WHAT'S INSIDE
JUNIOR HIGH
- Note from Caleb
- What's Coming Up?
SENIOR HIGH
- Note from Jenn
- What's Coming Up?
JR/SR HIGH PARENT RESOURCE:
Articles by TheSource4Parents.com and HomeWord.com
WHAT'S INSIDE
JUNIOR HIGH
- Note from Caleb
- What's Coming Up?
SENIOR HIGH
- Note from Jenn
- What's Coming Up?
JR/SR HIGH PARENT RESOURCE:
Articles by TheSource4Parents.com and HomeWord.com
January has come and gone in a flash! As we look toward February, this month we will be diving into the area of love, dating, and relationships. Our culture has much to say about our approach to these topics and our goal this month is to take a look at the way God created us for a desire to love and for ways we can pursue our future relationships centered on Jesus.
This month we are starting a series called "Meant to Be". This is a 3 week series looking at what it means to take a Godly approach to love, dating, and relationships. This series will look at the following
Week 1: Staying close to Jesus makes every relationship better.
Week 2: The purpose of dating is dating on purpose.
Week 3: True purity is the wholehearted pursuit of Jesus
Join us on February 17 for a night at Riverside Skating Center! Bring your family!
We will be skating from 4:00-6:00 pm.Cost is $8 at the door and includes admission and skates.
Riverside Skating Center: 100 Tapawingo Dr., West Lafayette, IN
See you there!
WinterXtreme has been RESCHEDULED to the weekend of February 22-24.
Parents!
Here are the dates for The Great Escape next summer! The Great Escape is our Junior High Summer camp in Green Lake, WI the week of July 8-13. More details will follow after the first of the year but wanted to make the dates available as you continue to plan for next summer!
Sign up today!
Check out our website!
As we enter the month of February we are begining a new series on relationships and dating. I am really excited about the series titled, "Meant to Be". We will focus on our relationship with God, God's design for dating and marriage. Please let me know if you have any questions about this series. It
The Big Game is coming up! Join us from 4:00-6:00 pm in the Retreat Center for a Senior High Tailgate Party as we get ready for the Super Bowl!
Guys: Appetizer or snack
Girls: Dessert
Join us on February 17 for a night at Riverside Skating Center! Bring your family!
We will be skating from 4:00-6:00 pm.Cost is $8 at the door and includes admission and skates.
Riverside Skating Center: 100 Tapawingo Dr., West Lafayette, IN
See you there!
For the last 30 years, Colorado Challenge has welcomed youth groups and other Christian organizations from the Great Lakes region. Join us for a week of ministry and adventure as God seeks to win each and every heart.
Your week long adventure will take you white water rafting, rock climbing, rappelling, mountain biking, and an incredible view of Pikes Peak a 14,110 ft mountain. Think you can handle it?
As parents, we deeply desire our children to have a healthy God-given view of their sexuality, and we want them to know that thinking about their sexuality is very common. But if we keep silent about sex or approach the subject with a negative attitude, we send majorly mixed messages to our children. We are the ones who must help them see that everything from their changing bodies to their changing thoughts is normal.
Parents are also in the best position to show our kids how living by the Purity Code is normal, healthy, and God-centered. It's important to know that it is not just about sex and saving yourself for marriage.
In following the Purity Code, students are asked to make this pledge: "In honor of God, my family, and my future spouse, I commit my life to sexual purity." It encourages making a lifetime commitment to:
- Honoring God with your body
- Renewing your mind for the good
- Turning your eyes from worthless things
- Guarding your heart above all else
You will be the one to help build the foundation your kid will need to make this commitment - a foundation of healthy sexuality that is based on Scripture and strong enough to withstand the forces of secular culture.
You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:20). This Scripture passage identifies the first area of our child's life that should be committed to God: Honor God with your body. Not only should we encourage our children to not participate in sexual sin, but they should keep their body healthy in every way.
The second part of the Purity Code is to renew your mind for the good. This is based on Romans 12:2: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." No matter what age, a person who lives by the Purity Code needs to tune out the "bad" in culture and tune in the "good."
The third part of the Purity Code is to turn your eyes from worthless things. This truth comes straight from Jesus, who said, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light" (Matthew 6:22).
The final part of the Purity Code is to guard your heart above all else. This is based on Proverbs 4:23, which says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life" (NLT). What a great summary of the lifelong benefits of living by the Purity Code from as young an age as possible.
A consistent pledge to sexual purity is a road to true freedom for your children and for you. The Purity Code Pledge may be a good first start for you to help lay a strong foundation of sexual integrity with your own child.
If you find it challenging to talk with your teen about God and spiritual issues, you are not alone. It's not that parents don't want to talk about faith with their kids, but rather that they don't know how to get started. Here are five practical suggestions to get faith conversations started in your home.
1. Be yourself. You don't need a seminary degree to talk to your kids about God. You don't have to speak like a pastor giving a sermon. Just be yourself in conversations with your teenager. Share your understanding of who God is and why He matters to you in a way that reflects the real you.
2. Don't limit your faith conversations to Sunday mornings. Don't get caught in the trap of compartmentalizing faith issues to certain days or times. Let you kids know that spiritual issues are important in your life all of the time! Don't go overboard, but make faith issues an ongoing discussion with your family.
3. Let your kids catch you in the act of doing something spiritual. Spending time alone with God is great, but how will they know about the value you place on spiritual disciplines if they never see you engaged in them? Let your kids "see" you involved in these disciplines. Your actions teach your teenagers much about your faith, and likely communicate more than your words.
4. Look for natural opportunities to engage in faith conversations. Be on the lookout for opportunities along the road of life where issues almost beg to be discussed in light of your Christian commitment and faith. Try utilizing news items and entertainment media sources as springboards for faith conversations.
5. See yourself as a "fellow-learner" rather than a teacher. Taking the posture of a "fellow-learner" takes much of the pressure off of you and sends the message that you don't claim to know everything about the Christian faith. It's truly healthy when your teen asks a faith question that you need to reply with, "I don't know the answer. Let's figure it out together."