1. Grace Based Parenting by Ted Tripp
I read this as part of a Bible study at church under the leadership of Teresa Nerht who has tremendous life experience in this field. I had just finished Danny Silk's book so some of these concepts were already very familiar to me but I found this really helpful in instilling more grace and relationship into our family. In fact it was instrumental in helping us transition our home from more of a rules based environment to a grace based environment. We are still learning here, believe me. Bu we are starting to see the light and it is reflective in our children...their confidence, their willingness to accept and take on responsibility and their opennes with us and one another. We see less anger, less resisitance, less shame or guilt, less sneaking, less neediness, and more grace and acceptance even amongst each other.
2. Loving Your Kids on Purpose by Danny Silk
My FAVORITE parenting book of all time. I cannot imagine approaching teen years without a working knowledge of this book and all the video clips I have watched that correlate with it.
This book absolutely began the freedom and grace revolution our family has undergone and changed our idea and understanding of expectations and standards. This book helped us to re-engage our children and meet them where they were at rather than forcing them to operate at our level, a futile method of parenting which leads to anger, resentment, rejection, and frustration for both parties. We started learning how to empower our children instead of control our children and how to rid our lives of "punishment" and "fear of punishment". We realized we should be rasining strong children rather than safe children. This book also started our quest to begin to build a culture of honor in our home. The best part, our children have responded beautifully and we have seen so much healing in our family.
3. The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie OMartian
I call this my basic parenting handbook and was the first Christian parenting book I have ever owned. I cannot imagine having gotten to where we are without this, and I use this book now more than ever! It is not a once read through. It is a handbook and guide to be used and applied throughout our lives as parents. It taught me how to pray and intercede for my children.....from learning how to pray through times of illness as little ones, through incidents of little white lies, through praying through their rooms to stop nightmares, through prophetically calling forth their futures and praying for their gifts, through learning how to guide them through the storms of life. It is a wonderful resource for brand new and seasoned Christians alike.
4. Protecting Your Children in Dangerous Times by Kellie Copeland
Truly a Godsend. There are times when we as parents go through events that unnerve us or we hear stories that stir up fearful thoughts and imaginations. There are times when we sit by the bedside and our child is racked with fever or vomiting that we feel powerless and wonder if our prayers are being answered....whether we should go to the doctor or such a move would be a lck of faith.
This book helps you as parent learn to stamp out those fearful thoughts and imaginations. Kellie gives so many examples of life threatening situations she has had to face and what she did as a mother to see the victory each and every time. She teaches about the blood of Jesus and covering your family. By the time your reach the end of the book your faith will have been greatly strengthened and you will have learned how to overcome fear with regard to your children.
5. Preparing Your Daughter for Every Woman's Battle
One of my greatest concerns as my children appraoched their teeen years was my lack of understanding and experience to teach them sexual purity. This was not the path I walked so how could I ever guide my children down the righ path...short of scaring the daylights out of them through tales of consequences, rules, and punishment.
This is a book you read together though there is a section for just moms and for just dads. It opens communication and addresses questions and concerns befor they arise. AND, if they have already fallen short in some way, it clears the way to get back on the path and keep on walking together.
*****They have the compatible book for boys that Tony is reading with Caleb. These books are so helpful.
6. The Lilly Series
This is a wonderful set of books for your preteen to read on her own to help her understand changes her body is going through, friendship troubles, making desisions and consequences of poor decision-making. These books really helped Markie to work through some of the awkwardness she experienced around ages 10-11 and accept herself the way God created her. They opened the door to understanding and seeing the blessed uniqueness in all of us.
7. Hung by the Tongue by Francis P. Martin
OK. This is the one that is most difficult for most people in every realm of life. For real BUT applying the principles learned in this book changed every aspect of our lives and our children's lives forever....for real, for generations to come. We are literally living the world we have created by either the garbage we have spoken from our lips or the blessings we have spoken from our lips. One of my favorite quotes is "My people perish for lack of knowledge". We control our circumstances through the words we speak and the thoughts we think. Tony and Jody Myers were failing in every area of life because we didn't know this. This one truth brought about radical changes in our lives. It's a great starting point which will eventually change the direction your life is heading for the good. If you keep speaking what you have, what you have is all you'll get. So, we capped the negative and started inputting positive, and the life we live today is the fruit of that.
..........our finances, our health, our children's behavior, our fears, our lack of success..most of this comes from what we speak. I literally cringe when I hear parents speak junk over their kids and then wonder why their children are "bossy", "obnoxious", "hyper", "bad", "don't listen", "strong willed", "sick", "ADHD" (No offense -- really -- but I think most of today's ADD/ADHD could be completely resolved if parents simply chucked red dye #40, sugar, over-vaccinating, and daycare.....but that's just my over zealous personal opinion. Speak what you want to see in your children, speak what the Bible says is your inheritance for your children, and what you say is what you will get. LOVE this book!!!!!
8. The Five Love Languages for Children by Gary Chapman
I thought I was good to go just reading the regular version...NOT!
