Hi friends, 

On Nov. 6, 2012, at the NAD Year-End Meetings in Silver Spring, Md., Dr. Ivan Williams and I, and four other NAD directors (following the lead of the G.C. Ministerial Department), introduced  a new  PKs Ministry initiative. At the conclusion of our short presentation, Dr. Williams asked the leaders of our Division to use their voting clickers to indicate if they had a child who had distanced themselves from God and our Church. The immediate reply shot back on the front screen: 60 percent said "yes." We paused for earnest prayer.

Fast forward to Jan. 7, 2013, at the Southern Union Ministerium in Daytona Beach, Fla. I stood on a stage holding one side of a huge, red, cloth cross, which draped down the middle aisle of a meeting room, shared by approximately 500 ministerial spouses, and watched as my sisters wrote their dearest heart's desire on  sticky notes. As they surged forward and laid them on the cross, their reverent, purposeful expressions and falling tears spoke profoundly of their yearnings for their most precious loved ones. 

Would you agree, friends, that raising children in the parsonage is one of the greatest blessings and challenges, both at the same time, that we can experience? And likewise, for our children! Thus, in this issue, we've chosen to focus on nurturing our children. We hope you'll enjoy this theme picked up by our contributors.

Friends, today may you know and joyfully embrace God's deepest, heart-desire for you and your children, and may you breathe into their lives His positive prophecies for them.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" --Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

In each issue, Fresh Strength will highlight a different topic relevant to ministerial spouses. The theme for the next issue is "Family Finances."

In Christian love,   

Donna 

Question: I am a pastor's wife. Our 16-year-old daughter has started to push her curfew later and later. Last Saturday night, she came home at midnight. My husband, who has a very close relationship with her, thinks we should trust her because she is in the company of Christian friends. I don't agree with my husband, and my daughter knows we don't agree, so she plays us against each other; she never listens to me. My husband and I have not had the best relationship because he has always kept too busy to develop a close relationship with me. We also have two sons, but my daughter is his favorite. She usually gets anything she wants from him. What do you recommend I do? --A Frustrated Parent

Response: It sounds like your marriage might be one where a third person has become "triangulated" into the relationship, meaning your husband's attention and energy have been diverted toward your daughter, and she may even enjoy some "parental privileges" that allow her to make some decisions on her own. This dynamic will leave you aside and stripped of your rightful parental authority, which is required to make sound parental decisions along with your husband. Read more.

Click here to submit questions to the counselors, Carolann and César De León.

Check out Trina Young-Bowden, a dynamic pastor's daughter, educator, wife and mother from Florida, who has begun a new ministry for PKs in the Southeastern Conference with a team of other PK young professionals! They're on the move!  Click here.   

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We welcome your proven parenting tips, family worship ideas, financial tips (low budget anything!), family management ideas and de-cluttering strategies. Submit your ideas here.