Category: Book Reviews

When your children are babies, let’s face it. You are so tired you can’t think about the future. As they grow older and more mature, many parents shift back and forth between degrees of “I can’t wait until they are grown” and “Please make time stand still. They are growing up too quickly.” Your thoughts of parenting adult children are few and far between (and the few you have are probably very unrealistic!).

I have known many miserable young adults whose parents are insisting they major in certain fields, live or work in certain cities and even attempt to micromanage everything from their relationships to the clothes they wear. It’s nothing new (although it may be more common today), but attempting to control your adult child’s life rarely accomplishes what those parents hope it will. Instead, it usually drives a huge wedge into the relationship, creating a distance neither really prefers.

Continue reading Resource for Christian Parents of Adult Children

If you have payed even the slightest attention to the news for the last year, you know there are a lot of hurting people in the world today. Many are acting out in anger. Others in despair. God calls us to love others by serving them and sharing our faith, but what do we teach our kids about how to do that in practical ways?

If we don’t give our kids specific tools for how to find ways to touch the lives of others in positive ways, they will easily become overwhelmed and quite possibly miss opportunities God gives them. That’s why I love the new book I was offered to review, Listen, Love, Repeat:Other-Centered Living In a Self-Centered World by Karen Ehman.

Ehman does a great job at the beginning of the book by gently helping the reader examine the scriptures and popular perceptions of Christians. Her conclusion is many who call themselves Christians have forgotten all of the “one another” verses in the Bible and regularly treat people in ways that would not please God at all.

Continue reading Resource For Teaching Kids (And Ourselves) How to Make a Positive Difference

When our daughter was in kindergarten, she experienced her first “mean girl” incident. Granted, this particular child was mean to everyone, but the handwriting was on the wall. A mom of older girls overheard some of the moms talking about what to do and suggested we read the book, Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman.

I loved the book and found the advice helpful over the years. There is a newer addition out now that addresses some of the things that have changed a bit since the original book was published in 2002. In my opinion, if you have a daughter you absolutely must read this book.

One of my favorite things about the book is that the author not only breaks down all of the possible roles a girl can take socially, but gives you clues to help you realize which role your daughter is filling. This book isn’t written just for the victims of mean girl behavior, but shows how everyone plays a role – some of which can hurt themselves and others.

Continue reading Must Read for Moms of Daughters

The Jesus of the 21st century is often a flat depiction of who Jesus actually was. The layers of his complexity are often lost in our age of political correctness, tolerance and laziness. To admit everything about Jesus means many would have to change the way they are currently living their lives and let’s face it – most of us are fairly content with the status quo.

I was interested when offered a chance to review the new book The Bad Habits of Jesus by Leonard Sweet. The premise is an interesting one. According to today’s society, Jesus did some things during his life on earth that would be considered a bad habit or in poor taste. Yet, as the Son of God, he knew exactly how God wanted him to live his life. The author wants us to learn from these “bad habits” and copy them in our own lives.

The actual execution of the idea is a bit rough around the edges. At times, although the information in the book is good, it felt a bit forced. This may have happened because the title sounded great, but then everything he wanted to share didn’t exactly fit the mold the title set.

The “bad habits” range from “Jesus Spit” to “Jesus Was Constantly Disappearing” to “Jesus Spent Too Much Time With Children” – fifteen bad habits in all. For each “bad” habit, Sweet gives examples from the life of Jesus. He then goes on to explain why they were actually godly habits we should copy in our own lives. For example in the chapter on “Jesus offended people”, he gives a compelling argument on the differences between judgment and discernment. The misunderstanding of the differences in those terms explains how the Church has often become the place most afraid to teach God’s commands and hold each other accountable for obeying them.

This book will make a lot of people think. It may be a good one to share and discuss with your teens – or at least the topics in the book. It’s not my favorite book, but there is enough important information to consider to make it worth the read.

 

 

This book was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.

As a Christian parenting blogger, I am offered quite a few parenting books to review. It’s important to me to make sure you are using books to guide you that will actually help your parenting and not make a muddled disaster out of your best intentions.

Which is why I am really torn about the new book, Discipline That Connects With Your Child’s Heart by Jim and Lynne Jackson. The authors are obviously trying to counter what they see as parents who never really listen to their kids and correct in anger and for childish mistakes, not just rebellion. They also introduce godly principles and commands into the parenting mix. Obviously, I am a huge fan of all of those principles.

The problem I have with the book is really two-fold. First, the overall tone of the book is a bit touchy-feely for my tastes. I prefer a more straight-forward style. There is nothing wrong with writing or preferring a less direct style. Unfortunately though, that style always makes me want to immediately reject things that are shared – even when I am a strong proponent of those very things – because of the way they are written. It just feels a little too etherial. If you enjoy that style, you will appreciate this book, because it is a rather unique way to write a parenting book.

Continue reading Discipline That Connects With Your Child’s Heart