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
The Unexpected Parenting Comfort of Ecclesiastes by Jen Wilkin, Christianity Today. “As Tim Kimmel has noted, our task is not to raise children who are safe, but to raise children who are strong. Children have sensitive “spiritual noses.” They can smell fear in us… Let our parenting be motivated, then, not by the fears of our generation but by the fear of the Lord.”
No Greater Accolade (Christian Men and their Godly Moms) by Tim Challies, challies.com. “Timothy was a man of the Word because he had been raised by a woman of the Word.”
Our Teenagers Are Worth the Chase by Drew Hill, newgrowthpress.com. “Apart from the problem of sin, I’m convinced the number-one problem facing teenagers today is broken relationships with their parents. But it doesn’t stop with parents. It seems one of the unwritten rules for many teenagers is they’re not supposed to trust any adult, period.”
FAQ: Can Parents Help Their Kids Be Born Again? By Adriel Sanchez, Core Christianity. “We can’t transform the hearts of our kids. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit. But since God uses his word to transform human hearts, we need to help our children to be saturated in the word.”
5 ways to manage your summer expectations for vacation and rest by Stacey Reaoch, ERLC. “Christians are not exempt from loving and serving their family just because we’re on a special getaway. Hold your plans with an open hand, and ask God to give you unexpected joy and grace as you make lasting memories with those you love.”
Teen Culture
Transformation of a Transgender Teen by Sarah Eckhoff Zylstra, TGC. ““Our outside body is wasting away,” Ferguson said. “The Christian hope is to entrust our physical bodies to the Maker, who will raise it from the dead, and in the meantime, we work for the transformation of the inner man. By contrast, the gender movement says, ‘I will arrest control of the body from the Maker and remake it in the image of my own inner self.’”
Harry Potter Turns 25: What I Saw While Reading to My Sons by David Mathis, Desiring God. “Hogwarts at its best resembles how Christ builds his church, not with the world’s best and brightest — the wise, strong, and noble. Outcasts and untouchables find welcome at Hogwarts, and usefulness, that they find nowhere else.”
The State Finally Letting Teens Sleep In by Lisa L. Lewis, The Atlantic. “The circadian-rhythm shifts that happen in puberty are an important consideration. But societal factors also contribute to teens’ chronic sleep deprivation. Teenagers are frequently overloaded, strapped for time, and asked to wake far too early for school. Most teens should still be sleeping well past when their alarm clocks ring in the morning in order to attain the recommended amount of sleep: A teen who must wake at 6 a.m. would need to fall asleep each night between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., which runs counter to reality because of teen body clocks and the demands of homework, among other factors.”
To Share With Your Teen
Even Video Games Teach Us to Rest by Jared Kennedy, TGC. “… every Lord’s Day we remember and celebrate our salvation.”
Why Christian Teens Have an Identity Crisis by Sara Barrett, TGC. “Understanding who we are in Christ is critically important, but beginning a theology of identity with who we are leaves out the most important piece of the story—who God is.”
On Rooted
Stranger Things and Stronger Things: Helping Teenagers See the Gospel in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 by Rebecca Lankford
A Letter to Teenagers Beginning Fraternity Recruitment by Parker Hudson (please see also A Letter to Teenagers Beginning Sorority Recruitment by Cameron Cole)
Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak: Communicating With Your Teenager by Connie Nelson
Offering Our Teenagers A Better Encouragement by Rooted
Turn and Face the Strange: Navigating Change With Our Teenagers by Anna Meade Harris
Rooted Recommends: Everything Sad Is Untrue by Rooted
Don’t Be Afraid of the Teen Years with Paul David Tripp by Rooted
Being Happy in God: Christian Hedonism for Parents by Jonathon Woodyard
