Rooted Parent Top Ten: October 2023

Welcome to the Rooted Parent Top Ten, a curated list of resources from across the web that we believe will be helpful to parents raising teenagers. Here you’ll find articles, podcasts, and videos to support you in gospel- centered discipleship and interpreting youth culture. While most are gospel focused, others are included because they include a message of common grace. (The opinions presented in these articles do not necessarily reflect the position of Rooted Ministry.) At the end, you’ll find Rooted resources compiled from the last month’s new offerings. We hope this resource is helpful!

Gospel-Centered Parenting

Top Tips for Parents by Andrew Bunt, thinktheology.co.uk. Despite the generic title, this article is strong. “The online world, the exponential growth of popular media and social media, the proliferation of devices that connect us to the internet, all of these mean that teenagers are often living in a world in which we are not.”

Places I Can’t Go by Karen Wade Hayes, karenwadehayes.com. “I find myself re-learning again and again that the challenge of parenting is not sleepless nights, health scares, growing pains, or teaching teens to drive. Instead, it is learning to trust God more and more each time we watch them walk away.”

The Porn Talk: Nine Ways Parents Can Lead Children by Garrett Kell, Desiring God. “What follows is not a full-scale parenting plan, but nine principles to consider as we parent in a pornified age.” This is an outstanding resource.

Comfort and Courage As I Parent My Disabled Child by Alexa Van Wyck, TGC Africa. “Disability brings to the fore the starkness of our broken humanity. I cannot celebrate it but, trusting in God, the maker of heaven and earth, I can embrace it and joyfully accept this life that the Lord has chosen for my family and my disabled child.”

To Mothers Stuck in Regret by Courtney Reissig, Desiring God. “Regret doesn’t have the final word in your life — the resurrected Christ does.”

5 Reasons Gen Z Is Primed for Spiritual Renewal by Kyle Richter and Patrick Miller, TGC. “Gen Z is spiritually starved. The disorienting circumstances of the last three years—a global pandemic, countless mass shootings, the woke wars, a contested election, rapid inflation, and widespread abuse scandals—created a famine of identity, purpose, and belonging.”

Teen Culture 

Blessed Are the Rich, for They Can Afford to Limit Their Kids’ Screen Time by Bonnie Kristian, Christianity Today. Something to think about. 

When Your Daughter Feels Surrounded… Yet Alone by Kari Kampakis, villagelivingonline. “Girls often wait to be invited … and then ruminate in feeling ignored or rejected when the invites do not come. The truth, however, is that you can do the inviting.”

The Real Reason People Leave Religion by Daniel Cox, Ifsstudies.org. “Young people today are leaving [church] much earlier than those of previous generations. Seventy percent of young adults who have disaffiliated shed their formative religious identities during their teen years.”

To Share With Your Teenager

Letters from Grandpa: When it’s Hard to Listen to Your Parents by Cory Ishida. “This may be God’s way of helping teenagers become mature adults. He neurologically equips them to engage in a world outside the comfort and safety of their homes and parents. Nevertheless, the Lord expects teenagers to listen to and obey their parents.”

On Rooted

Dads, Daughters, and Differentiation by Gordon Bals

God’s Names for Parents: What His Names Tells Us About Who He Is by Katie Polski

What My 10-Year-Old Taught Me About Zacchaeus by Seth Stewart

Gospel Catechisms for Young Children and Teenagers by Rooted

A Youth Pastor, A Psychologist, and A Parent Walk Into a Church: What Pastors and Parents Need to Know About Mental Health (Rooted 2023 Workshop Preview) by Monica and Danny Kwon

Hymns That Help Parents: ‘This is My Father’s World’ by Michael Goldstein

Preparing Your Tweens and Early Teens for High School (Rooted 2023 Workshop Preview) by Syler Thomas

Rooted’s Top Seven Books for Parents 

Parenting, Technology, and the Truth: Handling Conflict With Your Child

Anxious, Embodied Souls: What is the Remedy? with Liz Edrington

Did you know that Rooted now offers a one-day ticket for parents to attend our annual conference? We’d love to see you there!