The Session: What to Do When Your Teen Girl is Pregnant – Or, How to Parent When Your Teen Becomes a Parent

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Psalm 139:13 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.”

God made that baby and loves it. He has a plan for that child’s life.

From Focus on The Family

Process your reaction: Take time to calm down so your initial shock, anger, or disappointment does not push your teen away.

Listen actively: Let your teenager share her fears and thoughts without immediate judgment, lecturing, or harsh criticism.

Reassure love: Remind her that she is cared for and that you are there to face the situation together.

Your daughter desperately needs your love and support

Let her know that you’re ready, willing, and available to walk alongside her.

It is important to help your daughter work through the decisions that she has in front of her It will be important to help her study her options.

Find Professional Christian Counseling

They can help you set boundaries, establish expectations, and clarify the consequences of your daughter’s failure to abide by them.

How Scott & Shari handled consequences with their daughter…off praise team, no teaching.

It is important to remember that our God knew this baby and knit this baby together in its mother‘s womb.

Toms thoughts?

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

Click this link to purchase Tom’s devotional, “Seeing Yourself Through the Eyes of God: A Weekly Devotional for Improving Self-Esteem.”

The Session: The Celebration of Success

That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:13.

Why Your Brain Needs Celebration

• Dopamine release: Acknowledging milestones activates the brain’s reward system, which boosts your mood, attention, and drive.
• Momentum building: Tracking small achievements breaks down overwhelming, long-term goals into manageable steps.
• Burnout prevention: Skipping acknowledgments traps you in a chronic cycle of "what's next," which research links to exhaustion and disengagement. [1, 2, 3,

Key Scientific Findings

• Motivation and Tracking: Research by Teresa Amabile from Harvard Business School shows that daily progress tracking significantly enhances overall motivation.
• Team Success: Studies by Dr. Gert-Jan Pepping indicate that teams who convincingly celebrate wins together have a higher probability of future success.
• Relationship Bonds: According to UC Santa Barbara psychology professor Shelly Gable, how partners respond to and celebrate each other's good news strongly predicts relationship strength and intimacy.

How to Practice It

• Pause and reflect: Deliberately stop to acknowledge the effort behind a finished task, rather than instantly rushing to the next project
• Praise progress: Focus on rewarding consistent hard work and growth instead of just innate talent.

Make it a habit: Keep a simple daily or weekly log of your minor victories to combat negativity bias. [1, 2, 3]

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

Click this link to purchase Tom’s devotional, “Seeing Yourself Through the Eyes of God: A Weekly Devotional for Improving Self-Esteem.”

The Session: The Pastoral Grind

Proverbs 4:23: "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life"

Stress, loneliness and political division are the three items that rise to the surface.

56% of pastors say stress of the job is the biggest issue.

(43%) of Pastor, say “I feel lonely and isolated.

Treatment

Pastors should have a leader outside of his church

• Pastors should have a small group that they attend with their spouse outside of the church they pastor.
• Pastors should have a support group that they can be supported in. It should be a safe place where they can vent pray and be supported. If there isn’t one that you’re aware of then maybe start one and invite a number of other pastors to a luncheon to talk about.

The following statistics are likely a result of not feeding themselves before the Lord. Without safe people to talk about how they feel it is very difficult.

• Only 26% of the pastors said they had regular devotions.

This is very important. So, in their spiritual bank account, they are running on a negative balance, because they are always withdrawing from that account without depositing in to it.

• 70% of pastors suffer from depression

Without close relationships or a support group it is difficult to share and open up.

• 77% of pastors believe they are not in a good marriage. 50% of pastors end up in divorce

Pastors have to prioritize their marriages. They have to be assertive with their church to get the time and space to do it They are a role model to their people.

• 40% of pastors have had an extra marital affair.

Hurting people turn to the pastor who is hurting which is when needs get met outside of marriage.

• 70% of pastors only study the word when doing sermon prep.

They are not exercising their spiritual muscles.

• 70% of pastors do not have close friends

There has to be a personal life. (From Scott….should those friends be outside the church the Pastor serves in?)

• 35% of Pastors struggle with from sexual sin

This leads to loneliness and divorce.

As Rev. Dr. Glenn Packiam—author of The Resilient Pastor—writes in Barna’s The State of Your Church, “We need sages to advise us, leaders to direct us or hold us accountable, peers to remind us that we aren’t alone, healers to dress our wounds and companions who carry us when we can’t carry on.”

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

Click this link to purchase Tom’s devotional, “Seeing Yourself Through the Eyes of God: A Weekly Devotional for Improving Self-Esteem.”