Hide and Go Seek

Hide and Go Seek!

CONTENTS
1. Tools for Parenting Teens
2. Links to Learn From
3. Inside Your Teen's World
4. Learn Their Lingo
5. A Little Encouragement...And Humor

===========our sponsor===========PLANET WISDOM TOUR
Be sure to check out the Planet Wisdom Tour. You can request info, including a free DVD, here:http://www.planetwisdom.com/tour
===========our sponsor===========THE ADVENTURE OF CHILDLIKE FAITH
Michael Yaconelli invites you to recapture the joy of being a child and apply it to your relationship with God. You'll be encouraged to ask difficult questions about faith and take Jesus at His word when He says, "Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Learn more and purchase "Dangerous Wonder" here:http://www.youthspecialties.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=317
*Save 30% off the retail price of "Dangerous Wonder" when you purchase it at the YS Store and use coupon code YPNSP2. This offer expires 9/17/08.
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1. TOOLS FOR PARENTING TEENS
This week is all about being the family that plays together--and in doing so, finding the way to navigate challenging times.
A PLAYFUL RESPONSE
Instead of Christians wearing sackcloth and ashes at the condition of our world, maybe we should strike up a game of capture the flag in our neighborhood. Our neighbors may need Jesus, but first they need a rousing evening of charades. Certainly our children need discipline, but what they may need more is a family Ping-Pong championship. What if our strategy to win the world was to "play" people into the kingdom of God? What if we invited people over to our home and, instead of telling them about our joy, lived it by playing with them? What if we could hear laughter in a church as well as "amens"? A friend of mine is a member of a church who toyed with making their motto "The Church That Knows How to Play." I think he's onto something.
What if the family became a place that played together as well as prayed together?
Seventeen years is a long time to know someone, and Ron's parents thought they knew him. What had happened during the previous summer, though Ron's parents had no idea. All they knew was that when school began, their "normal", straight-A son had become a "punker." Black was the only color he would wear--a black Metallica T-shirt, black pants, black motorcycle boots--and with his earring-adorned, shaved head (seven earrings total) and his nonstop obsession with heavy metal music, the seventeen-year-old Ron showed very little resemblance to the sixteen-year-old version. Mom and Dad were worried. Home had become a war zone. Each day when they came home from work they'd have to storm downstairs to Ron's locked bedroom where the music was so loud the walls were shaking. They would bang on the door and loudly ask Ron to turn down the music.
After six months of escalating tension, Ron's parents decided to get counseling before they lost their child. Many issues came to the surface and the process went on for many months, but one of the solutions the counselor suggested sounded so bizarre they were reluctant to try it. "When you both get home tonight," he advised, "go down to your son's room, bang on the door, and when he answers tell him to turn his music off and come upstairs because you both want to talk to him. When he finally saunters into the room with a chip on his shoulder and slumps into the kitchen chair with an attitude, look him square in the eyes and say, "Ron, you mother and I are counting to one hundred. Now go hide."
When you love your son like these parents did, desperation combined with love will motivate you to try anything--even play. And one night that is what they did. Can you imagine the look on Ron's face? Can you imagine what Ron said to his friends the next day? "You guys are never going to guess what happened last night. I played hide-and-seek with my parents until three in the morning. I still can't find them." Ron didn't become a Republican or start listening to country and western music, but when his parents played hide-and-seek with him, they did break through the longstanding tension and began the long process of healing.
A family I know was facing a very difficult financial crisis. Finances were so bad that the parents were on the verge of losing their business and, with Christmas coming, things were looking very bleak. Providing enough food and clothes for the family was difficult, and Christmas gifts were out of the question. Mom and Dad decided to tell their five children the truth about their situation. They would not be able to afford Christmas presents this year, and they requested help in deciding what to do about it. The children responded excitedly, "Let's have a coupon Christmas. Instead of giving each other presents that cost money, let's give each other coupons worth some kind of service." And that year each person in the family received a book of coupons with the following gifts:
From the kids to one another:
- When you don't want to do the dishes, present this coupon and I will do the dishes for you without complaining.* *Good ONE time only.
- Behind on your laundry? No problem. Present this coupon to me and I will gladly do your laundry.* *Good ONE time only.
And from the parents:
- Anti-grounding certificate. Keep this until Mom and I have forgotten we gave it to you. When you are grounded for whatever reason, present this coupon and you will be forgiven the grounding.* *Definitely good ONE time only.
Every member of the family unequivocally states to this day that the best Christmas they ever had was the "Coupon Christmas."
In this family's playfulness, they discovered that god was hiding in the "poverty" of their financial situation.
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Mike Yaconelli spent 43 years of his life in ministry to youth workers and students, and 20 years as the pastor of a small church in Yreka, California. He wrote dozens of books and articles for youth ministry, as well as the books "Dangerous Wonder" and "Messy Spirituality," which are aimed at mainstream Christianity. He was the co-founder of Youth Specialties, an international organization devoted to equipping youth workers through training and resources. Mike was a prophetic voice in the church-at-large and was a devoted husband and father until his death in 2003. He is still widely regarded as both the visionary founder and the chief critic of modern-day youth ministry.
Learn more and purchase "Dangerous Wonder" here:http://www.youthspecialties.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=317
*Save 30% off the retail price of "Dangerous Wonder" when you purchase it at the YS Store and use coupon code YPNSP2. This offer expires 9/17/08.
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2. LINKS TO LEARN FROM
Minnesota debates raising the driving age to 18. [Minn Star Tribune]http://www.startribune.com/local/28036944.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUHPYDiaK7DUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
High profile teen pregnancies offer teachable moment on teen sex [Detroit Free Press]http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809090313

3. INSIDE YOUR TEEN'S WORLD...Random things you may not have heard about...
Hooking Up - New HBO Series subtitled: You don't learn everything in class.http://www.hbolab.com/

4. LEARN THEIR LINGO...Some slang and texting lingo for you to speak (or at least understand)
- Deface: To remove a ‘friendship’ from Facebook due to having either accidentally adding him/her as a friend or actually adding them and reconsidering later.
- 4yeo: Text messaging “for your eyes only”
5. A LITTLE ENCOURAGEMENT...AND HUMOR
"The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face."~Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy

*All outside Internet links are here to inform or entertain you...we at YS don't necessarily endorse or support every link you find here.
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