When Kids Ask Hard Questions Volume 2

Description

From the creators of When Kids Ask Hard Questions comes MORE questions - and thank goodness, responses! - on today's tough topics. In an increasingly complex world, children deserve thoughtful responses informed by our progressive faith values. In this second volume for parents, teachers, and faith leaders, respected experts, pastors, and parents address more than two dozen tough topics, offering theological perspectives and suggestions for comforting and spiritually guiding children. Topics include: racism and white supremacy; vaping and illegal drugs; domestic abuse and family stigma; pornography and sexuality; mental illness and teen suicide; social media and isolation; and terminal illness and grief.

Informations

• Publié par: Chalice Press
• Date de parution: 09 novembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780827243385
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

becoming more complex. So naturally, kids will ask questions about whatʼs going on, whoʼs right, who they are, and how they should feel and respond.

Volume 2

Faith-filled Responses for Tough Topics MORE Edited by Bromleigh McCleneghan & Karen Ware Jackson

Endorsements for When Kids Ask Hard Questions, Volume 2

This treasure trove of 30 thoughtfully crafted essays offers solid, practical advice and resources to all who nurture children in this turbulent world. Addressing tough topics as abuse, white supremacy and more, this title is an absolute must for every progressive parent, teacher, and children’s ministry leader. — Glenys Nellist, author of theLove Letters from GodandLittle Mole series

Wise, nuanced, compassionate, and practical.When Kids Ask Hard Questions models honesty and humility—a willingness to admit what we don’t know, then do the work of listening and learning. Above all, this collection reassures us that hard questions are not something to be feared or avoided, but can be doorways into deeper conversation and connection. — Laura Alary, author ofRead, Wonder, Listen: Stories for the Bible for Young Readers

“Relevant, spiritual, and profound responses for everyone who cares for the holistic development of kids in a beautiful follow up volume. We may not be able to answer kids’ hard questions, but they deserve thoughtful and honest responses to their real concerns. This book will help us do that.” — Cindy Wang Brandt, author ofParenting Forward: How to Raise Children with Justice, Mercy, and Kindnessand children’s book,You Are Revolutionary.

“Adults often fear conversations that might involve the dreaded words, ‘I don’t know.’When Kids Ask Hard Questions Vol. 2equips adults with some perspective for complicated conversation, but more importantly invites them to be authentic.” — Rev. Lee Yates, Project Manager for InsideOut Outdoor Ministries Resources

We have a choice about how we raise our children with eyes and ears attuned to self, others and our world. Because “things are just different now” read this second collection of articles to help you support a child’s questions, as difficult, challenging and amazing as they may be. — Rev. Dr. Elizabeth F. Caldwell, author ofI Wonder, Engaging a Child’s Curiosity About the Bible

“As my children get bigger, so do their questions (and my anxiety!). This book empowers me to lean in and learn alongside my children in the areas which are hardest to face and most important to our identities and callings. These are conversations I don’t want to miss. With this book, I feel a renewed courage and assurance to embrace them for the privilege they are.” — Rev. Arianne Braithwaite Lehn, author ofAsh and Starlight: Prayers for the Chaos and Grace of Daily Life

Saint Louis, Missouri

Copyright ©2021 by the authors of each chapter, as noted on contents page and on the first page of each chapter.

All rights reserved. For permission to reuse content, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], www.copyright.com.

ChalicePress.com

Print ISBN: 9780827243361 EPUB: 9780827243378 EPDF: 9780827243385

Printed in the United States of America.

Contents Introduction: Molly, My Kids, and Me Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan Questions as Conversation Starters: Finding Your Way with Unanswerable Questions Rev. Dr. Kathleen L. Kussmaul “But Doesn’t the Bible Say…?” Equipping Children to Discern Biblical Truth Rev. Sarah McWhirt-Toler

The Skin Iʼm In Both/And: Walking Alongside Biracial Kids Mikhail Stephens The Way God Made Me: A Little Different, a Lot Loved Rev. Julie A. Higbee How Did I Actually Get Out of Your Body? Honest Body Talk at Every Age Rev. Rebecca J. Gresham-Kesner “Are You a Boy, or a Girl?” The Holy In-Between Rev. Drew Stever “Am I Smart?” Nurturing Unique Learners in a Standards-Driven Educational Culture Rev. Sara C. Staton Nothing “Down” About It: Down Syndrome and Difference Rev. Kit Lonergan

