The Session: The Session: Helping Children Adjust to the Stress of a New Teacher or School.

Joshua 1:9 (NIV) "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God."

Take Time to Talk to Them

As you help them prepare for a season of change, take time to talk with them about how messy change can be. This most certainly includes grieving the loss of past relationships. Often called peer priority, children struggle because their peers are a priority and they are losing them.

Be Prepared

Plan ahead some fun things they can invite others to do or talk about in order to make friends. But as they arrive at school, they may find that everyone else already seems to know each other. They might find they feel shy in the moment. Or maybe, they try to be friendly but the kids around them are shy.

Tom’s Important Suggestions:

• Take your child to school and have them tour it if that’s possible. Or tour it as soon as it is possible.
• Find out if there are summer activities or extracurricular, activities like soccer, swimming, a local church, where your child can make friends before they enter the classroom
• Pray with your child and help your children feel comforted about the change

Scott’s thought:

· Celebrate every success in the transition!

Monitor Your Child’s Feeling Level

Major changes like a new school can leave our children, fearful, disappointed, sad, and concerned.

Coping with the new school can also cause them to be wiped out physically.

Normalize for Them This Experience

Point them to Christ. As you do so will require more patience than usual. Being willing to hear them and extend grace will reassure them you’re present, God is present, and they are loved even if they’re struggling to feel it.

Normalizing it also includes telling your children when you may have struggled with a new situation when you were a child

A devotional podcast for parents on the go! Encouragement, Scripture, & prayer in just 7 minutes. Join the journey!

To reach Tom Russell, please call 419-709-8447, email Tom at tom.hccm@gmail.com, or visit his website at https://www.heritagechristiancounselingofmansfield.com

The Session: 8 Simple Steps to a Lifelong Marriage

Genesis 2:24 “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

Housekeeping: How to become a Friend of the Session, book release update

· Build and maintain a solid foundation in Christ

A recent Harvard study shows that attending worship weekly reduces the likelihood of divorce by 57%

· Spend Regular Time in Prayer

Research by David Stoops found couples who pray together have less than 1 percent chance of divorce.

· Speak Highly of Each Other

Make a regular habit of saying positive things about each other. Also avoid negative comments about each other.

· Enjoy Regular Time Together

Spending time together causes a natural byproduct of closeness

· Forge an Unrelenting Commitment to Each Other

From day one, realize that divorce is not an option. A Christian marriage is a covenant between a husband, a wife, and God.

· Keep strong boundaries

Keeping marriage intact often means needing to protect it from outside influences. This means both spouses avoid situations where integrity could be compromised.

· Humbly Serve Each Other

Employ the “others first mentality!”

· Own your struggles and get help

Go before the Lord asking Him for help. Help to be what He has called you to.

A devotional podcast for parents on the go! Encouragement, Scripture, & prayer in just 7 minutes. Join the journey!

To reach Tom Russell, please call 419-709-8447, email Tom at tom.hccm@gmail.com, or visit his website at https://www.heritagechristiancounselingofmansfield.com

The Session: 5 Important Fundamentals of Strong Marriages, from The Gottman Institute

Genesis 2:24, "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh."

Research shows that the primary keys to staying married are not about avoiding conflict, but about building positive emotional habits, managing conflict constructively, and actively choosing the relationship.

The top five actionable things that significantly increase your probability of staying married include:

• Maintaining the "Magic Ratio": Couples who experience a ratio of at least five positive interactions for every one negative interaction during normal daily life are highly likely to have lasting marriages. This means building an emotional bank account through small compliments, expressions of appreciation, and inside jokes.
• Turning Toward Bids for Connection: In relationships, a partner makes "bids" when they reach out for attention, connection, or a response (e.g., pointing out a bird or sharing an interesting thought). According to The Gottman Institute, couples who stay together respond positively and lean into these bids 86% of the time, compared to 33% for couples who divorce.
• Avoiding the "Four Horsemen": Research shows you can predict divorce with scary accuracy if you allow four toxic communication patterns to take root: Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, and Stonewalling. Contempt—such as eye-rolling or mocking—is widely recognized as the single biggest predictor of relationship failure.
• Prioritizing Shared Time and Experiences: Research indicates that couples who engage in regular, dedicated date nights and invest in shared social and religious activities report significantly higher marital quality. Shared couple time reinforces your identity as a team rather than just two individuals co-existing.
• Accepting Influence and Tolerating Imperfection: Lasting relationships are built on compromise and accepting that most marital problems (about 69%) are perpetual issues rooted in personality differences. In heterosexual relationships specifically, research highlights that men who allow their wives to influence them and actively work to compromise have notably happier marriages.

A devotional podcast for parents on the go! Encouragement, Scripture, & prayer in just 7 minutes. Join the journey!

To reach Tom Russell, please call 419-709-8447, email Tom at tom.hccm@gmail.com, or visit his website at https://www.heritagechristiancounselingofmansfield.com