spiritual parenting

This past weekend, we attended a class at church with our Families Pastor...it's called Spiritual Parenting and it's the basis of our entire family ministry philosophy. I had taken it before and I live in some of the concepts day in and day out...only in a classroom setting on weekends as opposed to a home setting. It was a long day, but well worth it. Alex and I both walked away with a lot of AHAs. It was so different for me to be thinking through the concepts in regards to this little one growing in me as opposed to the little ones that we have the privilege of working with each week.

It's hard to express my learnings from the day, but I am thrilled that the book will be out by summer and I'll be able to share it with those around me that I love. I believe in the philosophy whole-heartedly...if I didn't, I think I would need to find another job!

Since the weekend, I've spent quite a few hours reading articles from different prominent names in the christian parenting world and to be quite honest, I have had mixed emotions about them. On the one hand, I have been saddened that so many of the articles have been focused on behavior, breaking the child's spirit, and dominance of the child. It breaks my heart that many of the authors focus only on Old Testament passages that they take quite literally instead of looking at the original language and audience to see what the original author intended. It saddens me that the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus himself seem to be ignored in order to push a very behavioralistic approach to parenting.

Oh the other hand, I am completely thrilled that Michelle's book, Spiritual Parenting: An Awakening for Today's Families, will be out in early summer. I am hopeful that this book will be a tool to awaken a generation of parents to what their true calling is, and I am hopeful that this generation of children will grow up learning to know God's voice and desire to obey HIM by depending on the power of the Spirit. God doesn't want perfect children...he desires faith, and I know that there are people out there who are craving more for their children and themselves and just don't have the resources. I pray that this book would be a resource that would inspire parents to living a life different than the christian status quo and that they would look to God as the ultimate example of a parent.

*sorry if this post is a little heavy, but it's been on my heart and had to share :)