Tag Archives: brooklyn lindsey

books, youth ministry, youth work

my brand new book: 99 THOUGHTS FOR JUNIOR HIGHERS

2 Comments

99-thoughts-for-junior-highersi wrote a thing.

actually, i co-wrote it. with my good friend brooklyn lindsey.

it’s called 99 Thoughts for Junior Highers: Biblical Truth in Bite-Sized Pieces

we both completely dig junior highers/middle schoolers/young teens. really: i’ve been working with them for 33 years, brooklyn for lots of years also (she’s clearly not as old as me). i wrote another one of these a year ago with my own two niños (99 Thoughts on Raising Your Parents), and thought it was a blast to write. so we were pretty pumped when Simply Youth Ministry said yes to our idea of adding this book to their 99 Thoughts line.

if you’re familiar with the 99 Thoughts line, you might be surprised by this: even though we wrote for young teens, the “thoughts” are longer than most of the books in this series (in fact, we turned in a manuscript that was almost exactly twice as long as requested!). there’s depth to this book, even though it cover a LOT of ground in a limited amount of space.

we broke the 99 Thoughts into 11 “chapters” (really, subject groupings):

  • Who Am I? – Understanding Yourself
  • What’s Happening to Me? – Everything About You Is Changing
  • You and God
  • The Low-Down on Church
  • How Do I Figure Out What I Believe?
  • Friends
  • Family
  • Future Matters
  • What’s Most Important? – Figuring Out Priorities
  • Your Crazy Life
  • Girls and Guys

each chapter also has a “Story from Junior High Marko” or “Junior High Brooklyn.” they’re true stories from our own young teen years, thematically connected to the chapter, and told from our perspective as if we were junior highers. a little weird, but fun.

here’s the back cover copy:

Life for a typical junior higher is awesome. And hard. And fun. And exciting. And boring. And crazy, right? Basically, it’s a blur of all those things—and more!

Junior high truly is a season of ups and downs, of possibilities and confusion, of amazing memories and embarrassing moments. To survive it all, you sometimes just need a little help—or 99 bite-sized bits of help!

Mark Oestreicher and Brooklyn Lindsey—youth pastors who’ve worked with people your age for a long, long time—have teamed up to create this insider’s guide for this wild ride.

They’ll help as you examine the changes in your life, figure out what you believe, see where God and church fit into the picture, choose how to interact with family and friends, and decide what matters most in life. And you’ll read some true stories about the authors’ own junior high years!

99 Thoughts for Junior Highers will entertain, engage, and encourage you during this crazy season of life!

we really hope that youth workers and parents will get it for their 11 – 14 year-olds. it’s a great stocking stuffer, mom & dad. it’s a fun small group christmas gift (which you could totally use in small groups come january). check it out or buy it here!

and, for a bit of oddity, here’s a li’l promo video i shot in my hotel room at o’hare airport last night when i got stuck there on my way home…

books, youth ministry, youth work

A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Sex & Dating (and the Parent’s Guide 5-Pack Set)

Leave a comment

first things first: i’ve been a really lousy blogger of late. these last few weeks have just been a blur, really. all filled with really wonderful stuff (including some days in detroit with my extended family, a sort-of partial vacation). but i haven’t been able to get “write blog post” up on the to-do list above items that were more pressing. and there’s nothing good about blogging out of obligation. plus, i always remind myself that approximately 4/5 of my blog readers don’t actually come to the blog to read stuff: most of you use a blog reader or subscribe via email. and those who DO come to the blog usually do so because they’re following a link on facebook. so, to you small handful who have typed in w-h-y-i-s-m-a-r-k-o-.-c-o-m into your browser, only to see the same ol’ posts that were previously there, i apologize. and: it’s unlikely to get much better in the next week or so!

ok, but!

parents guide, sex and datingi had a new book release last week! and i have to tell you about that!

when i was working on developing the “A Parent’s Guide” series for Simply Youth Ministry, we started with about 15 possible book topics, and narrowed it to 10. as part of the approval process with Group (as is true for all publishers), sales has to speak into the viability of a proposal; and Group’s sales peeps wisely suggested we start with 5 books in the series, rather than 10. narrowing the list to 5, i instantly knew who i wanted to work with on the co-authoring of A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Girls (that would be brooklyn lindsey), and on Teenage Guys (that would be brock morgan). the Social Media one was a complete no-brainer (duh, Adam McLane). and i knew i was just going to punch out the Teenage Brains book on my own. But A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Sex & Dating initially had me a bit stumped, both on the final title (i know this title could sound like it’s a sex guide for parents! but all other “more clear” variations were just making the title too long, or sounded creepy) and on who i might ask to co-author it with me.

