Art of the Heart

Hey Everyone!  We are kicking off a relationship series tonight called "The Art of the Heart".  Our main focus is how to have healthy relationships, how to choose the right person to date, when to date when not to date, how to break up well, and how to start a relationship on the right foot.  We will talk about sex, pornography, and other assorted things but it wont be the "main thing".  Please join me in praying for this series and the implications it can have on our students.

Questions you can ask:  (If you dare)

What kind of guy/ girl are you interested in?
If your student doesn't shut down or run away from you make sure you listen well.  Dont react overly positive or negatively.  Dating can easily become a way of pleasing or acting out against parents.  Also your student may not answer right away, but actually think about this one and come back to you.  Be ready for it, but don't hold your breath.  Dating is to often seen as something that has to be done behind the backs of parents this is dangerous! (That my friends is really where babies come from)  


What are the attitudes about sex at school, friends, and what is their thoughts?
What do they think is expected of them in a relationship?


Tips:
Do  Ask plenty of clarification questions and rephrase things with "What I hear you saying is"  
Do  Turn your cell phone off when having this conversation or better yet purposefully ignore a phone call or text because of your conversation with them.  The will feel valued and important.  Don't tell them to turns theirs off.  It will make them defensive and the conversation won't happen.  If they get pulled away fine but dont let it be you.  They will see that you are genuinely interested in this area of their life and be more likely to open up later.

Grace and peace

Jarad