After decades of working with all sorts of children and teens, I have seen a few who are what I would consider truly troubled. Even though I have some limited training in how to minister to their parents, I am not a counselor nor have I raised a child who was troubled. I am always searching for resources though, that may help parents through a valley that must seem impossibly deep and wide.
Recently, I was offered the opportunity to review You Are Not Alone: Hope for Hurting Parents of Troubled Kids by Dena Yohe. Yohe has written a guidebook of sorts for parents who are traveling down the road she has followed. Her daughter struggled with cutting, substance abuse, depression and more. Yohe doesn’t appear to attempt to sugar coat what her family experienced as they tried to help their daughter find a healthier path for herself.
Even though I haven’t personally traveled this road, much of the advice she gives is fairly standard for those in families trying to deal with the addictions of loved ones. I think the advantage in this book is that it’s from a Christian perspective and both she and her daughter share their personal feelings, thoughts and struggles as they worked through everything.
While I am the first to be unhappy if a man thinks I am somehow inferior merely because I am a woman, I think we have lost a lot of important things in our quest to be politically correct. Perhaps one of the most important is recognizing the legitimate differences between men and women and the way God created them. One is not better or worse than the other, just different. In fact, as you know our strengths are also the gateway to our weaknesses.
If you ever doubted it, an hour of flipping around various television networks will remind you that you are battling for your children. Satan has the world firmly in his grasp and they are fighting a fierce battle to lure your kids away from God.
When I was a teen, it was difficult to feel beautiful. Just when my type of hair or features would come into style, another feature of my appearance would go out of style. It never seemed like everything about me ever fit the mold of pretty or beautiful.
Run, do not walk to the bookstore and get your teens a copy of this book.