One of the best parts about my job is all I get to learn myself as a parent. This particular study about media and technology was very convicting to me.
As a busy parent (it seems like those two words are redundant), I tend to use the little “screen time” my kids have as time to get some work done. If I was to give myself a grade for the amount of time I watch TV or do computer games with my kids, it would be pretty low.
Maybe I should re-think that habit, says a new study analyzing media habits of families with children ages 3-10. It encourages parents to participate WITH their kids in their technology use.
Interestingly, it also says that parents tend to think “other kids” are at risk for over-exposure to media, or exposure to toxic messages through the media. But not their own kids. By the way, that’s not unusual. Parents tend to under-estimate their own kids’ risk behaviors.
What do you (or parents you know) do to try to share with your kids in their media/technology?
I enjoyed reading through this list of 60 small ways to improve your life in the next 100 days. My personal favorite was:
59. For the next 100 days, place the best possible interpretation on the actions of others.
Part of why I appreciated this list is because the start of summer is a logical time to stop and evaluate and think about what we wish was different about our lives, at least for the next 3 months. In fact, the focus of our small group this past weekend was our goals for the summer.
In your life or ministry, what are you planning to do differently this summer?
I’ve long been a fan of Eugene Peterson. While he is best known for authoring The Message, he’s been saying and writing wise words about life, leadership, and God long before that.
In this interview done by Gabe Lyons, Eugene Peterson shares some wise words about the following:
Why there’s never been a “successful” church.
The Sabbath as a time to “unplug”.
The value of rhythms in our lives.
The story behind the writing of The Message (this was especially interesting to me).
Why he thought no one would ever buy The Message (boy, was he wrong).
I am so glad that I-and you for that matter-can continue to learn from wise voices like Eugene Peterson. I’m betting that you will be struck, encouraged, or convicted by at least one idea from this article today.
Christian kids may hold with a high view of marriage, but that view has very weak legs when it tries to walk out dating relationships.
Anxiety, pressure, paralysis, cluelessness…these are some of the adjectives used to describe high school and college students in an interview study highlighted by Susan Olasky in this article in World Magazine, “Christian Boy Meets Christian Girl,” passed along to us by a parent of teenagers. As she spoke with conservative Christian college students, Olasky heard a story on the other side of young adult promiscuity: students who are afraid to connect or build relationships with the other gender for fear of the many possible negative consequences of dating.
This raises a lot of interesting questions about what kind of storyline Christian subculture has created for emerging adults when it comes to relationships, dating, and marriage. What do you think? Has the pendulum swung from “ring by spring” and “Mrs. Degree” culture to one that avoids dating and marriage altogether?
Or is this just one spoke on a complicated wheel of relationship scenarios for college students and other emerging adults who are Christians? How can we help those in our care who are spinning that wheel find some direction?
Last week I met with an old college friend who now works with a unique nonprofit here in Los Angeles called Taking the Reins.
Taking the Reins seeks to empower at-risk adolescent girls through learning horsemanship on an urban farm. They started by focusing on teaching horse care, stewardship, and riding. Character development and confidence-building grew alongside these skills. But over time these youth workers began to see other needs. The girls came for day-long sessions, and needed to pack a lunch. The staff began to notice that most of the girls were bringing junk food to eat. They knew about the gaps in understanding and practicing healthy eating these girls faced in their homes and neighborhoods.
So rather than just say, “You should be eating healthier,” they stepped in to begin addressing the need. Someone had the idea of planting a garden on the farm property and involving the girls in planting and tending the vegetables. Knowing that just raising and harvesting a vegetable still may not be enough, they took the additional step of teaching food preparation, completing the circle from garden to table. This food cultivation and preparation process is now part of the way Taking the Reins holistically empowers girls.
I love a lot of things about this story. But what stands out the most is how these folks saw a need and actually let their idea of ministry change in order to meet that need. They were willing to adapt their program and approach to fill a real gap.
What needs are you noticing around you—in your ministry or in your neighborhood? Are any of them more pressing than the needs you already address? Are any of those needs something your ministry could adapt in order to meet? What would need to change for that to happen?
How are teenagers’ attitudes toward money shifting?
Last week the Charles Schwab corporation released a report on their “Teens and Money Survey.” In it they share some insights on kids’ changing perspectives as they live through a recession. Ninety percent claimed to have been affected by the recession, often because of personal financial hardship (or at least perceived hardship).
A few highlights of the survey of 1,000 16-18 year-olds:
Two-thirds of teens (64%) are more grateful for what they have.
The majority (58%) of teens say they are less likely to ask for things they want.
