four Questions About Leading Family Devotions by Adam Griffin (Crossway)
As important as family discipleship is, it is always best when it is mostly ordinary. Hopefully at times there will be superlative experiences that point a family toward Christ together, but more often and most effectively, family discipleship will be accomplished through the small incremental and mundanely normal everyday interactions between parents and their kids.
Four Principles for Helping Kids Through the Winter Blues by Julie Lowe (ERLC)
It is essential that we, as adults, model healthy ways of managing seasonal distress and cabin fever for our kids. Young people need to know they can go through dark days, winter seasons, and sad moments with tangible comfort in the present and hope for what’s to come.
6 Ways to Prevent Your Children’s Ministry Director from Burning Out by Deepak Reju (ERLC)
Have you noticed high turnover in the children’s ministry director (CMD) position in your church? What kind of love, training, and support would make the Janelles of this world stick around for decades?
Youth Culture
Teen Romance in the Age of Covid: What Parents Need to Know by Elizabeth Huebeck, Washington Post
Teens need open dialogue and support more than ever right now, as the pandemic has created new complexities around sexuality (think coronavirus risks) while posing barriers to reliable sources of education and protection.
What to Know About Teens and “Sadfishing” by Diana Park (yahoolife.com)
If my teens are acting strange it’s because something is up. I try to talk to them first, but if that doesn’t work, yes, I’ll snoop in their phones and it will go a bit further than just checking out their social media posts.
How College Ministries are Coping With COVID by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra (TGC)
Those stories make the extra decisions and uncertainty and work worth it, she said. “We’ve had to adjust our schedule and to pivot on some things, but that’s all easy because of the wins we’ve been able to have that we weren’t expecting. So it’s easy to adjust to give up some nonessential things.”
How to Motivate Teens Struggling With Online School by Julie Jargon (WSJ)
We’re nine months into the pandemic and remote school is wearing on students. Boys, who are at greater risk of falling behind academically than girls, are having an especially tough time with all the hours spent behind screens.
To Share with Your Teen
The Real Problem with Four-Letter Words by Karen Swallow Prior (TGC)
Ultimately, the way curse words function magnifies the way all words function: the power is not in the letters, but in the context, intention, and effect.
How to Deal with Stress in College During Covid-19 by (study.com)
College is an awesome time in life, filled with new experiences, unforgettable friendships, and opportunities to learn about yourself. It can also be one of the most stressful times in your life, especially when you throw in global unrest and a worldwide pandemic like COVID-19.
On Rooted
Believing God Can Do the Impossible in 2020 by Dawson Cooper
God takes that which doesn’t make sense, and even seems impossible, and uses it for His glory and our good.
Hear the Angels Sing: Jesus Has Come to Bear Our Burdens by Meredith Exline
When we carry extra loads, our minds become clouded and, in our weariness, we become less effective parents.
Drumming in the Presence of the King by Amy Bond
Keep giving your best to the Lord, not as a means to gain God’s favor, but striving towards heaven because God has given us his best gift – Jesus Christ!
Showing Our Teenagers the Joy Only Jesus Gives by Paige Bierman
Today’s youth need to know that though the world can be a scary place, our lives as Christians are characterized by joy.
All I Want For Christmas by Becky Paynter
In Christ, there is no “if only,” for He is the One who loves us more than we could ever know and calls us His very own!
What Do We Tell Our Children About the Storming of the Capitol? by Cameron Cole
We can embrace Christ’s new day by raising up a new generation of Christians who will one day lead a church which serves as a just prophet, promotes the welfare of all people, and glorifies our holy, righteous God.