DC4K » #Grandparents

3 reasons grandparents who parent grandchildren are emotionally exhausted—and how you can help

Grandparents who parent their grandchildren come in all ages, shapes, sizes, and colors. Some are healthy. Others aren’t. Some are financially stable. Others live on a fixed income. Many are married. And many are single. And some are in second and third marriages. But no matter the age, health condition, marital status, or finances, raising grandchildren is emotionally tough. Let’s look at three Read more…

Posted: August 2nd, 2019 ˑ 2 Comments
Filled under: Divorce Issues, Emotions, Grandparents, Grief, Modern families, Trauma

Why children like “life in the shadows”

Too Small To Ignore, by Dr. Wess Stafford (Waterbrook Press) pg. 63 How will you create a close-knit group for a child of divorce? Will these kids feel accepted and part of the group family? Many children of divorce feel abandoned by one of their parents and sometime by both parents. Children of divorce need the church. They need to know God will never Read more…

Posted: January 24th, 2019 ˑ No Comments
Filled under: Accept the Challenge, Family Ministers, FamMin, KidMin, Quotes

10 things kids of divorce do well

. Did you know that while divorce is heart breaking for children there are many things kids of divorce do well? Oh, maybe not at first but eventually as they heal and move forward with their lives, they have a few advantages over other kids who haven’t experienced the break up of their family. Here are some of the things they do well Read more…

Posted: October 1st, 2018 ˑ 7 Comments
Filled under: Accept the Challenge, Divorce Issues

How to reach out to the single parents in your church – even when you don’t have the time

You are already REALLY busy with your children’s ministry responsibilities (not to mention your life outside church). How you could possibly contribute to lives of the single parents in your church when you may be feeling overwhelmed yourself? It’s not as hard as you think. You don’t have to do it alone. Pray about what God wants from you. Maybe He wants Read more…

Posted: July 14th, 2016 ˑ No Comments
Filled under: Accept the Challenge, Divorce Issues, Grandparents, Modern families, Single Parents

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…

Posted: June 15th, 2016 ˑ 1 Comment
Filled under: Attracting families, Emotions, Grandparents, Modern families

The lost generation? Saving today’s kids from the long-term effects of divorce

It is important for anyone living with or working with the child of divorce to understand the long-term legacies of divorce on children. As a single parent, grandparent, mentor or church leader, you can help an individual child to better cope and potentially even lessen the impact of a particular long-term legacy. Your input today may help lessen the severity of the Read more…

Posted: March 21st, 2016 ˑ 1 Comment
Filled under: Accept the Challenge, Divorce Issues, Single Parents

Has non-traditional family become traditional?

Recently at the D6 2015 Conference there was a lot of talk about families. The D6 Conference is about family ministry with those families usually being the two-parent families. This year there was a lot of talk about the non-traditional families. You know those families that don’t fit the traditional mold of a two-parent family. These include the Single parent family Step and Read more…

Posted: October 7th, 2015 ˑ No Comments
Filled under: Accept the Challenge, Attracting families, Question of the week, Single Parents, Step and blended families

The power of encouragement to the child of divorce

Have you ever thought about the power of encouragement? Most of us try to encourage children that come to our church. We do this because We want to build confidence within the child. We want to promote a relationship with the child so we can help them eventually foster a relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to stimulate them spiritually so they will Read more…

Posted: October 5th, 2015 ˑ 2 Comments
Filled under: Brain Research, Co-parenting, Discipline, Divorce Issues, Grandparents

How grandparents can help their grandchildren when mommy and daddy get a divorce

Grandparents can have a profound impact on the lives of grandchildren living through the divorce of their parents. First thing grandparents need to realize is many of these grandchildren are experiencing a trauma in their lives. Divorce is traumatic and many of these children need someone outside the home to help them process all that is happening in their lives. Without help, these Read more…

Posted: August 10th, 2015 ˑ No Comments
Filled under: Accept the Challenge, Divorce Issues, Grandparents, Single Parents

Question of the week: Will your jaw drop when you see how many single parent homes there are in your area?

The data is in, and the news for kids is not good. There has been another jump in the percentage of children living in single parent homes. In the United States, 35% of all children now live in single parent homes. Stunningly, that number is even higher in some states– over 40% in seven states reaching a high of 48% in Mississippi. Utah has Read more…

Posted: August 3rd, 2015 ˑ No Comments
Filled under: Accept the Challenge, Question of the week, Single Parents

Question of the week: How do you help grandparents help a grandchild?

This is a question that comes up quite often when I’m visiting with a children’s minister or a church leader. Many times the grandparent doesn’t actually ask for help but the church leader can sense the grandparent is struggling. First: Begin praying for the grandparent as soon as you realize there is a problem Second: Without being intrusive visit with the grandparent to Read more…

Posted: February 23rd, 2015 ˑ 2 Comments
Filled under: Divorce Issues, Grandparents, Step and blended families

Question of the week: How do older adults divorcing affect children’s ministry?

A couple of years ago we began to hear about a relatively new occurrence—the gray divorce. The gray divorce is when mature and/or senior adults divorce. There are said to be several reasons for this phenomenon. You can read about them here. With the older adults divorcing, several things are going to affect churches and in particular children’s ministries. A children’s minister emailed Read more…

Posted: October 27th, 2014 ˑ No Comments
Filled under: Divorce Issues, Grandparents, Question of the week

Question of the week: How do I help grandparents deal with their child’s divorce?

“In our church we are having more and more grandparents coming to us wanting to visit about their adult child’s divorce. They seem to be mainly concerned about how to help their grandchildren. I’m pretty much clueless about what to say or how to help these senior adults.” There are a lot of issues a grandparent faces with the divorce of an adult child. Read more…

Posted: October 20th, 2014 ˑ No Comments
Filled under: Divorce Issues, Grandparents, Question of the week