This Week in Faith 3-8-19
/Beyond the Scrolling
This article stuck out to me because I am one of those people who constantly find myself getting on to my own kids and students about being on their devices and phones too much. And while I really do believe I am looking out for them by helping them to cultivate relationships in real life, those moments also provide an opportunity to understand what a student is searching for on their phone in that moment. There are often very real needs that they are longing to be met and I want to be better at asking good questions and discovering the things my kids and our students are deeply longing for.
Click here to read the article by Lisa Hanle.
35 Things I Wish I’d Known In High School
This was an interesting list someone shared with me. There are some funny things, some practical things, and some really insightful things on this list. So many of these things are what I want my kids to know and learn long before they make the mistake of believing the opposite. But it also seems like they are the things that my kids don’t always hear as well from me. It’s why I want my kids to have relationships with Christian men and women who can help them learn some of these things too. It’s why I am so thankful for our church and our gospel community group where my kids are growing in the gospel from adults other than me that love and follow Jesus. Maybe this list can serve as one more voice in your kids’ lives of some of the things we hope the will learn, no matter who they hear it from.
Click here to read the article by Erin Davis.
What Research Says About How Self-Centeredness Grows In Us
Self-centeredness is a battle I think almost all of us will face for our whole lives. And yet, humility is what Scripture comes back to over and over again as an evidence that the gospel is at work in us. Students are great at networking and being connected with each other, but their methods of connection often come back to a focus on themselves. And as they are able to exist while isolating themselves more and more, it can produce this cycle of self-centeredness that the article talks about. It’s why one of the biggest gifts we can give our kids is a vision for their lives that is bigger than their life. Help your kids to see how big God is and what he is doing in the world. And then help them see how they fit into that story- not as the main character but as a supporting role. Like the article suggests, encouraging our kids to find a place to belong in the church helps take their eyes off themselves and put it on the mission of God.
Click here to read the article by Eric Geiger.
PODCAST: Walt Mueller On Teaching Teenagers About Biblical Sexuality
We are starting a series in our middle and high school weekly meetings about identity, sexuality and dating. I’ll be sending out notes on what we talk about and how you can continue the conversation with your students. This is one interview I listened to that was helpful in thinking about some of the big issues students are dealing with today. I hope it can help you feel a little more prepared for these conversations as well.
