Parent Connection –August 2026
What to Encourage for September 2026:
After the ministry fair last Sunday, my mind is still on the importance of serving. Encourage your student to serve and then move beyond just showing up to serving with excellence. Col 3:23 says, Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Monthly Parent Tip: Back to Basics
As school ramps up this week for many of us, we need to help remind students of the basics of life, the things for them to do this Fall for them to flourish this year.
Sleep – Students need an average of 8-10 hours of sleep a night. If your student is not getting sleep, they will have a hard time with every other part of life this Fall.
Eat – Students need a healthy diet and not too much fast food or processed foods.
God Time – Students need time with God both to hear His voice and pray but also to process with Him all the things they are encountering. Encourage your student to pick a time each day to spend a few minutes with God. If in MS, we offer a devotional every Sunday which will help them connect with God using Scripture. If you need help knowing what to encourage a HS student to do, let us know.
Friend Time – Face-to-face friend time is invaluable and so much more important than video game time or TV watching time or social media time. Ask your students if they know how to initiate with their friends, and if not, teach them how to increase the face-to-face time with their friends each week in healthy ways, doing healthy activities together
How I’m using AI this Month: Brainstorming Trips
I love to get out of the house, and I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming ideas of what to do in different cities using AI. We went on vacation last week to South Texas and AI was a lot of fun in helping me think of fun things to do both on the way and while we were there. If you are traveling somewhere or simply want to do something fun over the weekend nearby (DFW always has stuff going on), ask AI for suggestions on what to do and give it a city and a date, and see what it suggests.
What I’m Enjoying this Month!
I’m actually enjoying preparing for and interacting with the students for our current Armor Up series I’m doing with Nate Kemp on Sunday nights. This Sunday we are talking about the OT and some of the thorny issues of women and slavery and how many outside the church use those issues to slander God’s character. This Sunday night’s talk will be a lot of fun.
Jon’s Game of the Month:
I’m a huge gamer and love playing computer games and board games, especially when they bring people together, as most games should. So here’s my game of the month:
Flash Point – This cooperative game is a blast, literally, as you are a firefighter working with other firefighters to prevent fiery explosions and save victims from structures on fire. So much fun!
My August question for All Parents is this:
Would you be willing to join us for a Wednesday night? On August 19, for our Fall Kickoff, we are inviting all the parents to join us for a “normal” youth night where we will have games where parents compete against students and a time of praying for our students for this year. If you are free, would you be willing to come?
