By: Dr. Karyn Purvis
We are continuing our work on the study guide entitled Empowered to Connect: A Christian Guide to The Connected Child Cheap viagra online cheap, . We hope to have the study guide complete and available later this fall, but in the meantime we wanted to provide you with a "sneak peak" by sharing the introduction to the study guide below:
Introduction
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
Isaiah 58:9
The longing of the human heart is to connect and belong. We long to connect with our creator, in whose image we have been made, and by God’s grace such a connection is possible. As relational beings we also have a deep need and desire to connect with those around us. One of the most important and meaningful connections is undoubtedly that between a parent and a child.
Our purpose for writing this study guide is to illuminate the Biblical background and underpinning that supports the guiding principles set out in The Connected Child. In that sense, I am often asked if The Connected Child is a “Christian book?” If that question is meant to determine whether the book was published by a Christian publisher and written exclusively for a Christian audience, including in its pages frequent references to Scripture, my answer is that the book does not necessarily fit that standard definition of a “Christian book.” If, however, that question is meant to determine whether or not the principles of The Connected Child are consistent with Scripture and if the very motivation for my work begins with and grows out of my own personal faith and my steadfast belief that the grace of God can redeem not only our broken spiritual condition, but also our physical and relational brokenness . . . well, my answer is an emphatic “YES!”
This study guide has been designed to be used as a companion to The Connected Child, a book co-authored with my colleagues Dr. David Cross and Wendy Lyons Sunshine. While you will gain most from these pages if you’ve spent meaningful time reading and reflecting on The Connected Child, this study guide has been designed to be valuable as a stand alone resource. Complete with new stories and illustrations, an in-depth look at key Biblical passages and questions to consider and discuss, each chapter of this study guide contains insights and information that will help you better understand and apply what we introduced in The Connected Child. I believe that as you work through these pages – whether by yourself, with a spouse or as part of a small group – you will better understand the philosophy and approach for the holistic model of parenting that we advocate, which has helped bring hope and healing to countless children and parents. And as you do so, I believe you will develop a closer connection not only with your children, but also with your Heavenly Father.
Children from the Hard Places
The Connected Child and this study guide were written to help you better understand the challenges and needs of “children from the hard places.” But not only that, these resources, together with the many other resources on the Empowered to Connect website (www.empoweredtoconnect.org), are aimed at providing the necessary insights and tools to help children heal and become whole. Maybe you have already adopted or are currently a foster parent; maybe you are considering adoption or foster care, or in the waiting process; maybe you are a social worker, orphan care provider or caregiver; or maybe you simply want to understand better how to connect with at-risk children. Regardless, we believe these resources can help prepare and equip you to better connect with the children that God gives you the privilege to loveand serve, cheap viagra online cheap.
Our research and that of others has revealed that there are six primary risk factors that are predictors of children from hard places. These risk factors are: inadequate prenatal care or abnormal prenatal conditions; difficult or traumatic labor or birth; medical trauma early in life; abuse; neglect; and trauma. Based on this list, it is clear that this term accurately describes many more children than merely those who were institutionalized or adopted later in life. Further, it is well established that children impacted by adoption or foster care have suffered some sort of loss and as a result are more likely to struggle with a variety of questions and issues relating to that loss. With so much seemingly working against these children and those who love them, it may be tempting to feel defeated and believe there is little hope.
Do not despair – there is hope! As we wrote in opening chapter of The Connected Child, “if you’re ready to help your adopted child not just behave but blossom and to empower the healing connections that will bring greater joy to your family,” this study guide (and this journey) is for you. In the pages that follow we do not offer a magic formula or a quick fix. Instead we offer hope borne of experience and tools that are supported by research and have been proven to be effective. This research and experience makes clear that children can make tremendous strides in overcoming these challenges – and you are God’s plan to make this happen. With that in mind, buy levitra online cheap, our goal is nothing less than to empower you to become a healer for your children, and in so doing rediscover the joy in parenting and caring for them while at the same time allowing them to fulfill all that God has called them to be and to do.
As you continue along on this journey I firmly believe that you should not travel it alone. In part this conviction is what brought me together with Michael and Amy Monroe who lead Tapestry, the adoption and foster care ministry at Irving Bible Church in Irving, Texas. For years Michael and Amy, themselves adoptive parents of four children, have been walking alongside literally hundreds of families in order to help them find the information, support and, most important of all, personal connections they need to successfully navigate the adoption and foster care journey. Together, our vision is to see churches everywhere better informed and more fully equipped to empower parents to connect with their children and to grow spiritually as well. This is why we have developed this study guide together and, more broadly, why we have created the Empowered to Connect initiative (complete with a website, a blog and an online resource library). Our heart is that these resources will be useful tools for churches and parents alike.
Returning to Old Wisdom
In many ways our book and this study guide represent a kind of homecoming for me and my work. The Connected Child Cheap viagra online cheap, was born out of years of seeking to understand and apply God’s practical mercies in the lives of adopted, foster and at-risk children. Our desire is that in this small volume you will discover a deeper sense of the mercy and grace that is found only in the presence of our loving God, and that in His presence you will find hope and strength for the journey.
The wisdom of Solomon’s words certainly applies to this book and our work – “there is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). We take no credit for creating the interventions we teach. Rather, in many ways we have simply harnessed the practical wisdom of parents from generations past and combined it with a wealth of research findings from the last 50 years. In that sense, Pharmacy tramadol, I believe we have proven the old adage to be true – good research documents scientifically the truths that your grandmother knew instinctively.
The Connected Child is essentially a synthesis of this wisdom that is rooted in Scripture, practiced by generations of parents and applied in helping children make healthy and healing connections. My work for the past decade, together with my colleague Dr, cheap viagra online cheap. David Cross, has been in developing interventions for at-risk children, and in that process we have synthesized a holistic approach to parenting wounded and hurting children that we refer to as the Trust Based Relational Intervention™ (TBRI) model. I believe that this parenting style reflects God’s love for us as His children. His love for us is made tangible in practical ways and we believe that our parenting must also be tangible in practical ways.
The Balancing Act
As you engage with the insights and information in these pages we ask that you do so with an open mind and a receptive heart. A temptation for some Christian parents is to use lectures, sermons and even Scripture itself to admonish, teach and correct their children, thinking this is God’s way of instruction. Always quick to correct, they administer harsh and swift punishments based on rules and laws, but neither they nor their children find joy in their shared relationship. Cheap viagra online cheap, Yet others err on the side of “cheap grace.” Compelled by their children’s early histories, they don’t want to ask too much and tragically their permissive relationship fails to create trust in their children.
However, we must always remember that our children need a balance of equal parts nurture and structure. Likewise, we would do well to look to how Jesus taught and interacted with people as our guide and model for connecting with our children. Always mindful of the whole needs of the people with whom he interacted, as Jesus taught a hungry crowd he was moved with compassion to heal the sick and to also feed them. As Jesus taught his disciples, Scripture is replete with examples of how he relied upon stories of nature and parables about human behavior to relate to their hearts and minds. And when he stood with Mary and Martha at their brother’s tomb, propecia cheap, he wept with them, even as he surely knew that he was about to raise their brother from the dead. On occasion he quoted Scripture, but more often Jesus used stories about life and the surrounding creation to teach his followers in tangible ways that they could understand and apply.
It is our greatest hope that this study guide will serve to empower you with practical tools and insights that allow you to mirror the love of our heavenly Father as you discover new ways to make stronger and more meaningful connections with your children.
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