3 Quick Tips for Keeping Your Cool

Dealing with teenagers is never easy. It is also time consuming. SO we put together 3 very quick tips for keeping your cool, when you are about to blow your lid.

1) Pray this short prayer first: “God give me grace in the moment”. It is impossible to maintain control of your emotion apart from the grace of God, so be willing to ask for it.

2) Ask yourself, “What can I teach them right now?” This thought will keep you focused on the greater parenting task which is teaching them the beliefs and life skills they need to become an adult.

3) Consider the context. What physical changes could be causing this behavior? What relational pressures or circumstances might be fueling your teenager’s emotional response?

That is it. Obviously, these things can only go so far but next time you feel like you are about to react in a negative way, just remember: Pray, Teach, Context.

Comments

Rebel and Repeat

Today I want to talk to you about being a rebel. You might not think of yourself as a rebel but you might be more of one than you think! To be a great parent today, you need to be courageous enough to visit your past. How did your parents raise you during the teenage years? What was your experience like? What did your parents teach you? What values did they pass down to you? It is so important to think back on that time even if it is painful for you. Because the pain can have a purpose. It can show you where you need to rebel. Your parents were not perfect, just like you are not a perfect parent. So there has to be some areas where you could give your teenager a better experience than you got. That is something you would Rebel against from your past. A great exercise for you to after you read this is to grab a piece of paper and make a list of the different ways you want to rebel from the way you were raised. In this case, rebellion is a very good thing. It can be one of the greatest g...

Technology and Teenagers

unsplash-logo Rob Hampson In June of this year, we hosted a live video conference all about Technology and Teenagers. Below you will find a bunch of resources that you can use to help you parent through your student's teenage years and just navigate modern technology and all that surrounds that. It is so hard to tell what boundaries and restrictions to give your teenager when it comes to technology. Which social media accounts you should let your students have. When to give them a cell phone and when to take it away. Maybe you feel like you don't even know where to start. Join us from home as we discuss Technology and Teenagers or just take a look at the resources we have compiled below. Meeting Notes Resources Tech Guides Focus on the Family Online Tech Guide Focus on the Family 2019 Parent's Guide to Technology and Entertainment Research Common Sense Media's Common Sense Census Key Findings Common Sense Media's Family Media Agreement Ar...

The Power of Symbols Part 2

In our last post we talked about the power of symbols. I challenged you to consider how you could use symbols as a tool to help you pass down faith to your teenager. The reason I believe this is an appropriate method is that God used it. In Genesis 9:13-17 God used a rainbow as a symbol of His promise In Genesis 28:18-22 Jacob established a monument to remind himself of God’s promise to bless his descendants In Genesis 7:8-13 Aaron’s staff became a symbol to Pharaoh of God’s presence with the Israelites and His power In Exodus 12 the Passover feast is rich with symbolism none more important than the use of the Lamb to represent coming salvation and it goes on and on…. the monument of 12 stones when the tribes of Israel crossed the Jordan river the 10 commandments given on stone tablets the ark of the covenant the Temple on an on… It’s not just in the Old Testament either. In the New Testament we see symbols: the gifts of the Magi to Jesus in Luke 2 Jesus washing His di...

the BLOPE

Search This Blog