Grandparenting Teens

Three million kids have grandparents parenting them. Are you one of those grandparents? Are you in need of some help? Are you in a crisis with your teen that you're not sure anyone has an answer for? There are natural communication barriers between grandparents and their teenage grandkids: • new and old cultures collide and the relationship sometimes flies out the window • hurtful words stab at a grandparent trying to help • memories are missed and arguments explode in a family Both grandparents and grandkids face these triggers, but from opposite sides. And sometimes they result in teens getting into drugs, kids smoldering in unexpressed anger that deepens into depression, and kids even harming themselves. The teenagers want attention and relationships; grandparents want to help. Help is available from author and well-known family expert Mark Gregston who has worked in teenage and family ministries such as Young Life and his own program, Heartlight, for over forty years. For Gregston, it’s all about relationships. Teens need to find out why they think no one understands them. And they need help to guide them through this contradictory world. Grandparenting Teens is a valuable resource that helps grandparents love their teens and relate to them in genuine, honest, life-changing ways. This book gives practical tips on how to start grandparenting teens in a way that fosters connection. Mark teaches skills such as getting everyone to listen—really listen. As a grandparent, you can help your teen learn to paint their honest, big-picture perspective, so no one’s left out of their world. They will learn gratefulness instead of giving grief. They will recognize when their grandparent understands their troubles and becomes their role model for life when everyone else turns away. And both grandparents and teens will find their point of contact—their bond. Gregston’s stories will entertain you. They will teach you. They will move you. Some will even change your life. This book is a must for every grandparent who wants to continue to have an influence on the life of their teen grandchildren. In this ever-important role, grandparents can offer something to their grandkids that they can receive from no one else.

Includes bibliographical references (page 240).

Parents influence. Grandparents leave a legacy. What will you be remembered for by your grandchildren? Teens today are stuffed with information, yet starving for wisdom. They act distant, but the truth is, they need you now more than ever. You have a place in their lives—your gray hair, your wisdom, your relationship, your involvement in their lives to help counter the contrary influence in today’s teen culture. They need you to touch their hearts, even if their behavior hurts your heart. Your life can transform their life and change the destiny of your family! Grandparenting Today’s Teens is a must read for every grandparent’s library. With wit and wisdom, Mark Gregston helps you better connect and engage with your grandchildren. For both young and old grandparents alike, chapter titles include: • Changing Gears When You’re Almost Out of Gas • Why Gray Hair Works to Your Benefit • Making Memories Before You Lose Yours • Losing Battles but Winning Wars • Don’t Save the Best for Last Remember, you can be the connection that offers hope.

Grandparenting with Grace by author Larry McCall explores what grandparenting looks like from God's perspective. In this profound and accessible guide, McCall invites readers to glean from God's Word how they can have an impact on their grandchildren that can bear fruit not only throughout their grandchildren's lives but even into eternity.

Parenting today’s teens is not for cowards. Your teenager is facing unprecedented and confusing pressures, temptations, and challenges in today’s culture. Mark Gregston has helped teens and their parents through every struggle imaginable, and now he shares his biblical, practical insights with you in bite-size pieces. Punctuated with Scriptures, prayers, and penetrating questions, these one-page devotions will give you the wisdom and assurance you need to guide your teen through these years and reach the other side with relationships intact.

The New York Times Bestseller From one of the country’s most recognizable journalists: How becoming a grandmother transforms a woman’s life. After four decades as a reporter, Lesley Stahl’s most vivid and transformative experience of her life was not covering the White House, interviewing heads of state, or researching stories at 60 Minutes. It was becoming a grandmother. She was hit with a jolt of joy so intense and unexpected, she wanted to “investigate” it—as though it were a news flash. And so, using her 60 Minutes skills, she explored how grandmothering changes a woman’s life, interviewing friends like Whoopi Goldberg, colleagues like Diane Sawyer (and grandfathers, including Tom Brokaw), as well as the proverbial woman next door. Along with these personal accounts, Stahl speaks with scientists and doctors about physiological changes that occur in women when they have grandchildren; anthropologists about why there are grandmothers, in evolutionary terms; and psychiatrists about the therapeutic effects of grandchildren on both grandmothers and grandfathers. Throughout Becoming Grandma, Stahl shares stories about her own life with granddaughters Jordan and Chloe, about how her relationship with her daughter, Taylor, has changed, and about how being a grandfather has affected her husband, Aaron. In an era when baby boomers are becoming grandparents in droves and when young parents need all the help they can get raising their children, Stahl’s book is a timely and affecting read that redefines a cherished relationship.

You are a grandparent with a passion to impact your grandkids for Christ, but sometimes you struggle to find fun and meaningful ways to disciple them and leave a lasting legacy of faith. Help is at hand in Discipling Your Grandchildren: Great Ideas to Help Them Know, Love, and Serve God, in which grandparenting expert Dr. Josh Mulvihill has compiled dozens of suggestions and strategies to help you do just that. With an assortment of actionable ideas--from pragmatic tips on how to better connect with your grandchildren to fun, age-appropriate activities--Discipling Your Grandchildren is an invaluable tool chest for grandparents who want to build a biblical foundation, lead by example, and point their grandchildren to Christ. Practical yet powerful, the information, ideas, and best practices shared by Mulvihill can be implemented and adapted in ways that work for your unique grandparenting situation, whether your grandkids are two or twenty, around the corner or across the globe.