In The Present (Dec 14-21)

We’re Teaching This:

What is it about this time of year that causes us to feel a little more generous? We naturally think about helping families in need by providing Christmas presents or a meal, we visit soup kitchens, donate clothes, or drop food off at the local food pantry. Studies show we give more money and clothing to charity in December than any other time. But why? In the Gospel of John, we find a part of the Christmas story that doesn’t always make it into the nativity scene. Long before Mary and Joseph made it to Bethlehem. Long before there were choirs of angels visiting shepherd or wise men making their way from the East, Christmas began with a single decision made on our behalf. A decision God made to give. That simple but monumental decision has shaped this season ever since. And when we begin to understand all God has given to us, we can’t help but bring that tradition that began with His generosity into our present. 

Think About This:

By Sarah Anderson

Have you ever noticed that when it comes to our children—no matter what their age—the things we expect our children to enjoy and thank us for the most are usually the very things that go unnoticed or unappreciated? I’ve started noticing it in my own preschool aged kids that when I pull out my best parenting tricks, my best memory-making ideas, it is sometimes met with them being bored, not impressed, and lacking gratitude.

The problem I face as a parent, and the problem all of us face to one degree or another, is what pastor Andy Stanley refers to as the tendency to raise experientially rich kids, but instead of raising relationally rich ones. In other words, in our effort to want to give our kids everything, we create the chance for them to have some pretty amazing experiences but often neglect actually connecting with them.

This becomes all the more complicated as our children become teenagers and appear to want neither experiences nor relationships with us.

It’s hard not to take personally. But I’ve found that what students express as “wants” or “don’t wants” often doesn’t reflect their true desires. While they appear indifferent, that isn’t always the case. Our students, regardless of their age, temperament or wiring, are needing purposeful and committed relationships—with us. Strong relationships with their parents now will lay the groundwork for strong relationships in the future.  

They need to know—though they aren’t often willing to ask us directly—that we like them and we want to hang out with them. Maybe they aren’t looking for some big expensive vacation or experience. Maybe they don’t need anything that dramatic—just the chance for us to be with them and a chance to make a connection.

Try This

 

Maybe your student moving out of the house feels like it is a long way off. It could be several years away, or it could be in a matter of months. Try thinking about their time with you in terms of the number of holidays you have while they still live in your house. Your teenager may be four years from moving out, but that means you only have four Christmases left.

“When you know how much time you have left, you tend to do more with the time you have now.”

-Reggie Joiner

Take some time this holiday season to sit down with your student and together come up with a tradition you can repeat for the Christmas seasons you have left. It doesn’t have to be anything big, expensive or super time-consuming. But it does have to be something your teenager wants to do—and something that gives you the chance to have shared experience together and further your relationship as well.

Get connected to a wider community of parents at www.orangeparents.org.

Catching Fire (Nov 23-Dec 7)

 

We Taught This:

When you were a little kid, did you ever try to light something on fire using a magnifying glass? Did you love sitting around a campfire? Or dream about the day when you’d be old enough to light the fireworks yourself? It seems there’s something in all of us that is fascinated by the power of fire. But along with that power comes a lot of responsibility. Depending on how it is used, fire has the power to make our lives better or to destroy everything we care about. But flames aren’t the only things with that kind of power. The Bible teaches that our words, our comments, and our conversations, can have a lot in common with fire. We’ve all seen how words used recklessly can quickly get out of control and leave everything a charred mess. But imagine what would be possible if we began using the power in our words for something good and beautiful instead? What if instead of using our words to destroy, we used them to build something amazing?

 

Think About This:

Have you ever noticed how sometimes one little thing going wrong can ruin your entire day? Or maybe you’ve noticed the opposite. One small gesture, one kind word, one solid compliment can turn a rotten day into a good one.

 

In their book, How Full Is Your Bucket, Donald Clifton and Tom Rath talk about how our daily interactions with people have the power to shape our lives—for better or for worse.  They say that we all have a bucket and everything negative done to us, and everything negative we do to others works to empty our bucket—poisoning our outlook. At the same time, every positive interaction that we give or receive fills our buckets and improves the way we view the world.

