Parent Resources
We hope you find these resources helpful as you navigate life with your children. You can click a category below to filter through the different resouces available to view.
Please note: FBC Trussville doesn't necessarily endorse all of the thoughts and opinions in these resources. These are Biblical based resources created by Axis. They are simply being provided as a guide.
Culture
Cancel Culture
"This is the era of cancel culture, which generally refers to calling people out on social media to suffer punitive consequences for inappropriate behavior or speech."
Failure
"In this guide, we seek to understand what teens are really afraid of, how to parent through failure with grace, and, in a culture that sees through a success/failure lens, how to emphasize faithfulness and honesty."
Fitness
"The world of health and fitness has never been more popular than it is right now. In the US alone it’s a $30 billion industry that’s growing by 3-4% every year."
Friendship
"Parents can help their children foster healthy friendships by keeping open lines of communication, allowing their children to grow through unhealthy relationships, and setting boundaries with the friends they have."
Gen Z
"In this Guide, we want to look at how the generations have changed over time, what has shaped Gen Z’s views on life, and how that knowledge can help you connect with your kids better."
Gen Z's Love of Music
"Music has become ingrained in the everyday lives of our teens. Rather than banning it or allowing unfettered access to it, let’s discuss how to use it as a way to love our kids better and to help them be discerning, wise followers of Christ."
Modesty
"Talk of modesty is outmoded, old-fashioned, perhaps anti-woman, shaming, and above all LAME. Our teenagers (and some of us) will almost certainly share this perspective, and rightly so—if we frame the issue in the wrong way."
Profanity
"For some of us, hearing a bad word come out of our kids’ mouths for the first time was an experience roughly equivalent to hearing a tortoise sing an opera. We didn’t think it could happen, and now that it has, we don’t know what to do about it."
Tattoos
"It used to be that only sailors, criminals, or the otherwise rebellious got tattoos. Now, about 40% of American adults have at least one tattoo."
Teen FOMO
"FOMO is the fear that something interesting or amazing will happen without us, causing us to miss not just the experience, but also the camaraderie that inevitably blossoms out of experiencing it with others."
Teen Identity
"In the heart of every person is a deep-rooted question: Who am I and how do I fit into the world around me?"
Teen Slang
"Lost? Confused? Unable to understand your teens? Don’t worry; you’re in good company. Keeping up with teen slang is nearly impossible."
Finances
Money
"This Parent Guide is an invitation to prayer, confession, and self-evaluation as much as it is an invitation to talk about money and generosity with your teen. We pray that this content increases our capacity and desire to invite God into every aspect of our lives - even our bank accounts."
Personal Finance
"How do we balance trusting in God and His provision, while also utilizing the resources He has given us to take care of ourselves?"
Holidays
12 Days of Christmas
"Did you know that Christmas hasn’t always been celebrated as a one-day affair? Throughout its history, Christmas has been a whole season according to the Christian calendar. A twelve-day season, to be precise—a season that is best experienced after entering fully into the season of Advent."
Halloween
"In pop culture, Halloween is associated with everything from kid movies like Casper and The Nightmare Before Christmas to horror films like The Shining to goofier productions like Ghostbusters. What they all typically have in common is some element of dark, supernatural danger."
Spring Break
"Spring break is an outlet for the urges that students may already be struggling with and the pressure they may already be struggling under pre-college (though perhaps these struggles and pressures are amplified in college)."
Thanksgiving
"Few things can make us crazy like family dynamics, particularly in the case of a once-a-year, “everything matters” Thanksgiving get-together with relatives we rarely see but definitely don’t see eye-to-eye with."
Mental Health
Body Positivity
"Our society puts a heavy burden on people, women in particular, to measure up to certain standards of physical beauty. The body positivity movement has arisen in response to these unattainable ideals."
Boredom
"We’ll talk about how to respond when our teens complain about being bored, as well as whether filling every minute with activities is the best solution."
Depression & Anxiety
"Teens test-drive a variety of emotions every day, and sometimes they have no idea how to explain or express them. We’ve all heard (or even said) something like, “I’m so depressed! They canceled my favorite show!” or “I’m so anxious about my math test!” The language of mental illness runs rampant through our casual conversations."
Eating Disorders
"Besides increases in things like anxiety and depression, today’s teens also face increasing risks of developing eating disorders as a way to cope with their reality."
Emotion
"As you’d expect, emotions are complex, and there are multiple theories that try to explain the relationship between our thoughts (minds), actions (bodies), and feelings (hearts)."