Big Feelings “What’s the Point?” Existential Angst with the Elementary-School Set Rev. Katherine Willis Pershey “Why Am I Nervous All the Time?” Journeying with Childhood Anxiety Rev. Michelle L. Torigian

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Considering Courage: Teaching Your Kids to Do Hard Things Carissa Kapcar “Why Are You So Hypocritical?” Dr. Nancy S. Wiens “Where Is My Home?” An Immigrant’s Experience of Moving and Belonging Rev. Mindy Bell Kids Are Ready: Intimacy and Bodies Rev. Ellie Roscher

Family Matters Respecting One Another’s Boundaries: Teaching Kids about Consent Rev. Laura Terasaki New Neighbors, Again: Staying Grounded During a Move Rev. Allie Scott Only Doesn’t Have to Mean Lonely: On Family of Choice and on Being Okay Being Alone Rev. Sandhya Rani Jha “Are We Brothers?” The Joys and Challenges of Multi-Racial Families Rev. Bonnie J. McCubbin On Family Democracy, Sort Of: Including Kids in Decision-Making Rev. Andrea Roske-Metcalfe

Everyday Choices A Future with Hope: Discernment and Decision-Making Rev. Lee Hull Moses “Why Do I Have to Practice?” Rev. Julie Hoplamazian “Why Do I Have to Go to School?” Education, Equity, and the Importance of Public Education Rev. Suzanne Parker Miller

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Supporting Children in Times of Social Change Rev. Rhonda Grant Jordan When You Care about the Environment but Also Love to Shop Sari Fordham When a Child Is in the Hospital Mary Kate C. Morgan and Rev. Dr. Katherine L. Kussmaul

What Is and What Might Be “Why Is Our Peace Broken?” Rev. Dr. Kelsey Grissom “Who Is My Enemy?” Interrupting Fear of the Other with Explicit Calls to Love Rev. Shannon E. Sullivan When the World Is Fighting: Talking about War (and Peace) at Home Rev. Sara Nave Fisher What a Wonder-full World: Developing Ecosystem Ethics in a Time of Climate Change Rev. Anita Peebles Why Do Bad Things Happen to Innocent People? Theodicy and the Problem of Child Sexual Abuse Rev. Victoria Wick Conclusion: Telling True Stories Rev. Karen Ware Jackson

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Introduction

Molly, My Kids, and Me

R EV . B ROMLEIGH M C C LENEGHAN

When the first American Girl Doll catalogue arrived in our home, back in the day when it was a mail-order–only business owned by former history teacher Pleasant Rowland, I devoured it. Not literally, of course, but with my blue pen: circling all the things I wanted. All those perfect accessories, the carefully detailed clothes. And the furniture! Kirsten Larsen’s 1854 bed and Molly McIntyre’s 1944 school desk. Despite my lust for the entire collection, I was delighted when I received Kirsten as a gift and found all the books, for allthreedolls, at my school library. My seven-year-old mind understood that I didn’t need to own those, since I tore through them so quickly. Certain details from the stories stick out in my mind—in particular, Kirsten’s friend dying of cholera and the traditions of Saint Lucia Day. But it was Molly’s story that kept burbling up from my subconscious in the first months of the pandemic. As I futilely hunted for toilet paper, I thought of the ration coupons from the World War 2 era. As so many folks took up gardening and bread making in the first weeks under “stay at home” orders, I thought of the McIntyre family’s “victory garden.” I wondered if Americans would be able to handle a similar sustained, collective effort to make sacrifices for the common good. The original Molly doll came with an actual 1943 steel penny; pennies were produced out of steel due to a wartime copper shortage. A sign of the times. My friend (actually, Lee Hull Moses, who has a chapter in this volume on discernment) told her thirteen-year-old daughter the other day to hang on to her vaccine card. A part of daily life, worth next to nothing—a piece of cardstock, a single cent—that would become a part of history. I grew up as a white kid in suburban Chicago in the ’80s and ’90s, thinking—almost subconsciously—that we were livingafterall the big historical, world-shifting events. There had already been two world wars, and the prevailing notion was that a third would end us all. The civil

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