God’s calling on my life has never been more clear. I am daily filled with awe at the privilege, responsibility, and joy that I have each day as I serve as the Pastor of Student Ministries of OneEightyOne Student Ministries, of Parma Heights Baptist Church. This calling and my essential duties can be described in a variety of ways:
- Equip the saints to do the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12)
- Give attention to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4)
- Help students find and follow Jesus Christ
But none of these in any ways suggest that it’s my place, or the church’s place to supplant parents. It is your/their primary place to evangelize and disciple these teens and to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:4) So, perhaps I should add to the list:
- Encourage and equip parents to parent in a godly manner
Admittedly, this is challenging for me, as I’ve never been a parent of a teen. So I won’t even pretend to fully grasp the daily challenges, doubts, questions, or discouragements. (I will join you in all of these in just a handful of years.) I won’t try to stand on expert experience, as I have none. But I do have a unique and fortunate viewpoint. I have observed, studied, and worked with hundreds of teens, parents, and families for over a decade. I have the outside perspective. I have experience with God’s word in many of these areas of life, and I want to help you do what only you can best do – parent your teen.
It’s my intention that these posts will serve to fulfill several purposes:
- Provide a forum for clear, two-way communication (I’m moving from an email newsletter to a blog, so that we can interact, so please do!)
- Give voice to the heart of your pastor
- Pass along important info, dates, reminders, deadlines, updates, etc.
- Share biblical resource on parenting
- Offer increased flow of info on mini-series, messages, lessons, and resources for you to interact with your teen and God’s word
So, that’s the who, what, and why. I pray that you find this helpful, and I encourage you to subscribe, as this will become my primary vehicle for communication in the coming year.
-DJFA
For Discussion: What type of info do you want to see regularly? How often do you want updates as a parent?
Sounds like an interesting blog has been born here! Welcome to the blog world! I’ll add you to my blog roll and give you a shout out on my blog.
Thanks Karen. This has been long in coming. It’s finally time. I’m still learning and exploring.