Fear & Worry
"Fear is real—in fact, God created it (more on this below)—but worry is never beneficial. By looking a little closer at the problems of fear and worry, we can learn where they come from, what they are at their root, how to overcome them through the power of God, and how to help our kids do the same."
School Shootings
"School shootings aren’t a new phenomenon in America—the first recorded instance of gun violence in a school dates as far back as 1840. But they’ve never felt so terribly present."
Sleep
"Teen sleep habits and needs are influenced by much more than wanting to rest. This Parent Guide will help you understand your teen’s sleep needs and give you tools to help your teen create better sleep habits."
Suicide & Self Harm
"The thought of losing your teen to suicide is one of the most terrifying fears for a parent. It is something we don't ever want to think about, but suicide is real and we have to take notice."
Walking Through Grief
"In this Guide, we’ll look at grief from many angles and answer some of the most common questions about how to parent a child who is grieving, and look at the best practices for walking with your kids through grief well."
Parenting Teenagers
Back to School
"Whether your kids are excited to return to school or dread going back, and whether you feel like you were the master of back to school in years past or like it got the best of you, this time of year is not only a routine disrupter, it’s full of opportunities to start new."
College Prep
"As high school comes to a close, marking the end of a long era of their lives, they simultaneously lament what once was and excitedly anticipate college for the promise it holds."
Difficult Conversations
"As parents, we have the ability to shape how our kids see topics that could be uncomfortable and scary."
Discipling Teenagers
"Keeping up with the world our kids inhabit has never been harder or more daunting."
Family Night
"Whether you’re on family vacation or having dinner together, time with family can be uproariously fun or full of stress, crankiness, and conflict."
Shame-Free Parenting
"As parents, it’s crucial that we first recognize how to deal with our own shame and then evaluate what messages about shame we’re communicating to our children."
Teen Dating
"Nowadays, the dating landscape looks pretty different from what it was even a few decades ago, and, if anything, it has only gotten more muddied and confusing. In fact, the number of high school seniors going on dates has dropped compared to previous generations."
Teen Privacy
"If you’re dealing with this and are at your wits end, don’t worry. You’re not alone! Parents everywhere for generations have faced the same frustration."
Sexual Topics
LGBTQ+ & Your Teen
"Even if your kids don’t struggle with their sexual orientations or gender identities, they probably know people who do."
Masturbation
"Talking openly with your teens isn’t a guarantee that they will bring every question to you, but remaining silent is a guarantee that they will look for answers elsewhere."
Pornography
"There are few cultural issues more pressing than the problem of pornography. Though extremely damaging to us, porn appeals to powerful urges that God created as good. Sexually explicit material has always been a cultural pitfall, but the internet and smartphones have provided unprecedented access to it."
Purity
"As our kids become preteens, then teenagers, and eventually adults, we Christian parents desire to equip them with knowledge, truth, and the ability to navigate the sexual landscape."
The Sex Talk
"We parents can no longer afford to have only one sex talk with our kids or give them a book to read when they hit puberty. By then, it’s too late. We must start the conversation about sex early, and we must continue that conversation as our children grow."
Sexting
"May this guide serve as an education in its appeal, its prevalence, its danger, and the underlying heart issues to begin addressing with your teens."
Sexual Assault
"We all pray that our children will experience a world safe from harm. We do our best to love and protect, but what do we do when things are out of our control?"
Spiritual
Advent
"Advent is a season of preparation for Christmas. But Advent is actually not intended to be an extension of Christmas, which is what usually happens (i.e. Christmas music the day after Halloween!)"
Evangelism
"How do your kids react to the idea of evangelism? When they think of sharing the Gospel, do they start feeling anxious and have no idea how to go about it, perhaps because they don’t want to come across as pushy or awkward?"
Evidence for the Resurrection
"There is no single event more central to the Christian faith than the resurrection. It serves as the keystone to several of our deepest hopes: the notion that God is both powerful and trustworthy; the doctrine of eternal life; even the very belief that Jesus and the Father are one: it’s all rooted in the resurrection."
Holy Week & Easter
"Those outside the Church ought to be looking at Christians, confusedly wondering what in the world the big deal is and why we are having the biggest party of the year."
Lent
"From the Anglo-Saxon word “Lencten,” Lent means “long” or “to lengthen,” referring to the increasing hours of sunlight as springtime creeps ever nearer and winter retreats back from whence she came. But spiritually speaking, it means so much more."
