MONTHLY ARCHIVES: February 2011

3 Questions About Parenting a Teenager

Posted by Phil

As a Camp Ridgecrest or Camp Crestridge parent, you are either a parent of a teen, or you will be soon.

Richard Ross, Ph.D., is professor of student ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. Richard serves as spokesperson for the True Love Waits campaign and is the author or compiler of more than 20 books on student ministry or parenting. For more information about Parenting with Kingdom Purpose, see www.kingdomparent.com .

Dr. Ross addresses some key questions that many of us are asking…

1) By the time parents have teenagers, they have years of experience being a parent. So why is parenting a teenager so hard?

2) If the needs of teenagers differ from the needs of children, how can parents know what their teenagers need and when those needs shift?

3) If the relationship between parents and teenagers has been difficult, what can parents do to make the relationship better?

Read his answers here…


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Campers: Then and Now

Posted by Phil

Having spent 35 years working in the camping field (40 if you count 5 summers in my hometown for three weeks each summer), one question I am often asked is “Have you seen a lot of changes in children/youth through the years?” The answer to that would be, “yes and no”. Of course children have changed, as the world has changed. Because of greater access to the world through television and the internet, I think children are a lot more worldly-wise at a younger age than they were 35 years ago. I believe this generation of youth take things a bit more seriously overall than we did when I was a child, or maybe it was just me that was less serious! The tendency seems to be to grow up faster than when I was growing up. I guess in many ways, this is a good thing, but we still need to make sure children have a childhood… and a positive one.

I still see lots of similarities in the children and youth of today and those of yesteryear. They still have a curiosity about nature and the outdoors, and want to learn about those things. The difference is there aren’t as many opportunities for them to do so in our urban/suburban lives. Camp is the perfect place for this! Young folks still look up to older kids and adults, and seek out role models to pattern their lives after. Some of them get lucky and find great positive role models. Others make poor choices for mentors and role models, and thus grow up with more negative influences. Again, camp can facilitate this need in their lives by providing counselors who are positive, loving influences. And most young people still have an innate desire to answer the question “What is my purpose here in this world?” What a tremendous opportunity we have to share with them about God and his plan for their lives!!!

Children will always be children, and will always be curious, crazy, concerned, and cautious… our role is to help them along as best we can, and to provide them with positive experiences that they can hold as a foundation as they grow into adulthood. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child up in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” There is no greater challenge, and no great responsibility than that.

Ron Springs
Camps Director
Ridgecrest Summer Camps  Staff 1976-present


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Parenting from the Ground Up

Posted by Phil

“It wasn’t until we moved across the country that I learned I was a good mother. Before we moved, I had a friend whose words about my failed parenting stung me. I coddled those words, believed them. After all, I was a first-generation Christian parent. I grew up in a home I didn’t want my children to experience. I was bound to mess up. I worried incessantly that I’d ruin my children’s lives. I pictured them grown up, sitting across from a counselor. “Well, everything would be fine in my life,” my child would say, “if it hadn’t been for my mother!”’

Read more… Written by Mary E. DeMuth


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Conversations About Being Thankful

Posted by Phil

Below are a few Conversation Starters for your kids! We have given you a different type of question for the different age groups. We hope that this will help you as you continue to point your kids towards Jesus!

For Preschoolers
Start sentence prayers with your preschooler by saying, “Thank You God for…” and let him or her finish the sentence.
What are some things you can share?

For Children
What are some things God has given you?
How can you say thank you to God?
Who should we give to?
Who are some people we should help?

For Students
Besides saying the words thank you, how do we show gratitude to God for the things He has given us?
What is something you have that would be hard to give up?
When living in luxury, what is a good amount to give to those in need?

Let us know what you think about these questions below…. If you had a great response from your child, we’d love for you to share it here!


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