Dear parents, I pray that you are able to take some time and go outside today and enjoy this beautiful weather! I hear this is the nicest day of 2009 so far, so knock off work a few minutes early, and go for a walk, throw a ball around, fish, or something. My past week has been pretty busy. I am now officially a graduate student. I was in Marion, IN last week with several youth pastors who are going through the program or who went through the program. We had some really great moments of worship with the Willow Creek Student Worship Band. We also had some challenging and encouraging talks from Willow Creek’s head youth pastor and Christ Fellowship’s (large church in Florida) youth pastor, who used to be a former Saddleback (Rick Warren’s church) youth pastor. It was so great to go to many graduation parties after graduation last Sunday. It is neat to celebrate the accomplishments of your sons/daughters. I know all of you are proud (for very good reason) of all of your sons and daughters, and whether your son or daughter graduated, will graduate next year, or will graduate in several years, there are tons of reasons to celebrate what God is doing in their lives. We are having SWIFT this Sunday at regular time. This week we are discussing, “God are You real? Will you show yourself?” It’s a look at how do we know God is real and what is the best way He revealed Himself. Maybe some discussions to have with your child could include: “Share when you realized that God was real.” “How do you know God is real?” “How has God spoken to you in the past?” Next Sunday is our 5th Sunday “May-Day” party. We will have food, fun, and games. Your son/daughter should come with a lawn chair, friends, and wear clothes that may get dirty. (We’re playing a flour game where flour may end up on clothes). On June 6, we are hosting a car wash at the fire station in German Valley from 11 AM-1 PM to help raise funds for the summer mission trip. We are also beginning to sell pizzas. Students will get order forms this Sunday, and orders will be due June 14. We will make and deliver pizzas to those who ordered on June 25 starting at 10:00 AM. On June 7, we are having combined SWIFT from 5-8 PM. Students will break up into groups and create a video that re-tells a Bible story. They will have time to pick out a story, come up with a creative way to act it out, then capture it on video. On June 14, we are meeting from 6-8 PM to watch these videos and have another little surprise for them. Camp Manitoqua is from June 15-19. I am handing out a final information sheet to Junior high students this Sunday in terms of when we are leaving and how we are getting there. We are not having SWIFT on Father’s day because we want everyone to spend time with their dads. This is all the information throughout the next month. Hope to see your son/daughter this Sunday night! It’s been awhile since we’ve had SWIFT. Thank you! In Christ, Tyler Contents 1. Tools for Parenting Teens 2. Learn Their Lingo 3. Movie Reviews 4. Links to Learn From 5. A Little Encouragement…And Humor 1. Tools for Parenting Teens From http://www.realworldparents.com/starters/ Go and Do It’s easy to measure our faith on a negative scale. We’re tempted to think—and to communicate to our kids—that Christianity is really about not blowing it. “He loves you. He’s forgiven you. The least you can do is not screw… Read More: http://www.realworldparents.com/starters/article/go_and_do/ Featured Resource: The Wisdom Deck Packed with ideas for conversation starters and wisdom that will help with school, sports, dating, money, and college. Dive into deeper, wiser discussions with The Wisdom Deck. Lean more about The Wisdom Deck at http://www.theWisdomDeck.com! *Save 20% off the retail price of “The Wisdom Deck” when you use Coupon Code RWPN104 and order by 5/30/09. http://www.realworldparents.com/store/item/the_wisdom_deck/ 2. Learn Their Lingo DRIB = Text-message usage, short for “Don’t Read If Busy” Life Password = The password that you use for every website, email account, Facebook, Twitter, everything. 3. Movie Reviews for Parents Angels & Demons The movie sequel to “The Da Vinci Code” arrived with a fraction of the controversy generated by that book and film. Instead of attacking the… Read Review: http://www.realworldparents.com/movies/review/angels_demons/ Star Trek “Star Trek” creator Gene Rodenberry’s overtly humanistic and evolutionary worldview perspectives get very little mention in this well-reviewed reboot of the franchise. Instead, director J.J.… Read Review: http://www.realworldparents.com/movies/review/star_trek/ 4. Links to Learn From New study finds teen girls regret having sex earlier [Insciences] http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=5101 Adolescent Awkwardness or Serious Problem? [Saint Louis University] http://www.slu.edu/x30509.xml The Religion Decision [Boston.com] http://www.boston.com/community/moms/blogs/child_caring/2009/05/the_religion_decision.html 5. A Little Encouragement…And Humor I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it. – Harry S. Truman
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