The death and resurrection of Jesus was and is for every student and every parent. During Holy Week, we remind our students that Jesus was a living sacrifice with a vision and a plan for each of us. To be loved and to love.…
5 Best-practices for communicating the crucial details for your summer-trip adventures. There’s one sure-fire way to frustrate and alienate the parents in your ministry—do such a poor job of communicating the details of your summer trips that they feel disconnected, uninformed, and nervous.…
Every other day lately it seems like I receive a new coupon telling me what I can buy my mom on her special day in May. In the restaurant world, Mother’s Day is seen as one of the busiest of the year.…
The van-ride home from a retreat or trip alternates between chaos and peace as kids relive highlights from the week. The caffeine is finally wearing off, and the exhaustion is setting in. If you’re like me, when I pull the van into the church parking lot I have two emotions sweep over me: relief that we made it home, and a kind of sadness that the experience is over.…
The Center for Parent/ Youth Understanding posted this article recently about youth pastors feeling ill-equipped to help youth with mental health issues. You can read that article here. While we live in a culture that loves to brag about the cast on our leg, and is unashamed to share that we were up all night puking because of the flu, when it comes to mental health issues we are much quieter about the issues.…
A Prayer for Families With Teenagers Lord, we need you, we need help. This prayer might come across as desperate, but here we are just a few months into the school year and our whole family, parents, and teenagers are exhausted.…
I’d love to say I’ve never judged a parent or a family situation throughout my years in youth ministry. It would be great to claim I’ve always listened, been a strong advocate, and formed opinions based only on facts. Saying those things wouldn’t make them true, however.…
There is a big difference between privacy and secrecy—once again, we’ve been reminded of that difference in the most painful of ways. This week the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News published an in-depth investigative report on the widespread and systematic sexual abuse of minors in Southern Baptist churches over the last 20 years.…
Kendra’s parents are waiting for longtime youth pastor Ralph Paige in his office—when he walks in the door, his church admin gives Ralph that “buckle up” look… It’s not going to be an easy conversation. Ralph welcomes “drop-in” conversations, but when most parents have a concern to bring up, they catch him in the hallway or call for an appointment.…
We have been in the throes of graduations galore. Hats are thrown in the air, celebrations had, and gifts given. Then it’s over, but it’s not. The pomp and circumstance has died away, but students are still in a waiting space for the future to arrive.…
