Parents Living In Freedom

Great New Song from Shane and Shane

2011-10-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

I've been a fan of Shane and Shane since I was in college and first heard them play song that were taken straight out of Scripture. I have always enjoyed their passion and heart that comes through in their songs as well as the deep truth they seek to convey as they sing.

On their latest album (which you can purchase here), they wrote a song to their children and I think it is amazing. I'm thankful to God for these guys and how He is communicating through them to point people to the reality that Christ is "the one you need."

Study of This Year's Incoming Freshman

2011-08-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in reading about the differences between your generation and the generation of students who are now freshmen in college, you'll want to check out the article below.

It's crazy to me that these kids don't have an image of a white bronco driving slowly down a California HWY etched in their minds. I can't believe that happened that long ago!

http://yhoo.it/pY9do0

Married LIFe Retreeat - April 15-16, 2011

2011-02-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

This event will be a relaxing and encouraging weekend with your spouse and other couples who desire to experience Christ in the context of the marriage relationship.

If you have questions, e-mail marriedLIFe[at]liveinfreedom[dot]org. If you want to register, you can download the registration form here.

We hope to see you there!

Teens Texting After Hours

2010-11-03T10:53:00.001-07:00

New research from JFK Medical Center reveals teens are texting the night away, preferring to engage with their phone more than their pillow. Read more here.

Parents, Be A Chaperone

2010-10-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

There is an interesting and devastating article that you can read here about some observations made by a parent who chaperoned a high school dance recently.

As I read it, my heart was saddened to think of the numerous girls across the country (and apparently our world) who feel they need to act and dance like this in order to be accepted. I believe one of the biggest problems, is that to them this is just normal. I don't think they're all making a conscious decisions to destroy their innocence like this, but they also don't see the glaring problem of this activity because it's just normal to them.

If you're a parent of a teen or soon-to-be teen, please read this article. Pray about what God is revealing to you about the world your child is in, and how He desires to show Himself to your teen in regards to this cultural context that they are in.

Teens and Texting

2010-10-14T12:54:00.001-07:00

There is no question that a huge method of communication for the teen generation (and most likely those who follow) is texting. A recent study by The Nielson Co. found that the average teen in America sends and receives 3,339 texts a month! You can read the full article here.

A few things of interest to me in this study are:

1. Adults are texting more as well. Parents adapting to connect with their teens is awesome. If it takes sending texts to keep in touch, to express their love for their teen, and to simply communicate then better get the whole fam unlimited text plans. Texting can't replace vocal dialogue but it can enhance and encourage it.

2. Most phones store conversations had via text messaging. Just as with IM, facebook, MySpace, and any other social media the teens engage in, there is a necessity to have boundaries. If your teen must text all the time, make an agreement ahead of time that you have the authority to check their phone at any point you choose in order to make sure all texts are on the up-and-up. If they would rather choose you to not submit to that, they can choose to not send and receive texts.

There is a reason the term "facedown generation" has been coined. We are living in an increasingly technological world that offers almost uninterrupted and never-ending opportunities to keep your head down, connecting with a mobile device or computer instead of who is in the room with you.

Girls hitting puberty even earlier...

2010-08-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe some of the findings in this latest study on young girls and their development. You can read an article about the study here.

It's an interesting read on what could become a trend with some serious downsides, like increased chances of breast cancer, depression, and a more promiscuous adolescence.

New Tool For Parents

2010-07-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

There really is no getting around social media and social internet when you have children. It's become what the telephone was for my generation and what note writing was several generations ago.

There is a new start-up called SocialShield. If you have kids online, this seems like a great resource for you to know what's going on in their world and if there are things you need to be concerned about.

What Students Face

2009-10-21T21:14:00.001-07:00

Here is an interesting video made by college students. It's a great insight into their culture!

New Warning

2009-09-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

I just found this article discussing the dangers of sliding down slides with infants/toddlers.

The main point of the article, in case you don't have time to read through it, is that it can be very dangerous for your young child to ride in your lap down a slide. The latest study found around 1 in 4 children who had a fractured shinbone received it by sliding down a slide on the lap of an adult or sibling.

Are you "friends" with your children?

2009-07-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

In the past few years, there has been a rapidly increasing parental presence on social networking sites, especially facebook and MySpace. The result: there is a flood of teenagers departing these sites in search of a place to connect with people without their parents.

Time Magazine has an article about the influx of parents on facebook and a new site created to "help parents avoid common pitfalls."

You can read the full article here.

The new website discussed in the article is www.myparentsjoinedfacebook.com.

I'd love to hear some thoughts you may have about parents joining facebook and also about their kids who are fleeing the site for another venue without their parents.

Parenting Sermon

2009-06-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, June 14th, I preached at Brazos Meadows Baptist Church in Hewitt. Billy Edwards, the senior pastor, is preaching a series on family during June and asked me to preach during the series to talk about parenting.

You can listen to the sermon online here.

Involved Dad's

2009-06-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

USA Today has an article on Dad's and some current trends in fatherhood. Here's a little taste of the article:

Those who study fatherhood say today's dads are forging a new identity, as working women press for a more egalitarian home life, and telecommuting and workplace flexibility make it possible for dads to have more time with the kids. Also, dads today are no longer the stuffy or clueless fathers portrayed on TV.

You can read the full article here.

CPYU

2009-06-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

I've used the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding for years and cannot encourage parents to use their resources enough. These guys at CPYU have incredible information regarding pop culture and trends on the horizon.

If you haven't checked them out yet or haven't bookmarked their page, I'd recommend doing that because it will definitely increase your knowledge of what your teen is facing in their world.

Earlier, when I was visiting the CPYU website, I found this article about teenagers and binge drinking. On the page with the actual article is a short video discussing this issue as well.

Grace & Peace.

New Study on Family Time

2009-06-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

A new study from the Annenburg Center for the Digital Future at USC shows a drastic decrease in the amount of time families are spending together, while social networking sites and internet use is seeing a huge increase.

Here is a quote from the article on MSNBC:

28 percent of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. That's nearly triple the 11 percent who said that in 2006...In the first half of the decade, people reported spending an average of 26 hours per month with their families. By 2008, however, that shared time had dropped by more than 30 percent, to about 18 hours.

P-LIFe

2009-06-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Parents Living In Freedom!

This blog is intended to encourage parents, inform parents of current cultural trends, and discuss the reality of Christ's sufficiency in our parenting.

If you have a teenager, P-LIFe is connected with Y-LIFe (Youth Living In Freedom) and you, along with your teen, can check out the Y-LIFe blog here.

Grace and Peace.