joel mayward is a graduate of my Youth Ministry Coaching Program. i’d been working with him on developing the idea, and then the manuscript for his book Leading Up (a FANTASTIC book, btw). i knew joel to be a fantastic youth worker, an uncommonly deep and clear and curious thinker, and a really wonderful and skilled writer. so i asked him if he had any interest in helping me write to parents about this subject. surprised to be asked, he was stoked about it.

really, i love this book. it’s a short and easy-to-read overview of what’s most important for parents of teenagers to understand when i comes to both understanding their teenager’s sexuality and in how to talk about it. it’s theologically grounded (probably more so than any of the other books in the series), and surprisingly deep, considering the length and style.

here’s the back cover copy:

Helping your child make wise choices about sex and dating requires more than just one chat. It’s about building bridges of ongoing dialogue throughout the teenage years.

But youth workers Mark Oestreicher and Joel Mayward realize many parents don’t feel comfortable or prepared to have these kinds of conversations. That’s why they wrote A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Sex and Dating—to equip you to initiate healthy, honest discussions with your teenager. This book will also help you understand some of the relevant trends and issues in today’s youth culture.

Your role as a parent is to do more than provide your teenager with information about sex and dating. You have the opportunity and the calling to help your child live wisely and honor God in this sometimes tricky, occasionally awkward, and always vital area of life.

parents: get it. youth workers: get it for parents, or tell ’em about it.

parent-5-packand while we’re at it…

this book is the last of the five in the Parent’s Guide series! so The Youth Cartel is now selling the whole set at a $5 discount (a buck a book off!). the whole set inclues:
A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Girls (co-authored with Brooklyn Lindsey)
A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Guys (co-authored with Brock Morgan)
A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Brains (written only by little ol’ me)
A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Social Media (co-authored with Adam McLane)
A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Sex & Dating (co-authored with Joel Mayward)

you can download samples of each book by following the links. or, go here to order the whole set at a discount.

the youth cartel, youth ministry, youth work

campference rants

Leave a comment

at the middle school ministry campference last weekend, our saturday morning tribal gathering didn’t have a full-length speaker. instead, we had four 7-minute “soapbox rants,” each in response to the question, “what’s one thing you wish all middle school youth workers would start or stop.” it was quite amazing how the four of them flowed together, even though we didn’t know what each was going to say (and they hadn’t communicated with each other).

brooklyn lindsey shared a wonderfully transparent challenge to be honest about who you really are. money quote:

“Stop being someone else. It’s time to be you!”

our second rant was crowdsourced. we invited all the attendees to submit a summary of what they would rant about, then posted the submissions without names on an online survey for voting. joel daniel harris, founder of the newly launched organization TomTod (an organization attempting to come around middle schoolers with a justice/social cause dream and help them turn it into a reality) spoke to us on our need to dream. he talked about “double scope integration,” the fancy term for imagination, connecting it to our calling to exercise imagination in the overlapping spaces of our culture and the kingdom of god, which he referred to as “sacred imagination.” brilliant stuff.

adam mclane was up next. and, since adam has blogged about his rant, you can read it here. adam pushed us to think about decentralizing youth ministry in order to be more responsive to the 42.7 million teenagers in america. money quote:

We must decentralize our role, invite more adults who minister to teenagers already to the table, and multiply our effectiveness.

bringing us home was scott rubin, who — like brooklyn — pushed us with his honesty while challenging us to think about where we “put our worst foot forward.” scott (who blogged the notes from his rant here), unpacked the reality that in an age of facebook and twitter, we’re constantly thinking about how to put our best foot forward in little snippets, constantly presenting the image of ourselves that we want people to have, constantly sharing an edited 2-dimensional version of ourselves. money quote:

Not getting 100 more twitter followers by Christmas isn’t going to disqualify you from ministry.
BUT …
Not having someone who knows your secret world could bring your ministry – and life – to a grinding halt one day.

great stuff. i’d encourage you to click though on adam and scott’s stuff and read more.

books, the youth cartel, youth ministry, youth work

two new books for parents

1 Comment

well, here’s some fun news. i had a couple new books release last week while i was on vacation. a fun box of ’em was waiting for me when i got home! they’re the first two books in a series of five. each one is short and easy-to-read (but still packed with helpful info and ideas), written for parents of teenagers. they’re intentionally small and short for a couple reasons: first, i wanted to create something that any parent could/would read; and second, i wanted them to be super-inexpensive. simply youth ministry was great with that vision, and these babies are exactly what i’d hoped they could be.

there are three more books in the series somewhere in development. each will release in the next six months or so (the remaining three are on “teenage brains,” “social media,” and “sex and dating”).

i co-authored these first two, and was super pleased with the work of brock morgan and brooklyn lindsey, two youth ministry friends of mine with whom i have great history and trust, and in whom i have great respect.

both books are available in print and download versions on The Youth Cartel store (follow the links below), or on amazon or the simply site or any other place you might buy books.

