Parent's this is for you...

Parent's, what follows is part of an article from the Center for Parent Youth Understanding.  At the end of the snippet I've included a link for you to see the rest of the article.  CPYU is a great resource for parenting.  I've had the pleasure of hearing Walt Mueller speak at NCYM and the guy just knows what he's talking about!  I hope you find this useful!

Feelings—Someone more than feelings

By Walt Mueller

Last summer, I taught my buddy, Ian, how to water ski. Just like I’ve done with dozens of rookie skiers before him, I ran through a rote litany of instructions designed to prepare Ian for his first-time experience. After telling Ian how to position himself in the water and what to do to get out of the water, I issued this warning: “Once you’re up and out of the water, you will feel an overwhelming desire to pull your hands and the tow rope close to your chest. I guarantee it. But don’t do it! Do it, and you’ll fall over backwards. Tell yourself right now, ‘No matter how much I feel like doing otherwise, I will keep my arms extended and not pull in.’”

Why was I so emphatic? Because I remember the first time I water-skied. I pulled my hands into my chest several times over—which of course meant I fell over several times. Even after those falls and repeated warnings from my instructor, I continued to give in to my feelings, which meant that I was spending all my time in, rather than on, the water.

Guess what happened to Ian? Like most other rookie water-skiers, Ian trusted his feelings more than the truth of my instructions. He started off spending more time swimming, than skiing.

At the same time Ian was learning to water-ski, a young 20-something named Katy Perry sat atop the music charts thanks to kissing another girl and liking it. This pastor’s daughter/former CCM singer turned mainstream pop star told her impressionable young listeners that she was conflicted about the experience, based not on any sort of enduring moral standards, but on her feelings: “If felt so wrong, it felt so right.” In the end, feeling “right” yielded to “like,” which turned into alright, and Perry’s message came through loud and clear. The old ’60s counter-culture motto—“If it feels good, do it!”—is now embraced and embodied as a mainstream cultural mantra, so much so that if you choose not to adopt it and live your life under submission to some outside authority—let’s say Jesus Christ—you’re hopelessly old-fashioned, terribly out-of-date and downright ridiculous.

For those of us who love, raise and work with kids, the word feel (and all its relatives) is the f-word that should concern us the most. Not because feelings are bad, but because the growing reliance on feelings as the guide for life is a challenge that cuts right to the core of everything we’re called to teach our students about life in the Kingdom of God. Our students are swimming in a culture where—increasingly—the authority most appealed to when faced with decisions of all kinds is my own feelings, which by the way, can change at any given point in time. Trust me, I know...

https://www.cpyu.org/Page.aspx?id=400664 

The blog is back!

So in talking with some other youth ministers about web sites, facebook, etc....I realized the other day that not all of the parents, or teens for that matter are on or have any interest in using facebook.  That is where I have primarily been sharing information related to the youth ministry.  After that realization I decided that I needed to have a place for you to get the same information as those on facebook are getting.  So, I am reviving this blog.  It may take me a little while to get it set up like I want and even to remember to use it, but check it often and see what I'm putting on here.