 

These two authors believe that the daily effort made to fill our buckets (by choosing positive words and actions) could potentially determine a direction for our lives and the lives of those around us.

 

Whether you buy into this idea completely or not, it’s hard to argue with the power of positivity when you see it in action. And what if they are on to something? What if becoming more intentional about making optimistic choices does intensely impact the relationships we have with those closest to us? Or what if it actually does impact our productivity at work and at home?

Would you be willing to try filling your bucket (and consequently your student’s bucket) with positive words and actions this week? Make it an experiment. Maybe, it will impact the quality of your day. Maybe it will improve the emotional climate of your home.

Maybe it won’t.

But why not try? What’s the worst that could happen?

Try This

For whatever reason, the people that mean the most to us are often the ones we have the hardest time encouraging. This week, try working to change that.

This week, try telling your student just how proud of them you really are.

• Choose the time of day: Maybe it’s best to talk to them in the morning. Maybe after school. Maybe in the car. Maybe before bed.

 

• Choose the method: You can send a text, write a note they’ll find in their backpack, or say it to their face.

Whatever you decide to do, simply make the effort this week to fill your student’s bucket—and when you do, you just may be surprised at how full your own gets in return.

Get connected to a wider community of parents at www.orangeparents.org.

Silver Lining (Nov 2-16)

We’re Teaching This:

Have you ever heard someone say: Every cloud has a silver lining? It means with every storm, with every cloud, there is a something good about it. That’s a nice little saying, but sometimes silver linings are hard to find in real life, aren’t they? It’s hard to see the good qualities when it comes to people at school who aren’t so nice to you or teachers who make your day miserable. Maybe the hardest place to see a silver lining is your family. In the best situations, family members can be annoying, but for many of us it goes beyond that to real brokenness and painful memories. Very few families in history have experienced more brokenness than Joseph’s did in the Bible. After his father played favorites and his brothers sold him into slavery, it must have been hard to believe any good would come out of his situation. But through Joseph’s story, we see that God can use us to change our relationship with even the most difficult family members. And if we’re willing to look for it, we may just find the silver lining in our family.

Think About This:

No one needs to tell you that we live in a fast-paced culture. You would be the first one to say that life is complicated, family is challenging and busyness, pressure and tension are probably at a high in your life. We may all have different circumstances creating the exhaustion that we find dictating our lives, but the end result is the same. We are tired. We are worn out. We are on our last nerve and operating off depleted reserves when it comes the people who need us the most: our family.

And the reality is, we aren’t the only ones stretched a little thin. Our students are too. Their tempers are even shorter than ours. They’re as quick to snap as we are.  So what do we do to relieve the tension and begin to bring sanity back to our families?

We get serious about having fun.

There is actually a science to it. When we laugh, enjoy ourselves, and learn to let go we can actually reduce the amount of stress in our lives. It feels counterintuitive. It feels counterproductive. But it’s true. Sometimes the best thing we can do for our family is to be as committed to fun as we are to our schedules. We need to get creative and intentional about ways we, as an entire family, can learn to have more fun and in the process actually begin to enjoy one another more.

• Try a change of scenery. Just leave the house together. Try heading to a local park for a picnic dinner or moving homework time to a coffee shop. Sometimes just going some place different can lighten the mood

• Try something new. Attempting something together that is a new experience for everyone can not only be fun but also strengthen our relationships. If you’re not sure where to start, check discount websites like www.groupon.com for inexpensive classes you can take as a family.

• Try something tried and true. Sometimes just the retelling of an old family story that always gets a laugh is enough to draw out the silver lining in our family. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself for the sake of your family. Nothing harms a family dynamic like everyone taking themselves too seriously. So pull out a photo album or drive by your old elementary school and have a good laugh.

The point is, in order to find the silver lining with our family, we have to make fun a priority. Just laugh.  Be goofy together. And in doing that you may find your teenagers aren’t as bad you thought they were—and they might end up thinking the same thing about you.

