Your February Resources Are Here!
As a kid, did you ever receive a cute little Valentine’s card from someone in your class or school? Did you ever have to “check ‘yes’ or ‘no’” to answer the “Will you go with me” question? OK, maybe you didn’t have either of those experiences, but we know that you did (at some point) start thinking about this thing called “dating.” We know that ideas about this topic are coming up earlier and earlier in the lives of our kids, and as children’s ministry leaders, we have to equip the church and parents we serve to step up and engage in the conversation. Since February is the month of love, it’s also the time of the year when many ministries wade into the topic at church and try to encourage kids to move toward healthy relationships. This provides you, as a children’s ministry leader, with the perfect opportunity to engage parents and better equip them to lead their kids at home as they navigate the often awkward and sometimes comical conversations around this important topic. So, whether the topic is kissing or the cooties, this month’s M2P resources are designed to provide you (and parents) with ideas and resources that will help frame these critical relationship conversations that we all need to be having with our kids.
For more on this topic, don’t forget to check out the blog articles, coaching video, online parenting class video, toolbox item, and the latest episode of the M2P Podcast. Remember that we are here to serve you and to help you serve parents, so let us know if there is ever anything we can do for you or your ministry.
With love, some candy hearts, and a box of chocolates,
The M2P Team
WHAT IS IT?
This “Parent Guide and Conversation Starter” is designed with thoughts, definitions, Bible references, and questions that were created to help the parent(s)/guardian(s) start an age-appropriate conversation about relationships and dating with their kids. This resource provides parents with a starting point for an ongoing conversation and one that they can come back to and adjust as needed by utilizing this adaptable toolbox resource as their kids get older and the questions get harder.
HOW TO USE IT
- Download the toolbox resource. Post the explanation and link to it on your website.
- Email parents a copy of the toolbox resource or a link to it and encourage them to set aside some time to work through it and begin having some open age-appropriate conversations with their kids.
- Print copies of the toolbox resource for parents to grab at church.
To download, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.
Since February is the month of love, it’s also the time of the year when many ministries tip-toe into the waters of the love and relationships topic at church and try to at least acknowledge the heart-shaped elephant in the room. Valentine’s Day and all that goes with it is just another reminder of how obsessed with love, sex, and dating our culture has become. Our kids are no doubt getting a collective earful/eyeful through music, movies, social media, commercials, and even just looking around. They are laying the foundations and building upon it what they believe about relationships, dating, and relational/physical boundaries. This month’s coaching videos give you some tips on how to weigh into this important topic as a children’s ministry leader. It’s a conversation that will never go away, one that we shouldn’t shy away from as children’s ministry leaders, and one we need to be having inside the local church. The kids in our churches and families are building a dating, relational, and sexual ethic, and we have the opportunity (and the obligation) to help shape what they believe.
To view, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.
In this month’s Online Parenting Class, we lean in and really challenge the parent(s)/guardian(s) in your ministry to make sure they are engaging their kids in conversations about the age-old topics of relationships, dating, and relational/physical boundaries. Often, as parents, we shy away from these difficult and taboo conversations while our kids are learning and picking up their cues on these things from peers, culture, social media, and the entertainment industry. But, if we want our children to have Godly perspectives, healthy relational/physical boundaries, and make wise choices in this area of life, then we have to be the ones to speak truth to them and lead them in that direction. So, these videos will offer parents some practical suggestions on how to engage in these conversations with their kids in a good and healthy way.
To view, click HERE for youth and HERE for kids.
New blog posts coming this month:
- For Kids’ Ministry Leaders: Why Talk About Dating with Kids? by Amy Diller
- For Kids’ Ministry Parents: Laying a Foundation for Future Relationships by Amy Diller
- For Youth Ministry Leaders: Having “The Talk” by Chris Sasser
- For Youth Ministry Parents: More Than the Talk by Chris Sasser
To view, click HERE.