Mile Markers

Book excerpt: "The journey of adolescence can be a long, winding road, filled with detours, wrong turns, great scenery, and amazing destinations. But for many teens, the journey can be overwhelming, intimidating, confusing, and can leave them feeling like they’re on the road alone. For youth workers and parents who want to help students along this journey, Mile Markers provides practical, easy-to-execute ideas that help create places to stop and reflect along the way. The included CD-ROM has 30+ practical activities perfect for sharing with parents and volunteers. Students will discover things about themselves and God that may be hard to recognize if they don’t slow down and savor some of the moments of their teenage years. After more than a decade in youth ministry, Denise McKinney discovered the key to her role and purpose in the lives of her students: creating mile markers—or guideposts—to help teens see where they’ve come from and where they’re going. “Mile Markers is the practice of leading students towards personal, tangible, and memorable moments that help shape the person they are becoming.” As a parent or youth worker, you have the privilege of walking alongside teens as they are on the road to discovering who they are and where they’re headed. You can encourage and affirm them as they begin to understand the answers to their questions of identity, purpose, and community, and you’ll guide them on their way to maturity."