The majority (56%) of teens have a greater appreciation for their parents’ hard work.
More than a third (39%) of teens appreciate their families more.
Seventy-Seven percent think of themselves as “Super Savers.”
More than half (51%) of teens say it is important to understand the consequences of borrowing money.
Compared to 2007, the percentage who claim to be knowledgeable about how to manage a credit card declined from 64% to 39%.
Over three-quarters (77%) of teens say their parents are great role models for money management.
Overall the report suggests that older teenagers are acting less entitled (or at least viewing themselves that way) and showing more appreciation for their parents and their stuff.
What do you think—based on the kids you know, is this a realistic take on their attitudes toward money? What resonates with or rubs against your experience?
A few years ago, Andy Root, who teaches at Luther Seminary, told me that he was writing a book about the effects of divorce on kids. As a leader and daughter of divorced parents, I was interested and asked Andy if he would send me a chapter of his manuscript.
He did, and I devoured it. I asked him to send me another one.
He did, and I devoured that one also. And I repeated my request for him to send me the next chapter.
I read the entire manuscript that way. I’ve recommended Andy’s book, The Children of Divorce, probably over 20 times. We also interviewed Andy for our FYI E-Journal last summer. But since the effects of divorce on kids are everywhere, I thought I’d post about it, especially given this article in Christianity Today‘s Her.meneutics last week.
What I most remember and appreciate about Andy’s thesis is that divorce affects a child’s sense of being. On a very existential level, if my parents are no longer together, and I came from my parents, what does that say about me and my existence?
I also applaud that Andy doesn’t paint a doom-and-gloom scenario for all kids of divorce, as many other books tend to. Instead, there are a raft of helpful and practical suggestions for adults, communities, and churches who want to support kids and families in the midst of the divorce process.
Last week my husband sent me this great Slate article on the development of the British Spitfire plane, a brilliantly designed plane that was pivotal to the eventual defeat of the Nazis in World War II. The article is excerpted from Tim Harford’s new book Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure. It’s a long article, so if you don’t make it through the whole article, these 3 paragraphs describe the British government’s plan to develop innovative planes in the 1930s from its aviation companies.
The immediate response was disappointing: three designs were selected for prototyping, and none of them proved to be much use. The Air Ministry briefly went so far as to consider ordering aircraft from Poland.
Even more remarkable than the initial specification was the response of the ministry to this awkward failure. One of the competing firms, Supermarine, had delivered its prototype late and well below specification. But when Supermarine approached the ministry with a radical new design, an enterprising civil servant by the name of Air Commodore Henry Cave-Browne-Cave decided to bypass the regular commissioning process and order the new plane as “a most interesting experiment.” The plane was the Supermarine Spitfire.
It’s not hard to make the case that the Spitfire was one of the most significant new technologies in history. A brilliant, manoeuvrable, and superfast fighter, the Spitfire—and its pin-up pilots, brave to the point of insouciance—became the symbol of British resistance to the bombers of the Nazi air force, the Luftwaffe. The plane, with its distinctive elliptical wings, was a miraculous piece of engineering.
What is your biggest current failure? What are you learning from it? What fruit could possibly come from it?
Now let’s think about our kids: what are their struggles and failures? What good results can come from them?
I know, it sounds too good to be true for every dollar to become two. But that’s exactly what’s happening this month at the Fuller Youth Institute.
We have a matching grant from a generous foundation for new donors that ends on June 30. That means that every dollar you give actually is doubled, up to $10,000. No gift is too small. Whether you give $10 or $100, or somewhere in between, your gift will have TWICE the impact on kids, families, and churches thanks to this grant. We would be grateful if you would take a few minutes to consider partnering financially in our work and visiting this easy-to-use portion of Fuller’s website.
While we at FYI don’t talk about money or our budgetary needs very often, this is such a great opportunity that we thought you’d want to know, and hopefully even participate. The more, the merrier!
We value each and every person and group that encourages us, invests in our work, and prays for the transformation of kids and families. You rock!
In his blog last week, my friend Rudy Carrasco pointed to this great 3 minute video from the 2010 TED Conference. It is SO worth watching, especially if you care about leadership.
My favorite quote from the video: “The first follower is what transforms the lone nut into a leader.”
Indeed, there is great power in finding, or being that first follower.
What are you wanting to do to lead out but are afraid to?
Who could be some of your first followers?
What would the movement look like?
Seriously, this video is worth watching and thinking about.
, probably over 20 times. We also 
. It’s a long article, so if you don’t make it through the whole article, these 3 paragraphs describe the British government’s plan to develop innovative planes in the 1930s from its aviation companies.