This kept me from causing harm to relationship with Julia.....totally opened the door to our relationship.
9. Personality Plus for Kids by Florence Littaur
Kept me from completely losing it when my 1st three kids were all under three and we were in the worst financial and marital season of our lives. There were many nights during that time I went to bed filled with regret from the emotional battles I'd fought with my children, especially my son, that day. This book will help you know that neither you or your child is crazy...that you are just different (or too much alike) and how to make bring peace and fun back into your days, not just survival and exhaustion.
10. Framing Your World with the Word of God by Leroy Thompson
11. Train Up a Child by Chuck Sturgeon
12. The Bible, multiple versions
This might sound obvious but I am always taken back by how so few women, Christians, for that matter, sow time in the Word on a daily basis. This is the single most important thing I have ever learned as a mother and any success I have ever seen as a mother has come from this daily feeding on the Word. Gloria Copeland once taught that we need to sow our time to Him just as we sow our money.SO I began this process years ago, getting up before the rest of the house and reading the Word, soaking in worship and praise, spending time in thanksgiving, praying, declaring and prophesying......and I believe that I would have no real strength if I hadn't. He has blessed this act of faithfulness 100 fold back to me in terms of time, blessing, and blessing through our children.
It's usually during this time that I hear most clearly from Him, that our relationship has taken flight and become what it is developing into.......I believe it is where He has corrected me, nudged me, called me, taught me and developed me.
The Word may not speak to you right away if you are just beginning. Just start with a few familiar verses a day to chew on and think about. Maybe start reading through the Gospel of John....maybe read a proverb a day -- try starting this on the 1st day of the month, April 1st, Proverbs 1, etc......and go from there. Oh, and start with an easy version you can understand, not full of Thees and Thous,etc.....try the Amplified, The Message, the NIV.....great places to start.
Maybe play some quiet worship music in the background, something focused on Him. I love listening to Kari Jobe radio on Pandora, quietly in the background. It is pure worship and lifts my heart right to Him.
And just talk to Him. Talk about what you want to see in your children and pray over those things, nothing fancy. Just pretend He is sitting across from you having a cup of coffee. Nothing haughty or wordy, just be you.
I usually include declaring the promises of Psalm 91 over each of my family and I daily plead the blood of Jesus over them. Sometimes if my mind is racing and I can't focus I just close my eyes and say Jesus over and over.....and sometimes I am just distracted -- it's OK. We aren't being graded...it's about our heart. It's about seeking Him....."Seek ye 1st the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you"....Matthew 6:23. I'm usually in "need" of some things, aren't you?
I read this as part of a Bible study at church under the leadership of Teresa Nerht who has tremendous life experience in this field. I had just finished Danny Silk's book so some of these concepts were already very familiar to me but I found this really helpful in instilling more grace and relationship into our family. In fact it was instrumental in helping us transition our home from more of a rules based environment to a grace based environment. We are still learning here, believe me. Bu we are starting to see the light and it is reflective in our children...their confidence, their willingness to accept and take on responsibility and their opennes with us and one another. We see less anger, less resisitance, less shame or guilt, less sneaking, less neediness, and more grace and acceptance even amongst each other.
2. Loving Your Kids on Purpose by Danny Silk
My FAVORITE parenting book of all time. I cannot imagine approaching teen years without a working knowledge of this book and all the video clips I have watched that correlate with it.
This book absolutely began the freedom and grace revolution our family has undergone and changed our idea and understanding of expectations and standards. This book helped us to re-engage our children and meet them where they were at rather than forcing them to operate at our level, a futile method of parenting which leads to anger, resentment, rejection, and frustration for both parties. We started learning how to empower our children instead of control our children and how to rid our lives of "punishment" and "fear of punishment". We realized we should be rasining strong children rather than safe children. This book also started our quest to begin to build a culture of honor in our home. The best part, our children have responded beautifully and we have seen so much healing in our family.
3. The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie OMartian
I call this my basic parenting handbook and was the first Christian parenting book I have ever owned. I cannot imagine having gotten to where we are without this, and I use this book now more than ever! It is not a once read through. It is a handbook and guide to be used and applied throughout our lives as parents. It taught me how to pray and intercede for my children.....from learning how to pray through times of illness as little ones, through incidents of little white lies, through praying through their rooms to stop nightmares, through prophetically calling forth their futures and praying for their gifts, through learning how to guide them through the storms of life. It is a wonderful resource for brand new and seasoned Christians alike.
4. Protecting Your Children in Dangerous Times by Kellie Copeland
Truly a Godsend. There are times when we as parents go through events that unnerve us or we hear stories that stir up fearful thoughts and imaginations. There are times when we sit by the bedside and our child is racked with fever or vomiting that we feel powerless and wonder if our prayers are being answered....whether we should go to the doctor or such a move would be a lck of faith.
This book helps you as parent learn to stamp out those fearful thoughts and imaginations. Kellie gives so many examples of life threatening situations she has had to face and what she did as a mother to see the victory each and every time. She teaches about the blood of Jesus and covering your family. By the time your reach the end of the book your faith will have been greatly strengthened and you will have learned how to overcome fear with regard to your children.
