Planning for a Victorious Year!
My guest today is Nicole O’Dell; my friend and ministry partner to teens!
Parenting teens? It’s the perfect time to plan for a victorious new year!
As a parent of teens, you’ve surely had some angst-ridden sleepless nights or at the very least, some moments of fervent prayers as you stormed the gates of heaven seeking safety for your kids or answers to your parenting dilemma. Trust me, I know. Not so much because of my teens, but because of myself AS as a teen.
Wow. I cringe when I think back over the trouble I gave my parents in two very short, jam-packed years of rebellion between 13 and 15 years of age. In fact, it’s the memory of how I went rogue even after being raised in a Christian home and giving my life to Jesus at a very early age that launched me into the work that I do.
But those years came to an end and through circumstances that actually fill two of my published books, I came back to Jesus with a strong commitment to serving Him. When I was 16 years old, I committed to working throughout my life to bridge the gap between parents and teens and to help them forge through some of those tough issues that come up in life. Now I encounter troubled parents on a regular basis. They come to me for help because they’re worried about getting it right, about messing up their teens, about missing the signs of impending disaster. And I get it.
The biggest questions I get asked are:
- How can I keep my kids grounded in the faith?
- What if I lose connection with my teenagers?
- How have you managed to keep such a wonderful relationship with your teens?
- How can I stop just trying make it through and actually enjoy my kids?
- How can I make this a positive time in our relationship and in my teen’s faith walk?
- How do I help my teenagers know Jesus for real?
- What if they never do?
Can you sense the desperation in those questions? Have you asked them yourself?
I think that we often see the teen years as a time for more independence, more hands-off parenting. And, while that might be true in some ways, independence means risk. So, even though we do need to let them find their own way in certain things, we also need to be intentionally strategic in our parenting.
Parents, whether you’re approaching the teen years or smack in the middle of them, you need some daily help. I want to introduce you to a new resource from Choose NOW Publishing and me, Nicole O’Dell.
Powerline365
Plugging Parents of Teens into the Source
Powerline365 is a high-voltage, multi-format daily devotional to help parents raise Christian teens without losing connection.
Tap into the power you need to lead your teens into a vibrant personal relationship with Jesus. Many teens, even those from Christian homes, fail to connect with Him on a personal level. They forge on alone, searching for identity as the enemy pelts them with temptations and doubts. As parents, we’re left reeling, wondering where we went wrong.
Powerline365 offers daily insight to ground you in truth as you plug into the Source. It’s time for you to power-parent from a place of confidence and surrender, believing God’s Word is true, and His promises will never go unfulfilled.
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within [your teenager], will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6, NLT)
He began the work, and He’ll finish it. But on His timetable, not ours. If we can really believe that–really own that truth, then we can parent from a place of freedom and joy rather than angst and fear. That shift in mindset can take us from agitated and demanding to relaxed and confident almost immediately.
The coolest thing about this project is the multi-format, multi-use approach we’ve taken to make it easily accessible to you in whatever way best suits your needs. And TODAY is the first day of an indiegogo campaign to fund this project. Which means EARLY ACCESS for you!
Would you pop over to our campaign page and see what we have going on? There’s a lot of great opportunity and interesting things you’ll only have access to through this campaign. Plus it’s the ONLY way to get ahold of these resources now, in time for 2014.
My heartfelt prayer is that you’ll find victory in your relationship with your teens as you lead them to good choices and a strong faith in Jesus.
Nicole O’Dell is the founder of Choose NOW Ministries, bringing a message of hope for today’s families through daily articles, weekly radio shows, and published resources. A mother of six herself, she has authored 23 books for parents and teens, both fiction and nonfiction, all with the goal of helping the reader make good choices NOW.
And all who participate in the campaign and leave a comment here will be entered to win a Spark30 devotional subscription. We’ll give away one for every ten participants. This can also be gifted!