I love to read. Since I've had kids my pace has slowed a little but I still love a good book. My taste in literature has also changed since having children. In my teens and early twenties I favoured Christian romance (Janette Oke, anyone??) Of course any type of historical novel generally tweaks my interest (although history textbooks, not as much!) Now that I have children, I have started reading parenting books of all sorts.
Now if there are any perfect, guilt-free parents out there, you might as well stop reading right here. But, if anyone out there is like me, then you are constantly worrying and feeling guilty about what you are or aren't doing for your children. Whether you're raising your children to love the Lord. Perhaps you're anxious or feeling judged about your child's behaviour.Or maybe you feel guilty because you don't always like parenting or feel like you lose your temper or get frustrated with your children too easily. It could be that you don't fit the perfect Christian family mold or you just feel like a failure for whatever reason. I have felt all of these emotions at one time or another... and Lemon Boy is only 3!
I picked up "
Parenting is Your Highest Calling" And 8 Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt by
Leslie Leyland Fields, about one week ago. I read the first 100 pages during my hour commute to work the first morning... it is THAT good! I couldn't put this book down. What a relief to finally find a book that honestly addressed these issues and what a load off my shoulders to realize that many of my ideas about what good Christian parents should or should not be doing, are not actual requirements from God. Leslie outlines these myths that seem to permeate our lives as Christian parents and, using examples from the Bible and from her own personal research and experience, shows how God uses us despite our sinful nature to raise our children, not with our own strength, but with His.
Side note: I found a copy at the public library so if you'd rather borrow than buy, look there first!
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