Your July Resources Are Here!
When it comes to leading kids and teenagers in your church or in your home, it’s not likely that you experience a perpetual state of “kumbaya.” In life, we all seem to continually bump into each other, both physically and metaphorically. Conflict (like aging and making mistakes) is inevitable, and one of the keys to being able to both survive and thrive through it all is learning how to not only have the right conversations but also lean into those conversations when they arise.
Now, we all know it can be hard to have deep, meaningful conversations with our kids and teens. They are often distracted or just not in the mood to talk about the things we need to talk about. Add in the layers of conflict, emotion, and our seemingly perpetual state of busyness that exists, and it’s no wonder that conversations are avoided, feelings get stuffed down, hurt grows, and relationships suffer. But what if we could all learn how to live life in a different way? What if we, as ministry leaders or as parents, were intentional about developing the skills we need to lead into and lean into these important conversations with our kids and teenagers?
This month’s Coaching Videos will offer some very practical advice to you as a ministry leader on how to frame some of the more difficult conversations and grow in your own leadership. How we communicate as a ministry leader matters, and we all need to lean into having healthy conversations as we seek to live and lead together. Additionally, the parents in our churches often struggle to lead their families into helpful and healthy conversations, and this month’s videos give you some tools to lean into the opportunity you have to help parents learn and grow in this area of life.
We have a great Parent Toolbox Resource from our friend and this month’s M2P Podcast guest, Patti Pilkington Reed. Patti is the author of the book Face to Face: Smart Conversations with Yourself, Your Teenager, and Your Young Adult. Patti is graciously providing you and the parents in your church with a downloadable PDF reflection titled “Their Voice.” If you are worried because the title says, “teenager and young adult,” don’t be. In this resource, Patti shares some thoughts and a few thought-provoking questions that are applicable to children of all ages concerning the importance of parents affirming the voice of their child as they grow and develop their own voice.
Our Online Parenting Classes will equip the parents in your span of care with some practical principles to use as they navigate having the real conversations they need to have at home with their kids and teenagers. These ideas are rooted in Scripture and give parents a lens through which to view how they are leading their family. This month’s Blog Articles look at this month’s topic from a different perspective and will encourage both you and the parents in your church. Don’t forget about your Social Media Posts, as they will help you elevate the conversation about how to have healthy conversations.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 1:4 ESV
We’re honored to be in this with you!
The M2P Team
WHAT IS IT?
This month’s Parent Toolbox Resource is a downloadable PDF reflection titled “Their Voice” from author and leader Patti Pilkington Reed. This resource is based on her book Face to Face: Smart Conversations with Yourself, Your Teenager, and Your Young Adult. In this resource, Patti shares some thoughts and a few thought-provoking questions concerning the importance of affirming the voice of your kids and teens as they grow and develop their own voice through their opinions, desires, passions, and thoughts. Parents often struggle to talk to and connect with their children, and this reflection offers practical ideas and encourages parents to consider what is happening both in them and in their kids and teenagers. It’s a great tool that will help parents strengthen the bond they have with their children and potentially open helpful lines of communication.
HOW TO USE IT
- Download the PDF reflection from Patti Pilkington Reed and post it on your website.
- Email parents a copy of the resource and encourage them to set aside some time to read it, process the questions, and even share it with other parents.
- Print copies of the resource for parents to grab at church.
- Share a copy of the PDF download with your ministry team and discuss it together.
- Consider ordering some copies of Patti’s book Face to Face: Smart Conversations with Yourself, Your Teenager, and Your Young Adult, and have it available at your church.
This month, we are talking about healthy ways to navigate an issue that we all have to deal with at some point or another: conflict. Sure, we all wish we could live in a world without conflict, but that’s just not a reality in a fallen and broken world. We are inevitably going to face conflict in our jobs, at our churches, within our relationships, and in our homes. We can try to run from conflict, dodge conflict, or just ignore conflict altogether and hope it goes away. These are the approaches that many people often take, yet none of them are healthy, nor do they prevent conflict from taking place. However, there are some principles we can all embrace as we seek to navigate conflict in a healthy and productive way, and our Coaching Videos will challenge you and the team you lead to evaluate how you deal with conflict and encourage you to help the parents in your church develop healthy patterns as they lead their family. This month is essentially a conversation about, well, conversations. If we can all learn how to talk to each other in ways that bring healing and unity, then we can better handle the conflicts we face and build stronger relationships with those we care about.
To view, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.
When it comes to navigating conflict and conversations with kids and teens, there are some big-picture things that parents can do, as well as some specific practices that will hopefully lead families into helpful and healthy conversations. How parents frame and step into these conversations really matters, and there are certain principles they can apply to be more intentional about building the skills and relationships they need to weather the storms of conflict they will encounter. As is true with so many things, when it comes to parenting, the strength of the relationships a family has plays a critical role in how people will navigate the conflict and conversations that arise. However, resolution and reconciliation are possible if parents, kids, and teenagers learn how to navigate these issues well.
To view, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.
New blog posts coming this month:
- For Kids’ Ministry Leaders: “Let’s Talk: 8 Ways to Connect Through Meaningful Conversations” by Amy Diller
- For Kids’ Ministry Parents: “Two Cans and a String: Building Strong Connections Through Conversations” by Amy Diller
- For Youth Ministry Leaders: “Connecting Through Conversations” by Karin Sasser
- For Youth Ministry Parents: “From Conflict to Connection: Engaging With Your Teenager” by Karin Sasser
To view, click HERE