Try This

Sometimes the quickest way to see the best in someone is have fun with them. So try planning a “family fun night”.  Now hold on. Don’t check out yet. Maybe you worry your teenagers think this would be a terrible idea—that anything their family plans would be lame. But we did some of the work for you and asked real students what they would actually enjoy doing with their family. (See? They don’t really despise you all of the time, even though it may feel like it.)

So take a look at the list below and find one that works for your family—or use these ideas as a springboard to come up with your own.

I love going out to eat with my family and going shopping at weird little thrift stores in town. – Kat, 15.

I like going to the movies with them. – Sam, 16

  

Movie night at home is always fun. – Olivia, 17

Bowling night! – Maddie, 15

Family lake day! – Sean, 17s

I love vacations because it gets us away from other people so we can hang out together. –Sadie, 14

Get connected to a wider community of parents at www.orangeparents.org.

Alive (Oct 12-26)

We’re Teaching This:

 

Words are powerful. They can make your day or ruin it. Words can make friends or create enemies. On a global level, words can start a revolution or bring peace. Now, think about how much more powerful God’s words are.  Simply by speaking He caused the world to be created along with everything in it— mountains, oceans, thunderstorms, planets, the sun. His words caused nations to rise and fall, and people who were dead to come back to life. God’s words are the most powerful force in our entire world, but if we’re honest…most of us don’t think of them that way. We hear “God’s Word” or “the Bible” and think about an old dusty book, something complicated, outdated, or even boring. But what if it was never meant to be that way? What if we’re missing out by seeing it as simply a history book or something to study? As we take a closer look at God’s Word, we may be surprised at what we find. God is inviting us to hold, read, and experience the same Word that created everything we see. It’s more than a book. It’s better than a story. It’s alive.

Think About This:

 

Do you like to study? Probably not. It’s almost a universal “dislike”. And if we’re honest, most of us don’t envy our student’s position of being required to study history or math or literature everyday. Sure, going back to relive parts of high school or middle school might be nice, but we’ll pass on the actual studying part. But did you know students often take their cues from their parents when it comes to learning, growing, and studying? In the article, “The Role of Parents, PBSparents.org puts it this way, “one thing remains constant: we are our children’s learning models. Our attitudes about education can inspire theirs and show them how to take charge of their own educational journey.” (http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/going-to-school/supporting-your-learner/role-of-parents/)

That means our attitude—good or bad—toward learning new things will ultimately rub off on our students. Obviously, this affects them when it comes to school—but it also impacts their willingness to learn and investigate areas of their faith as well. While we may feel there is value in learning the principles found in the Bible, and though we want our teenagers to begin to develop a faith of their own, with that comes some really tough questions. And fear of not having all the answers can intimidate us into believing it’s a job better left to the church. But what if talking about faith didn’t have to be so scary? What if having all of the answers wasn’t a pre-requisite for having a conversation?

One step any parent can take—no matter where they are in their personal faith journey—is to choose to model curiosity. The reality is, no parent has all the answers. But every parent has the ability to demonstrate a positive attitude toward learning by choosing to learn with their student.  This is true whether the topic is faith, history, literature, or Calculus. That’s why many schools have encouraged parents to see themselves as co-learners with their student. Seeing their parents model a healthy willingness to learn has a huge impact on the students’ attitudes.

So when you don’t know, ask questions. Find answers—together. No matter the subject, involve your student in the process. In doing so, you’ll teach them the confidence to do the same.

Try This

 

Did you know you don’t even have to believe something to learn from it? Think about it, did you ever learn something from a fiction book, even though you didn’t believe it actually happened? Probably so. Even if you aren’t sure whether you believe the Bible and all its teachings, you owe it to yourself (and to your child) to read at least part of the book that has so shaped our culture. If you do believe the Bible is true and accurate, that’s all the more reason to give it your time and attention.

 
This week, try reading just one verse and encourage your student to read the same one. You can use the example activity below. Write out a response to the question and then compare answers next time you’re together. It doesn’t have to be anything profound, just a simple take-away that each of you can share with the other.

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The following is a quote from Jesus. Read it and write an answer to the question below.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12 NIV)

What is one way your life might look differently if you started living this way today?

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Get connected to a wider community of parents at www.orangeparents.org.