Archive for June, 2016
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Parental alienation—is it real?
My introduction to parental alienation was several years ago. A mom’s ex-husband was constantly telling us all about his ex’s bad traits. If that wasn’t bad enough, when the child returned from visitation with the dad, he was caustic toward his mother. To be honest with you, I got confused about whom to believe and was basically clueless about how to handle Read more…
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Got missing kids this summer? How to stay in touch with them and the single parent
Many children’s ministers and church volunteers will notice there are some children that seem to drop out over the summer months. Perhaps these are children who miss periodically but this summer you haven’t seen them for four or five weeks. These might very well be the children of divorce. Many divorced parents take advantage of summer months to have their children come Read more…
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Single-parent land mine—helping single parents navigate the dating scene
As a children’s minister or church leader, you may be wondering why you would need to understand the single-parent land mine of dating. I mean, is this topic one that is greatly going to affect your ministry? The answer is a loud YES! And you want to know why it can affect your ministry? Because normally when a single parent starts Read more…
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10 Tips for Vacation Planning for Children of Divorce
Our guest blogger today is Dr. Linda Mintle. Linda is also one of the experts on our DivorceCare series. The tips Linda shares are great tips for children’s ministers to pass forward to the single parents. Thank you Linda for sharing with us today. 10 Tips for Vacation Planning for Children of Divorce By Dr. Linda Mintle Summer and holidays can be a Read more…
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How to help grandparents prepare their home for grandkids who come to stay
Most of us think of grandparents as the special people who spoil the grandkids, fill them full of candy, and then send them home for mommy and daddy to deal with when they are all hyped up on sugar. In our day and age, however, many grandparents don’t have the luxury of being those special people who fill the kids up on Read more…
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With VBS coming up, attitudes and conversations can make a difference when you have a rambunctious group of kids
Summer is here, and recently I’ve been doing my early morning walk on the beach. In our part of the country we have a beach restoration project going on. This project involves ships, pipes 4 feet in diameter, tractors, backhoes, and other equipment needed to dredge the sand off the bottom of the ocean and pump it up onto the beach. It’s Read more…
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Vacation Bible School vs. the children of divorce– is there a solution?
This week our church has had Vacation Bible School, or as it is known in church circles “VBS.” Rooms throughout the church are decorated from top to bottom. Teachers have been trained. Supplies, snacks and treats are ready to go. Music videos have been practiced, and the gospel has been adequately presented. Every day kids come in with big smiles on their Read more…
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What is shared parenting, and how does it affect the children in your ministry?
Riley has just started attending your church. She seems to be a happy kid. She talks freely about her mom and dad and even mentions them in the same sentence at times, as in, “My mom and dad both like that new restaurant.” So you are surprised when one day Riley says something about her dad’s house. You go to your files and Read more…