Paving The Way to Divorce

You are wondering what the deal is with this title, as this blog is dedicated to the Middle School and Jr. High ministry. No, this is not a post about parents and thier divorces, although related to the subject at hand, it about MS/JH relationships.
Lets be very real, if you work MS/JH students you are living in a continual episode of 90210, Gossip Girl, and Friday Night Smackdown, combined and that is just the 6th graders... Seriously, You know as well as I do that these little relationships never last, but are packed with drama, emotions, and heartache. On top of that, parents are in the middle of things encouraging and honestly running more drama on top of it. What are we doing to our young pre-teen and teens.

We are paving the way for thier future of divorce and failure in relationships.

It is starting younger and younger, and it is all "cute", but the reality is we are setting the tone and cycle for relationships. What use to be "SH only" lesson and convesations about sex and purity is now becoming a norm for our ministries to MS/JH.

A couple thoughts for our ministries:
- emphasize friends, de-emphasize "dating"
- make programs and events more about groups and bonding (sorry "couples skate")
- begin teach a deeper understanding of relationships of all sorts
- be real about your failures and pain in relationships... to a point
- involve your spouse, students need to see a real relationship and marriage-- even "co-teach" a series
- be real about what God's Word says about love, sex, marriage, and divorce.
- teach the parents?