Helping Your Teen Become an Adult
Jim Burns, Ph.D., President of HomeWord
Good parenting means intentional parenting. Don't reduce the influence you have in your adolescent's life by only reacting to whatever is going. Rather, be proactive. Set goals for your children's progress towards adulthood. Along the way review how your teenager is doing. Revise and set new goals as appropriate. The ultimate goal, of course, is to help mold your son or daughter into a healthy, well-balanced, functioning, independent adult. Here are some areas of your child's life and some questions to think about as you consider age-appropriate goals towards their journey towards independence.
Spirituality
- Is your adolescent growing in her Christian faith and life?
- How can you intentionally be a better role-model of faith to your child?
- What are you doing to help your child grow in her understanding of the Bible?
Education
- Is your adolescent giving adequate priority to their school studies?
- Seek a balanced attitude towards your child's education. Don't stress a greater or lesser priority than it should have.
Responsibility
- Is your teenager developing a mature sense of responsibility?
- Does your child display (more often than not!) obedience to family standards such as morals, values, chores, family participation?
- When your child demonstrates a lack of responsibility, do you have established consequences? Do you enforce the consequences?
Social Skills
- Has your adolescent developed healthy, relationships outside of the family?
- Does he demonstrate good communication (including conversation and listening skills) with others?
Sexuality
- Has your adolescent developed a healthy, Biblically-based sexuality?
- When was the last time you had a conversation about sexuality with your son or daughter?
Fun versus Serious
- Is your teenager developing a mature sense of balance in regard to lifestyle?
- What kind of approach to life are you role-modeling for your children?
- When was the last time you initiated a time of family-fun; an outing, a vacation?
Excerpted from an article on ymtoday.com, March 2010
Are You Plugged In?
Are you up to date on the movies, CDs, DVDs and electronic games your youth are exposed to/participating in? An easy way to get info is to read the latest issue of Plugged In magazine. The SUMC Youth Ministry subscribes to this Focus on the Family Publication that includes monthly reviews on the media our kids are bombarded with on a regular basis. To borrow our copy, look on the youth section of the bulletin board outside the main church office. When you are through please return it to the same spot.
Youth Ministry Team
| Youth Pastor | Barbara Russell 703-451-8223 |
| Praise Band Coordinator | Rich Wunderlin, 703-690-8048 |
| Youth Counselors | Grant Greffey, Tom Lambert, John and Cathy White, Jeff Russell |
FAQs about UMYF
What does UMYF stand for?
United Methodist Youth Fellowship. UMYF is simply the youth in grades 7-12 getting together each week for a couple hours to worship ( with the Praise Band), food ( parents take turns providing a simple supper ), fun ( games and silliness), and time together to build relationships with God and each other. Friends are always welcome!
When does it meet?
Most Sunday nights from 5- 6:45pm. We start at the Sanctuary for worship time and move to Agape House ( the little brick house on Sydenstricker Rd.) for the rest of the time. Sometimes we meet to go off campus to do something fun but this is always published in the weekly bulletin and in the e-gram.
What is the e-gram?
The e-gram just as its name implies, is a weekly e-mail with youth announcements. It goes out to anyone who wants to stay informed about the latest weekly events, upcoming dates ( as far as six months down the road), and prayer requests. If youd like to be included just send your e-mail address to youth@sumcdisciples.org.
In addition to the e-gram we have a Hotline that you can call for last minute up-dates (especially during the winter months): 703-451-8223 and choose option 7.
How do I sign up for Mission trips?
Mission trip sign- ups come in the fall. Watch the bulletin, web pages, and e-gram for dates and deadlines. But we do sometimes have cancellations from people who have last minute changes in their schedules, so we keep a waiting list for folks who may join us mid-year.
What is a retreat all about?
Why: Twice a year we all go away for the weekend to retreat from the stresses and distractions of life in Northern Virginia ! We leave after school on Friday and get back about 3pm on Sunday afternoon.
Where: Our traditional spot to go is Summit Lake Camp, located north of Frederick MD in the beautiful Catoctin Mountains. The camp has heated cabins, a huge dining hall, and meeting rooms. There are basketball courts, paddle boats ( in season), a ropes course, a lake for catch and release fishing, and cool places to hang out with your friends.
What: there are five times during the weekend that we will be together fro a class session These are informal sessions based on the theme of the weekend and involve some playing, some thinking, some praying and some studying about the Bible and Gods truth. We also have a couple scheduled times to play games together as a group, but there is also plenty of free time to explore or do homework or simply hang out.
Sleeping and Eating: There are nice heated cabins with bathrooms and showers. They have bunkbeds with mattresses. Girls and guys sleep in separate cabins with adults from our church. Meals are provided from Friday night supper through Sunday lunch. The food is great!