Introduction: Life Lessons Single Parents Can Learn from the Bible
1. See www.dc4k.org.
2. See https://blog.dc4k.org.
3. Single Parents: Is Your Church Meeting Their Unique Needs? (Wake Forest, NC: Church Initiative, Inc., 2017). See https://www.careleader.org/ebooks-single-parents/.
4. Attract Families to Your Church and Keep Them Coming Back (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2014).
Chapter 1: Loneliness: One of the Hardest Parts of Being a Single Parent
1. David and Teresa Ferguson and Bruce and Joyce Walker, Discovering Intimacy: Relating to God and Others as Single Adults (Austin, Texas: Intimacy Press, 2000), 5.
2. Carmen Hoffman, Single Parent Magazine, August 1998.
3. Single & Parenting is a thirteen-week Christ-centered and video-based program for single parents. See http://www.singleandparenting.org.
4. Hoffman, Single Parent Magazine.
Chapter 2: Developing a Healthy Single-Parent Family
1. Mike Klumpp, The Single Dad’s Survival Guide: How to Succeed as a One-Man Parenting Team (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Press, 2003), 56.
2. Certain details of this story have been changed to protect the identities of those involved.
3. DivorceCare is a thirteen-week faith-based program for those who have gone through or who are experiencing a divorce. It is hosted by local churches. See www.divorcecare.org.
4. GriefShare is a thirteen-week faith-based program to help people grieving the death of a loved one. See www.griefshare.org.
5. Robert Beeson, Going Solo: Hope and Healing for the Single Mom or Dad (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2018), 93–94.
6. Tim Elmore, “The Research on What Creates Satisfied and Successful Kids,” Growing Leaders, March 7, 2018, https://growingleaders.com/blog/research-creates-satisfied-successful-kids/.
7. See https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/.
8. List adapted from Linda Ranson Jacobs, “Ten Tips to Create an Every-Other-Weekend Home for the Child of Divorce,” Kids & Divorce (blog), July 13, 2018, https://blog.dc4k.org/archives/6610.
Chapter 3: Behavior and Discipline Issues
1. Charles Allen, God’s Psychiatry: Healing for Your Troubled Heart (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2015), 35.
2. Merriam-Webster Unabridged, s.v. “discipline,” http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/discipline.
3. Jane Nelsen, Cheryl Erwin, and Carol Delzer, Positive Discipline for Single Parents: A Practical Guide to Raising Children Who Are Responsible, Respectful, and Resourceful (Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1994), 6.
4. Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, Boundaries with Kids (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998), 16–17.
Chapter 4: Supporting Your Children When You Have Them Part Time
1. The name and some of the details have been altered at the request of the person who shared this story.
2. DivorceCare is a thirteen-week support group for people experiencing a separation or divorce. See www.divorcecare.org.
3. Most of the material in this “Parental Conflict” section was originally published in a blog post by Linda Ranson Jacobs, “The Big Overwhelming Variable That Causes Kids of Divorce Anxiety,” Kids & Divorce (blog), April 19, 2018, https://blog.dc4k.org/archives/6322.
4. “Statistics,” the Fatherless Generation, accessed February 10, 2018, https://thefatherlessgeneration.wordpress.com/statistics/.
5. Kathy Rodriguez, Healing the Father Wound (Enumclaw, WA: Pleasant Word, 2008), x–xi.
Chapter 5: Learning to Accept Other People into Your Child’s Life
1. We are not talking about things that would hurt a child such as abuse, neglect, or sexual molestation. If you suspect any of these things, you need to call child protective services in your state.
2. Joshua A. Krisch, “The Science of Dad and the ‘Father Effect,’” Fatherly, December 27, 2018, https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/science-benefits-of-fatherhood-dads-father-effect/.
3. Gail Gross, “The Important Role of Dad,” Life (blog), HuffPost, June 12, 2014, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-important-role-of-dad_b_5489093.
Chapter 6: Living Faith in Desperate Times
1. Some of the material in this “Stressful Lives” section was previously published in a blog post by Linda Ranson Jacobs, “Stress and the Brain in Children of Divorce,” DivorceMinistry4Kids (blog), February 10, 2012, http://divorceministry4kids.com/2012/stress-and-the-brain-in-children-of-divorce/.
2. Some of the material in this “What Living under Constant Stress Does to Us” section was previously published in a blog post by Linda Ranson Jacobs, “Stress-busting Tips for Kids in Divorce,” Kids & Divorce (blog), May 15, 2017, https://blog.dc4k.org/archives/2426.
3. Charles Stone, “How Going to Church Benefits Brain and Body,” CharlesStone.com, September 10, 2015, http://charlesstone.com/how-going-to-church-benefits-brain-and-body/.
4. Stone, “Church Benefits Brain and Body.”
Chapter 7: Reaching Out and Being Vulnerable
1. Details have been changed in order to protect this family.
2. From the reference notes for 1 Kings 20:35 in the NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Corporation, 1985.
3. Sandra Aldrich, From One Single Mother to Another (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1991), 133.
4. Russell Moore, “Parenting and Work: Helping Our Children Gain a Sense of Belonging,” The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, May 23, 2018, http://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/parenting-and-work-helping-our-children-gain-a-sense-of-belonging.
5. For more ideas on kids helping around the home, see the article “Single Parent: Free Help with Household Chores!” by Linda Ranson Jacobs at https://blog.dc4k.org/archives/3936.
6. Aldrich, From One Single Mother to Another, 133.
Chapter 8: Glorifying God in Single-Parent Life
1. See https://www.facebook.com/TheWidowsPeek/.
Chapter 9: How to Cope with Irritations
1. From the text note for Exodus 10:19 in the NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Corporation, 1985.
Chapter 10: Learning to Depend on God’s Timing
1. D. G. Sciortino, “There’s Scientific Evidence That Clutter Causes Anxiety,” Hampton Bay Medical News, February 14, 2018, http://hamptonbaymedicalnews.com/2018/02/14/theres-scientific-evidence-that-clutter-causes-anxiety/.
2. Sherrie Bourg Carter, PsyD, “Why Mess Causes Stress: 8 Reasons, 8 Remedies,” Psychology Today, March 14, 2012, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/high-octane-women/201203/why-mess-causes-stress-8-reasons-8-remedies.
3. Erin Doland, “Scientists Find Physical Clutter Negatively Affects Your Ability to Focus, Process Information,” unclutterer, March 29, 2011, https://unclutterer.com/2011/03/29/scientists-find-physical-clutter-negatively-affects-your-ability-to-focus-process-information/.
4. See https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1050&context=socwork_fac.
Chapter 11: Modeling Biblical Principles for Children
1. Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers (New York: Hyperion, 2003), 187.
2. Biblical Parenting Thought Exchange email, August 9, 2013. You can sign up for these emails at http://www.biblicalparenting.org/parentingtips.asp.
3. Neill Morris, “Has Your Porn Addiction Made You Absent?” CovenantEyes, December 14, 2016, http://www.covenanteyes.com/2016/12/14/has-your-addiction-made-you-absent/.
4. Morris, “Has Your Porn Addiction Made You Absent?”
Chapter 12: Serving Our Lord
1. Jennifer Maggio, Overwhelmed: The Life of a Single Mom (Baton Rouge, LA: TLSM Publishing, 2017). See also https://thelifeofasinglemom.com/.
2. www.divorecare.org
3. www.dc4k.org