Pilgrim's Progress
"Originally titled The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come, Bunyan’s allegory details his understanding of the spiritual journey upon which one embarks when they begin asking questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity."
Purpose
"Before we explore how to find purpose and help guide your teen towards finding it as well, we must answer that elusive question: what is purpose in the first place?"
Sabbath & Rest
"Let’s explore the “big picture” of God’s design for human flourishing and, from this, begin to understand why the Sabbath is relevant (and even fun!) for families today."
Substance Abuse
Addiction
"Addiction can be caused by any number of factors, and usually involves substances and behaviors that end up causing lasting effects on the individual emotionally, psychologically, and socially."
Marijuana
"Currently, marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the U.S. among both teens and adults. Given the widespread popularity of the drug, it’s something we should be talking about with our kids."
Prescription Stimulants
"We’ve created this guide because there is confusion, danger, and often shame surrounding the use of prescription stimulants."
Teens & Alcohol
"The appeal of alcohol is clearly concerning to parents because of the risks involved when anyone drinks and because of the greater dangers of teenage drinking."
Teens & Opioids
"In this guide, we want to make you aware of the dangers that opioids pose to your teens and give you some practical advice on what you can do to address those dangers."
Vaping/Juuling
"Vaping (i.e. the modern term for using e-cigarettes) is different from traditional cigarettes in that it relies on electricity rather than combustion. Instead of burning tobacco and other materials to create smoke, e-cigarettes have a battery that heats liquid into vapor (hence “vaping”). "
Technology
Android
"21st-century parents have to figure out all kinds of digital technology, even if we’re not particularly “techie” by nature."
Cyber Bullying
"Bullying is a complex issue. As such, it does not have a simple solution. Your kids might not have a propensity to bully or be bullied, but even if they are just bystanders, bullying still impacts them."
Discord
"Discord is an “all-in-one voice and text chat for gamers that’s free, secure, and works on both your desktop and phone,” according to its website."
Influencers
"Technically, we’re all influencers in one way or another, but the term is used specifically to refer to a person who uses their social media presence and platforms to influence others to believe, buy, or do something (or commonly, all three)."
"Though much younger than its predecessors, Instagram has become a social media behemoth through its simplicity, ease of use, and focus on imagery."
Internet Filtering & Monitoring
"Your ultimate goal is to raise kids who use the Internet safely and responsibly and think critically about their actions, but a little technical assistance can help."
iOS
"21st-century parents have to figure out all kinds of digital technology, even if we’re not particularly “techie” by nature. It’s similar to when we worry about helping a high-schooler with algebra when we ourselves are lousy at math."
Netflix
"At a time when more than 60% of U.S. households use at least one streaming service, Netflix has ripped past the competition to become not only the most used service by adults, but particularly by teens."
Smartphones
"The phone used to be a device whose main purpose was communication. Now, smartphones help us do just about anything: shop, socialize, read a book, do our devotions, take care of finances, date, and maintain our health, to name a few."
Smartphone Addiction
"It seems pretty clear that information alone isn’t helping us change our habits. We keep turning to our phones when we don’t want to. We spend more time on them than we’d like."
Snapchat
"Now with more features that increase its popularity and continue to be mimicked by other platforms, it’s important that we parents understand how it works, why it’s so popular, and how to have formative conversations about it with our teens."
Social Media
“Attention is the main prize of the internet. Everyone is fighting for it, and the phone is the prime battleground. The most potent of weapons in this war is the incessant, whining notification trying to pull your attention away from whatever you are actually doing and into some other app.”—Zach Hines
Spotify
"Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming app, competing with services like Apple Music and Pandora."
TikTok
"For parents of teens and tweens who use the app (or keep asking to), it’s helpful to know what it is, its pitfalls and dangers, and how to talk to them about it in order to help them pursue health in every area of their lives."
Twitch
"Welcome to Twitch.tv, one of the largest communities on the Internet and the most popular eSports streaming service in the world."
Video Games
"Few topics in today’s media-saturated world can get a parent or teacher ranting like kids and video gaming. According to Pew Research Center, 72% of teens have played video games in the last year, and they only represent 28% of the video-game-playing population."
YouTube
"Simply put, YouTube is a social media platform for sharing videos with people. Users can limit themselves to watching, liking, and commenting on other people’s videos, or they can create channels and post their own videos."
YouTube Stars
"These are questions any parent of a Gen Zer is asking since Gen Z is spending more time on YouTube than on other platforms or even on Netflix."