A Parent's Guide to Understanding Teenage Girls

A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Girls by Marko & Brooklyn Lindsey – $6.99

Change is an inevitable part of life. So why are most of us parents shocked and surprised when our daughters change in unexpected, dramatic, significant ways once they hit the teen years? Girls go through their most dramatic developmental changes during adolescence. And they need parents to be there, just as present and involved as when our little girls were, well, still little girls!

As you read through the pages of A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Girls, veteran youth workers Brooklyn Lindsey and Mark Oestreicher will help you re-examine some assumptions and misunderstandings about this season of life. Then, from a place of trust in God, you will gain a fresh perspective on who your daughter is and who she’s becoming.

This book explores the major changes of adolescence, the influence of parents and friends, the onslaught of feelings and how to respond, and the significance of celebrating milestones in a girl’s life.

A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Girls will offer wisdom, insight, and encouragement to respond well, react wisely, and engage effectively. This book is also an ideal resource to prepare you and your daughter for the impending season of change and transformation, if you aren’t there quite yet.

Print version

Digital version

A Parent's Guide to Understanding Teenage GuysA Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Guys by Marko & Brock Morgan

“Brock and Marko have written a comprehensive, practical, and truly helpful book on the complicated struggle that our boys experience on their way to becoming the men God wants them to be. As a mother of one of these exasperating, wonderful creatures (whom I adore in spite of both of us) I highly recommend it.”—Katie Lee Gifford

God wants to do amazing things in your son’s life—and wants you to play an integral role in that adventure. Raising a son to become a God-honoring man is no easy task. It’s complex, it’s dynamic, and it requires a lifetime of investment. But authors Brock Morgan and Mark Oestreicher know it can be done—confidence that’s rooted in their individual journey of faith and in their experience as longtime youth workers.

A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Guys will help you discover insights on shepherding your son, preparing him to take the reins of his life, and helping him confront the extreme struggles every guy faces—such as loneliness, anger, lust, apathy, and technology. They can pursue a life that challenges the values of our culture and experience a life lived for God.

This book will enlighten, encourage, and equip you as a parent. And if you’re a youth worker, you’ll want to put this book into the hands of parents of the young men in your ministry as you walk alongside them.

Print version

Digital version

(did you see that? we got an endorsement from kathie lee gifford! for reals!)

books, personal, youth ministry, youth work

3 books coming out in august

1 Comment

i’m pretty pumped to announce that i have THREE books releasing in august. crazy, huh?

i’ve developed a series of little pocket guides for parents of teenagers for simply youth ministry. these are really designed to be a quick and accessible read for any parent, with the goal of increasing understanding (which, i’ve often found, puts parents in a better place to connect with their teenagers). the books are something youth workers could buy in bulk (they’ll be super inexpensive), and make available to parents.

there will be five books in all, releasing over the next 6 months or so. on four of them, i recruited a fantastic co-author.

the first two in the series are:

A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Guys: Remembering Who He Was, Celebrating Who He’s Becoming
by Mark Oestreicher and Brock Morgan

A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Girls: Remembering Who She Was, Celebrating Who She’s Becoming
by Mark Oestreicher and Brooklyn Lindsey

the other books in the series will be:
A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenage Brains, which i wrote on my own
A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Social Media, which Adam McLane co-authored with me
and, A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Sex & Dating, which Joel Mayward is co-authoring with me

and… (i’m really pumped about this one!)… i co-authored a book with my two kids, Liesl and Max! They really did write the bulk of it. the three of us went on a writing retreat, framing out the whole book and writing 2/3 of it. then, on a family vacation over spring break, we finished writing the last 1/3.

it’s a book for teenagers, also published with simply youth ministry. and it’s called:

99 Thoughts on Raising Your Parents: Living the Sweet Life at Home
by Liesl and Max Oestreicher, with Mark Oestreicher

you’ll be able to get them all on the simply store, or on The Youth Cartel store, or anywhere fine books are sold! and, of course, you can count on the fact that i’ll let you know when they actually release (very soon!).