Adopted Teen Troubles
Most adopted children that I’ve worked with have one question on their minds that is frankly unanswerable. The question creates an unfillable void, especially in the teen years. And that question is, “Why was I abandoned by my birth-mother?”
Adopted kids often carry a lot of emotional baggage and the new parents are often caught off guard by how their lovely adopted child acts out when reaching the teenage years. Many times the “new parents” are a reminder to that child of what she has lost, what she doesn’t have, and what she misses. Thus, anger builds up over why she was abandoned more than about anything the adopted parents did or didn’t do. The adopted parents just happen to be the convenient ones to take the brunt of her anger. Continue Reading >>
Shut-Up Challenge
If you invited your teenager to a lecture about his life’s mistakes, or a 30-minute verbal beating about the pitfalls of his poor decisions, how do you think he would respond? Do you think he’d show up? Would he feel great about it when you’re finished?
“Sure Mom, I’d love to hear you drone on and on…I like being lectured, warned, and criticized about absolutely everything.”
Communicating with Teens
Every parent of a teenager wants to build a strong line of communication with their teen. But sadly, the opposite is most often true. I’d like to share with you some simple tips to improve your communications with your teen.
You may wonder what the best timing is for building good lines of communication with your teen or pre-teen. That’s simple. Do it NOW, before problems, struggles and difficulties begin. And never stop working at it, even when there is conflict. Continue Reading >>
Arena for Relationships
What your child wants more than anything else is relationship. By God’s divine guidance, He’s either placed the child in your presence or has allowed you to give birth to this child. There is a master plan in the midst of all of it which sometimes gets lost in the dealing with the struggles and difficulties and the issues. There’s something intentional and there are no mistakes in the midst of it. There’s that need for relationships. Continue Reading >>
About Mark Gregston:
Mark is the Founder and Executive Director of Heartlight Ministries, a Christian residential counseling program for struggling teenagers, located in East Texas.
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