Almost anyone who gives parenting advice will tell you one of the most important gifts you can give your kids is to have a great marriage. There are probably hundreds or even thousands of books on the market about marriage. Many are helpful, some are even from a godly perspective. I know many of you will want or need to read a book to help your marriage at some point, so I’m always on the lookout for great new resources.
I was intrigued when offered the opportunity to review the new book Letters to My Daughter – The Art of Being a Wife by Barbara Rainey. Rainey has been married for decades and is the mother to six adult children. As her daughters were married, they began to ask her questions. In her ministry role, she was also asked questions about marriage by other young women.
She decided the best way to answer their questions was to come up with a book that framed her answers as if her daughters had asked all of questions and she replied in letter form. The resulting book is a beautiful volume filled with godly advice from a woman who has lived through several decades of marriage with all of its ups and downs.
In Teaching Kids to Look Beyond the Obvious, I shared some of the reasons why it is a critical Christian life skill to teach your kids to look beyond what they see with their eyes. Being able to do that well can make their lives fuller and richer and protect them from all sorts of Satan’s traps.
A few months ago experts found evidence that behind an average battle scene painted by a man named Vasari (who is actually famous for his writing, not art) is a work by Leonardo da Vinci. For centuries now, people have walked by this average mural not realizing a fabulous masterpiece had been painted over to create the current painting. Someone though saw something others missed and did the research to find the masterpiece hidden below what is obvious to the eye.
There are several parenting magazines in the marketplace. Some are actually fairly helpful. The problem is none of the secular parenting magazines really address parenting issues that are of special importantance to Christian parents. Fortunately, there is a great magazine that totally focuses on helping us.
Have you ever caught yourself saying “Because I’m the parent and I said so” to your kids? If you haven’t yet, you probably will at least once before your kids reach adulthood. There is actually value to teaching your kids to obey for the sake of obeying, especially when they are young. Having children who will immediately comply with your commands can literally save their lives.