Archive for December, 2014
-
Question of the week: What were your top blog posts in 2014?
This is a great question that I am happy to answer. I have been amazed at the number of reads on our Kids and Divorce blog. Top ten reads for 2014 Starting with the count down from number 10. Ten: Divorce hurts kids – literally divorce hurts Nine: Co-parenting that hurts kids and what you can do to help Eight: KidMin Alert: Evangelical Read more…
-
Question of the week: Where can I find Christmas and holiday articles for single parents?
Sometimes it is good to be able to pass a word of encouragement to a struggling single parent. Following are some articles that can be found on the DivorceCare Surviving the Holidays website. Feel free to print these, send them via Facebook, Twitter or email to the single parents in your church or to any single parent you know. These articles are all Read more…
-
All I want for Christmas is my ………..
I imagine when you saw the title of this article many of you thought the rest of this phrase was going to be, “my two front teeth.” Many of you may remember that fun Christmas song, “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” from childhood. The lyrics talk about how people stop and stare at a little child that is Read more…
-
Question of the week: How can I get the single parent family involved and serving over the holidays?
A children’s minister asked me this question recently. It inspired me to share these thoughts with you. Christmas is hard on many single parent families. While some single parent families are struggling with adjusting to this new life style, others have been single parenting for years. These are the single parents who are ready to serve and give back. From my observations over Read more…
-
Suicide myths: Learning the truths
This is the third article in this series on suicide in children. The first asked the question, “Do elementary age children seriously think about committing suicide?” The second was, “A call for help”. In this article we separate the truths from the myths of suicide. It is important to truly understand all aspects of suicide in children so we can help them have Read more…
-
A call for help: suicide in children
This is the second in the series on children and suicide. The first post asked the question, “Do elementary age children seriously consider suicide?” It is important to understand all you can about suicide in young children so you can better minister to the potentially vulnerable child in your church. This post gives you a deeper understanding of what is going on in the life Read more…
-
Question of the week: Do elementary age children seriously consider suicide?
Recently I was chatting online with a group of children’s ministers when someone brought up the subject of suicide in children. No one wants to think that children as young as eight or nine years of age would be at risk for suicide or even think suicidal thoughts. Most of us think of childhood as a carefree time; free of problems and stress. Even Read more…
-
Why the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” policy doesn’t work with the child of divorce
One popular discipline policy churches use is what is called the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” policy. In theory it sounds reasonable but for many hurting children it is not reasonable or even fair. It goes something like this; the child doesn’t obey the rules, is unruly or is disrespectful in some manner and the count down starts. Strike 1: The first time Read more…
-
How silence shatters dreams for the child of divorce
Every child has dreams and when parents divorce or break up, silence from the adults in their lives can tend to destroy the dreams in a normal child centered environment. All children are self-centered. That’s how God made us – to depend on our parents and other adults. However, when there is a crisis such as a divorce, kids need people to talk Read more…
-
Question of the week: What are the effects of divorce on low-income families?
Recently I posted an article about how divorce affects children in high-income families. In many areas they fare worse than children in low-income families. However, children in low-income families have their issues too. Divorce tends to be cyclical in many families. Low-income families have been experiencing divorce longer than high-income families. Many of these adult children of divorce from low-income families are no Read more…