Dear Parents,

I am going to begin by asking you to visit your past.

One way to dynamically change your home is to have the courage to visit your own teenage experience and consider the ways you would REBEL and REPEAT.

Below is a 2 minute and 51 second video that will introduce you to this very practical exercise called REBEL and REPEAT.

Here are two questions that I would love for you to answer:

As you raise your teenager, what is one thing that you want to rebel against from your own teenage experience?

As you raise your teenager, what is one thing that you want to repeat from your own teenage experience?

If you would like to share your answers with me, I would love to hear them. Just reply to this email with your answers. Thanks for taking some time today to spend with me. I love serving your family.

Have a great day!

jeremy

EMAIL #2

Dear Parents,

In our last session I invited you to do a very practical exercise called REBEL and REPEAT. If you missed it, you can go here.

I would like to begin by handing you a machete.

A machete is a long knife used in the jungle to cut through thick brush and create a path.

I want to hand you a figurative machete and inspire you to start beating down a path through life for your teenager to follow.

There is no greater spiritual influence in the life of your teenager than you. As your teenager’s youth minister, the smartest thing I can do is to set you up to blaze a trail of spiritual heritage for your teenager to follow.

That is why I want to encourage you to live out Psalm 145:4 with your teenager.

“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.”

Here are 3 ways you can blaze a spiritual path for your teenager:

Close the old trails- You might have had a trail marked out for you by your parents that led to lots of pain. You don’t have to continue that path. You can close that trail and mark a new one for your teenager to follow.

Mark the trail in word and deed- Far too often we try to make a spiritual impact on our teenager through words alone. Consider adding actions to your words. This has a multiplying effect on the integrity and influence you have with your teenager.

Don’t force it- You can mark a beautiful path for them to follow. You can make the entrance clear. You can shine a light on it showing them where to go. But you can’t make them follow the path. That is ultimately their choice. You can’t control their faith decisions, you can only guide them.

If you haven’t checked our the Rites of Passage Experience yet, please go here to check it out. It is another simple and powerful way that you and I can work together to blaze a trail and help you pass down your faith to your teenager.

As always, please reply to this email with any questions or thoughts you may have.

Feel free to forward this email to other parents of teenagers and have them email me if they would like to join our online parenting class.

Your partner in ministry,

Doug