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May 7, 2015

Falling Down But Not Falling Apart

By Rita Boersma, Youth Frontiers Retreat Specialist and Presentation Coach

“Falling really hurts sometimes. But we have to fall so we can learn to get back up.” I was really trying to be convincing to my daughter because I needed her to believe it. I rocked and soothed her as she wailed and clung to me, her bleeding lip resting on my shoulder. Lovingly, my mother-in-law called me out and said, “Well, that’s a nice philosophy, but not when it’s your kid.”READ MORE

Listening
April 30, 2015

Listening to the Other

By Joe Cavanaugh

Almost every time I open a newspaper or read an article online, I notice a righteous rant about what is happening across our nation and world. You can pick any of today’s current issues and see fingers pointing and accusations of the “other side” being wrong.READ MORE

April 23, 2015

The Teachers’ Lounge Podcast with Suzanne Hince

The Teachers’ Lounge, Youth Frontiers’ podcast for educators, brings us into a conversation about how we can build school communities where our kids can thrive – not just academically, but socially and emotionally as well. In our ninth episode of The Teachers’ Lounge, we had the privilege of talking with Suzanne Hince – Executive Director of TeamMates, a youth mentoring program that focuses on positive relationships to help develop young people’s life and academic skills. Suzanne is a former teacher who brings her knowledge of education into her work bringing young people to school and life success. READ MORE

April 16, 2015

Get back in the game!

By Joe Cavanaugh

I never had the privilege of meeting my father-in-law, Don Leyden, but my wife Jane, her siblings and my mother-in-law often share stories of his life and parenting. He would often say to his four children after they experienced failure or adversity, “Pick up your mitt and get back in the game.”READ MORE

April 2, 2015

The Boat Strategy

By Josh Johnson, Youth Frontiers Retreat Director and Youth Corps Manager

My wife and I are often considered the “progressive” or “cool” parents by our daughter’s friends. For example, we let our 15-year-old daughter, Reese, get a nose ring. It wasn’t a difficult choice to make, but to be honest, it wasn’t a choice I was completely thrilled with either. I knew the very moment that Reese displayed that little hole in her nose that the backlash would begin. I imagined walking through the high school during conferences, hearing another kid tell her parents, “Reese’s parents let her get a nose ring, can I get one?!” The parent would quickly declare “no” and shoot my wife and me a dirty look.READ MORE