As we step into the month of February, you can’t escape the fact that “love is in the air.” What was your first clue? Was it all the Cupids, paper hearts, Valentine’s cards, and giant boxes of candy that we’ve seen decorating the store shelves since the beginning of the New Year? If not that, then it has to be the increase in dating app advertisements on the radio or sappy jewelry store commercials on T.V. Since February is the month of love, it’s also the time of the year when many ministries wade into the topic at church and try to encourage kids and teens to move toward healthy relationships. This provides you, as a ministry leader, with the perfect opportunity to engage parents and better equip them to lead their kids and teens at home as they navigate the often awkward and sometimes comical conversations around this important topic. So, whether the topic is kissing or the cooties, this month’s M2P resources are designed to provide you (and parents) with ideas and resources that will help frame these critical relationship conversations that we all need to be having with the next generation.

 

For more on this topic, don’t forget to check out the blog articles, coaching video, online parenting class video, toolbox item, and the latest episode of the M2P Podcast. Remember that we are here to serve you and to help you serve parents, so let us know if there is ever anything we can do for you or your ministry.

 

With love, some candy hearts, and a box of chocolates,

The M2P Team

WHAT IS IT?

Due to the nature of this particular topic, the team at M2P has created two very different resources to help the parent(s)/guardian(s) of children and the parent(s)/guardian(s) of teenagers engage and navigate two very different conversations concerning dating, boundaries, and relationships that are taking place in and around the home during these seasons of life.

  • The kid’s version of the toolbox includes a Paret Guide and Conversation Starter with thoughts, definitions, Bible references, and questions that are designed to help the parent(s)/guardian(s) start an age-appropriate conversation about relationships with their kids. This resource provides parents with a starting point for an ongoing conversation and one that they can come back to and adjust as needed by utilizing this adaptable toolbox resource as their kids get older and the questions get harder.
  • The youth version of the toolbox includes an extremely useful conversation guide explaining the principle of a “trust economy” and how to build/grow that trust economy with a teenager. The youth version also includes a customizable dating “contract” that is designed to help the parent(s)/guardian(s) have age-appropriate conversations and agreed-upon expectations with their teenager concerning dating.

We all know that relationships, crushes, dating, love, and the need for healthy relational/physical boundaries are things that our children are exposed to and start to have questions about from an early age. These conversations strike fear in the hearts of every parent/guardian, but they are too critical for them to ignore. From cooties to dating to boundaries, this month’s toolbox item helps you better equip parents to have the conversations that only they can have with their kids and teens.

HOW TO USE IT

  • Download the toolbox resource. Post the explanation and link to it on your website.
  • Email parents a copy of the toolbox resource or a link to it and encourage them to set aside some time to work through it and begin having some open age-appropriate conversations with their kids and teens.
  • Print copies of the toolbox resource for parents to grab at church.
To download, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.

Since February is the month of love, it’s also the time of the year when many ministries tip-toe into the waters of the love and relationships topic at church and try to at least acknowledge the elephant in the room. Valentine’s Day and all that goes with it is just another reminder of how obsessed with love, sex, and dating our culture has become. Our kids and teenagers are no doubt getting a collective earful/eyeful through music, movies, social media, commercials, and even just looking around. They are laying the foundations and building upon it what they believe about relationships, dating, and relational/physical boundaries. This month’s coaching videos give you some tips on how to weigh into this important topic as a ministry leader. It’s a conversation that will never go away, one that we shouldn’t shy away from as ministry leaders, and one we need to be having inside the local church. The kids and teens in our churches and families are building a dating, relational, and sexual ethic, and we have the opportunity to help shape what they believe.

To view, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.

In this month’s Online Parenting Class, we lean in and really challenge the parent(s)/guardian(s) in your ministry to make sure they are engaging their kids and teens in conversations about the age-old topics of relationships, dating, and relational/physical boundaries. Often, as parents, we shy away from these difficult and taboo conversations while our kids and teens are learning and picking up their cues on these things from peers, culture, social media, and the entertainment industry. But, if we want our children and teenagers to have Godly perspectives, healthy relational/physical boundaries, and make wise choices in this area of life, then we have to be the ones to speak truth to them and lead them in that direction. So, these videos will offer parents some practical suggestions on how to engage in these conversations in a good and healthy way.

To view, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.

New blog posts coming this month:

  • For Kids’ Ministry Leaders: Why Talk About Dating with Kids? by Amy Diller
  • For Kids’ Ministry Parents: Laying a Foundation for Future Relationships by Amy Diller
  • For Youth Ministry Leaders: Having “The Talk” by Chris Sasser
  • For Youth Ministry Parents: More Than the Talk by Chris Sasser

To view, click HERE.