Sometimes dads remarry because their wives die while the kids are young. We learned of three such situations recently, and none of the new stepmoms had prior experience being moms. The first new mom was the victim of a cheating husband in her previous marriage. She views the kids’ first mom as a competitor vying […]
Category: youthwork
Stepmoms, Part One
A volunteer who uses our book called with a stepmom story. She told us about Stephanie, a girl in her group who got a new mom this summer. Like so many, Stephanie’s blended family is struggling to communicate and love well. One example: Stephanie left dishes in the sink. Her new mom quietly asked her to […]
The gift of arrogance
I sat in a classroom filled with students yesterday. The missionary up front was telling tales from his work in the Middle East. God doing miracles and people discovering Christ. I was spellbound. So spellbound that I didn’t realize someone was trying to get into the room, but the door was locked. Noting my lack […]
Overcoming the fear of getting involved
Two big reasons people avoid youth ministry are fear and ignorance. Fear of failure, rejection, appearing foolish or boring, being disrespected, not knowing how to handle a group, not knowing what to say, and all that. Fearful stuff. And the ignorance part? Not knowing what to do! I can’t picture what value I bring or […]
The black smoke of youth ministry
A fellow youthworker, who is also a pilot, recently wrote: Smoke draws your attention. It’s not every day I see a billowing column of black smoke as I fly over the ridge just north of our runway, so I perked up. My first impulse was to break from the pattern and cruise over to check […]
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