5. Preparing Your Daughter for Every Woman's Battle
One of my greatest concerns as my children appraoched their teeen years was my lack of understanding and experience to teach them sexual purity. This was not the path I walked so how could I ever guide my children down the righ path...short of scaring the daylights out of them through tales of consequences, rules, and punishment.
This is a book you read together though there is a section for just moms and for just dads. It opens communication and addresses questions and concerns befor they arise. AND, if they have already fallen short in some way, it clears the way to get back on the path and keep on walking together.
*****They have the compatible book for boys that Tony is reading with Caleb. These books are so helpful.
6. The Lilly Series
This is a wonderful set of books for your preteen to read on her own to help her understand changes her body is going through, friendship troubles, making desisions and consequences of poor decision-making. These books really helped Markie to work through some of the awkwardness she experienced around ages 10-11 and accept herself the way God created her. They opened the door to understanding and seeing the blessed uniqueness in all of us.
7. Hung by the Tongue by Francis P. Martin
OK. This is the one that is most difficult for most people in every realm of life. For real BUT applying the principles learned in this book changed every aspect of our lives and our children's lives forever....for real, for generations to come. We are literally living the world we have created by either the garbage we have spoken from our lips or the blessings we have spoken from our lips. One of my favorite quotes is "My people perish for lack of knowledge". We control our circumstances through the words we speak and the thoughts we think. Tony and Jody Myers were failing in every area of life because we didn't know this. This one truth brought about radical changes in our lives. It's a great starting point which will eventually change the direction your life is heading for the good. If you keep speaking what you have, what you have is all you'll get. So, we capped the negative and started inputting positive, and the life we live today is the fruit of that.
..........our finances, our health, our children's behavior, our fears, our lack of success..most of this comes from what we speak. I literally cringe when I hear parents speak junk over their kids and then wonder why their children are "bossy", "obnoxious", "hyper", "bad", "don't listen", "strong willed", "sick", "ADHD" (No offense -- really -- but I think most of today's ADD/ADHD could be completely resolved if parents simply chucked red dye #40, sugar, over-vaccinating, and daycare.....but that's just my over zealous personal opinion. Speak what you want to see in your children, speak what the Bible says is your inheritance for your children, and what you say is what you will get. LOVE this book!!!!!
8. The Five Love Languages for Children by Gary Chapman
I thought I was good to go just reading the regular version...NOT!
This kept me from causing harm to relationship with Julia.....totally opened the door to our relationship.
9. Personality Plus for Kids by Florence Littaur
Kept me from completely losing it when my 1st three kids were all under three and we were in the worst financial and marital season of our lives. There were many nights during that time I went to bed filled with regret from the emotional battles I'd fought with my children, especially my son, that day. This book will help you know that neither you or your child is crazy...that you are just different (or too much alike) and how to make bring peace and fun back into your days, not just survival and exhaustion.
10. Framing Your World with the Word of God by Leroy Thompson
11. Train Up a Child by Chuck Sturgeon
12. The Bible, multiple versions
This might sound obvious but I am always taken back by how so few women, Christians, for that matter, sow time in the Word on a daily basis. This is the single most important thing I have ever learned as a mother and any success I have ever seen as a mother has come from this daily feeding on the Word. Gloria Copeland once taught that we need to sow our time to Him just as we sow our money.SO I began this process years ago, getting up before the rest of the house and reading the Word, soaking in worship and praise, spending time in thanksgiving, praying, declaring and prophesying......and I believe that I would have no real strength if I hadn't. He has blessed this act of faithfulness 100 fold back to me in terms of time, blessing, and blessing through our children.
It's usually during this time that I hear most clearly from Him, that our relationship has taken flight and become what it is developing into.......I believe it is where He has corrected me, nudged me, called me, taught me and developed me.
The Word may not speak to you right away if you are just beginning. Just start with a few familiar verses a day to chew on and think about. Maybe start reading through the Gospel of John....maybe read a proverb a day -- try starting this on the 1st day of the month, April 1st, Proverbs 1, etc......and go from there. Oh, and start with an easy version you can understand, not full of Thees and Thous,etc.....try the Amplified, The Message, the NIV.....great places to start.
Maybe play some quiet worship music in the background, something focused on Him. I love listening to Kari Jobe radio on Pandora, quietly in the background. It is pure worship and lifts my heart right to Him.
And just talk to Him. Talk about what you want to see in your children and pray over those things, nothing fancy. Just pretend He is sitting across from you having a cup of coffee. Nothing haughty or wordy, just be you.
I usually include declaring the promises of Psalm 91 over each of my family and I daily plead the blood of Jesus over them. Sometimes if my mind is racing and I can't focus I just close my eyes and say Jesus over and over.....and sometimes I am just distracted -- it's OK. We aren't being graded...it's about our heart. It's about seeking Him....."Seek ye 1st the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you"....Matthew 6:23. I'm usually in "need" of some things, aren't you?