The old stereotype of lazy teenagers sleeping all the time and not waking up for school is a bit outdated. In today’s world, many teens have a dawn ’til midnight schedule that is jam packed: pre-school workouts with the team, after school practices, driver’s ed., part-time jobs, youth group, community service, college visits, watching younger siblings, and much more! Research shows that teenagers need
So you’re wondering when your teenager is going to finally “grow up”? Maybe you’ve asked him “Why don’t you grow up?” You wish this awkward, difficult, and sometimes
Have any of your kids told you they wanted to live with you forever? When they little and cute the thought is sweet. When they are older – well, maybe not so much! Eventually as they grow up they begin to think more about life as adults and longing for independence. Often before the dreaded junior/senior year SATs and college applications or…
The stereotypical road trip or backpacking across Europe to “find myself” is what many think of when the term “identity” is used. Most of us never did those things, but the single most important developmental issue for teenagers is still identity formation. It usually doesn’t happen during a trip or even a major event. It…
When God created man, He made the human body and its internal systems incredibly complex. The more doctors and scientists study the brain, the more amazing connections (synapses) and development details they find. Here is an excerpt from an article on the teenage brain and how it differs from adults. In the past, it was…
You’re not alone! Due to all of the changes and pressures teenagers face, mood swings from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows can come on suddenly – and sometimes end just as quickly. A number of these moods may be directly related to the hormones that are fueling the powerful physical changes…
Our teens and children are growing up in a very different America than the one you and I grew up in. As you have seen in the news, more and more Americans are becoming outspoken in promoting same sex rights and privileges. It is becoming a matter of preference like music genre or culture styles. Even Christian kids are struggling with…
God designed people to grow and mature physically, mentally, and emotionally. This all happens pretty fast, however, once puberty sets in changes advance at an alarming rate. As you may remember from biology (many years ago), hormones kick in and parents begin to wonder what happened to their little girl or boy. In fact,…
Like it or not, your kids are growing up. We just celebrated Jack’s 8th birthday and I can’t believe that he was only two when we arrived here in Princeton. He’s gone from a toddler to a boy in just moments. I won’t even talk about Grace in Youth Group or Joe, the Marine. Our…
Encourage them to Pursue Fellowship with the larger and Diverse Body of Christ Many teenagers and young adults may end up walking away from the heritage of their faith because they did not have a complete picture of the body of Christ. In lots of churches, teenagers have a church experience where they are surrounded…