Parent Resources

We all struggle from time to time, and your child is no exception to this rule. Thankfully, our culture has become more open and accepting of people who struggle. There are people who have trained in various forms of counseling to come alongside people in all stages…young, old, and in the middle. However, as Christians we recognize the God who created us and tells us how we should live in His Word. We should try to practice the basic things needed for ‘good hygiene’ for overall health before we immediately seek out counseling. So, this document is designed to serve as a checklist for the basics for overall health. Before you seek out counseling for your child, why not work through this checklist first (some of these items may not be appropriate for the age of your child)?

Physical Health – 1 Timothy 4:8

•    Is your child on a fairly regular sleep schedule where they are getting about 8 hours of sleep per night?
•    Is your child eating a balanced diet?
•    Is your child getting some type of regular exercise?

Relational Health – Ephesians 4:25-32

•    Is your child in a good and healthy relationship with everyone in the home(s) where they live?
•    Is there a romantic relationship in your child’s life that is causing stress or consuming all their time and attention?
•    Is your child spending too much time on social media daily?  Do they take their phone to bed with them?  What safeguards have you put in place on their phones?
•    Ask your child to make a list of relationships that are broken in their life. This would include people they no longer talk to, the other person no longer talks to them, unresolved conflict, etc.  What can be done to bring biblical resolution to these conflicts?
•    Is your child involved in a smaller group (Youth Group, Bible Study, small group, discipleship relationship) where they are cultivating close relationships with other believers?

Spiritual Health – Deuteronomy 6:4-9

•    Is your child attending Sunday morning worship services in person at your church regularly?
•    Is your child spending regular time reading the Bible and in prayer?  A great place to start is Matthew 5, 6, and 7.
•    Ask your child to think about any secret sins they may be engaged in right now. Give them 24 hours to think about it and then follow up with them and ask them if the Lord has brought anything to their mind.  (see James 5:16)

If after going through this checklist one at a time and working to improve in each area, there is still a desire to seek individual counseling, a good idea would be to check with your church pastor to see what your church can offer or who they recommend.  If you are in between churches or you don’t have a connection to your church leadership, feel free to connect with me, Pastor Scott Tiede, at stiede@delawarebible.org or call the church office to set up a time to meet at 740-369-3557.

As a school, we are committed to help the DCS family develop and grow as both a disciple of Jesus and disciple-maker. That's why we're excited to partner with Right Now Media (RNM), an online, user-friendly library for individuals in every age and stage of life. RNM is full of Bible-based content, discipleship training videos covering topics like marriage, finance, parenting, mission, theology and a full library for kids. We offer staff, students, and parents free access to this online tool. Click the icon below to sign-up. It's our gift to you!

Biblical Worldview Resources

• Kingdon Education Ministries (KEM) is dedicated to uniting the home, church and school through a biblical philosophy of education for the purpose of educating future generations to think and act from a biblical worldview. Their blog, Kindom Perspectives, can be accessed here.
• RenewaNation's mission is "to inspire and equit the family, church, and school to give children a biblical worldview. The Renewanation Blog can be read here.