I interviewed Britt Nicole yesterday for an article on divorce that I’m writing. Her parents divorced when she was 7, and she was very open about her struggles with the changes in her family and learning to forgive her parents. She relayed her confusion about just not understanding what was happening. Thankfully, she turned to Jesus during that rough time. She recounted to me how she’d run to her room, grab her big, white Precious Moments Bible (how many of us had one of those?!), read it, and cry. She said she could sense God’s presence with her then.
Unfortunately, I don’t think most of our students take the same approach. They’re dealing with the confusion of divorce, but spending time in the Word is not how most of them cope. I travel the country several times a year with a team conducting focus groups with students. And when we ask how many of them have watched their parents or a friend’s parents go through a divorce, every hand goes up. When we ask them to tell us about the issues they’re facing in their families, they write that a large part of those issues stem from divorce. It’s heartbreaking.
In the town I come from, divorce isn’t common. A divorce rocked the community. And thankfully, of my 12 closest friends today, all of our parents have solid marriages. So needless to say, I’ve been a little taken aback at how frequently our students are having to deal with this tough issue. What about you? How does divorce affect you and your students? Take our poll below and let us know.
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