Resources are powerful tools to encourage our children to grow deeper in their faith and mature in their character. I have found this to be true with my own children, and I hope that you find this to be true as well! Here is a list of resources that I hope you will find helpful. I pray that these will be great tools to bring God’s Word and truths into your home as you create an environment of knowing, loving, and following the Lord with your children.
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If you are a busy mom like me, but want to read some of these resources, I recommend trying Audible! I have listened to many of these books when driving to pick up kids from school, folding laundry, and cleaning the kitchen. The books save to your account, and you can go back and listen to them any time!
The following book reviews are solely my opinion having reviewed and applied principles from them with my children. Be sure to check back for more great resources to come!
The Power of a Praying® Parent
By: Stormie Omartian
Harvest House Publishing
I love this book because it gives such a powerful reminder of how important prayer is as a parent. I tend to get caught up in what I can do for my kids and forget the importance of releasing them to God in prayer. Stormie explains the importance of prayer as a way to participate in the real, unseen spiritual battle in our kids’ lives rather than just sitting on the sidelines. There are 30 topics to pray for your children, and each chapter includes personal remarks from Stormie about each topic, a powerful prayer to pray for your children, and related scripture verses to pray through. Some of the topics include peer pressure, safety, relationship with God, and giftings/talents. I wrote the topics and some of the scriptures in my journal to remind myself to continue to pray through these on a rotating schedule. If you are looking for ways to revamp your prayer life for your kids, I would definitely recommend this book!
Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money
By: Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze
Ramsey Press
This entertaining yet informative book will help you teach your kids the concepts of money management, including giving, spending, and saving. Specific topics addressed include allowances, how to save for a car and college, and the trap of credit card debt that ensnares students and parents alike, all told from the unique perspective of both parent and adult child.
Raising Kingdom Kids: Giving Your Child a Living Faith
By: Tony Evans
A Focus on the Family Book, Tyndall Publishing
I ran across this book when I was searching to see if anyone had used the name “Growing Kids for the Kingdom” that I wanted to use for my website. Since the book was clearly related to my vision, and I love Tony Evans, I decided to read it, and I am glad I did! Dr. Tony Evans’ writing is filled with so much wisdom and inspiration that you will come away passionate to raise your kids by God’s standards, not the worlds. Section one of the book talks about establishing a kingdom mindset in parenting, and he gives great illustrations and examples from his own family of what this looks like. Section two is about cultivating a kingdom atmosphere in your home with topics such as the importance of encouraging your kids, teaching honor and respect, communicating openly, and spending time in God’s word together. Section three instructs on instilling kingdom virtues within your kids, such as integrity, faith, and purity. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to gain wisdom and a passion to raise their kids for a higher purpose.
Parenting Without Regret
By: Jimmy and Laura Seibert
Clear Day Publishing
This is the best comprehensive book on parenting I have read. The author, Jimmy Seibert, was my college pastor, and I always loved his rock-solid teaching and passion for Jesus, so naturally I wanted to read his book. Jimmy and Laura have raised four amazing children who are passionate about following the Lord’s plans for their lives. I love how they use so many sweet stories and practical examples from their own parenting adventure that touch your heart and reinforce each topic. Some of the many topics include the profound influence of parents, spiritual discipleship, building character, protecting children from sin, peer pressure, family time vs activities, behavior, prayer, giving, purity, and dating. We have implemented many of the principles including setting goals with our children and keeping track of them throughout the year. I highly recommend this book for any parent looking to raise their kids to live a purposeful life for Jesus.
Mama Bear Apologetics™: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies
By: Hilary Morgan Ferrer
Harvest House Publishing
This is a beneficial book for parents desiring to raise children who will follow God unwaveringly. Our children are growing up in a relativistic culture where absolute truth is no longer the norm. We need to equip our children to stand firm in their faith and learn how to wrestle through questions that arise from school and peers about truth, alternative views, and what God’s Word says about these subjects. Written by moms with a background in apologetics, this book helps parents to understand the different philosophies or “isms” being taught to our children in today’s culture. It shows them how to equip their kids to think Biblically and discern truth from secular opinion.
Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World: How One Family Learned That Saying No Can Lead to Life’s Biggest Yes
By: Kristen Welch
Tyndale Momentum
This insightful book is a look at one mom’s journey to raise kids who look different from our self-focused and entitled society. She talks about the ups and downs in parenting and what she and her husband learned about going against the cultural flow and leading their family upstream- instilling faith, teaching character, and raising their kids to follow Jesus, no matter the cost. This book is a true encouragement for like-minded parents!
A Mom After God’s Own Heart: 10 Ways to Love Your Children (George, Elizabeth (Insp))
By: Elizabeth George
Harvest House Publishers
I have always been a fan of Elizabeth George books, so naturally I bought this one and read it when my kids were very young. Going back through it now, I realize what a profound influence this book had on my parenting and desire to raise my kids to wholeheartedly know, love, and follow God. The book encourages moms to raise their children to have a heart to follow God while also dealing with the sin that is so prevalent in a child’s heart. Practical ideas are given to raise and train kids in godly ways. Reading this book is like getting to sit down with a godly, mom-mentor and glean abundant wisdom and encouragement on your journey of motherhood. It’s a must read for any mom, in my opinion!
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| Bringing Up Girls |
Bringing Up Boys |
By: Dr. James Dobson
Tyndale House Publishers
My husband and I read both of these books, and we learned a wealth of information specific to raising each gender. Dr. James Dobson, a renowned Christian psychologist and founder of Focus on the Family, looks into difficult issues dealing with each gender. He provides wisdom in raising children by Biblical standards in the midst of a world full of negative influences. Bringing up Girls presents topics such as femininity, purity, beauty, friends, puberty, and the importance of the role of the father. Bringing up Boys presents topics such as masculinity, the role of mothers and fathers, discipline, and sexuality. Both books are full of great information including the science behind the make up of each gender, alarming national statistics, and touching stories of encouragement. These are two books we will definitely be reading again as our kids approach teenage years!
Mother and Son: The Respect Effect
By: Emerson Eggerichs, PhD
Thomas Nelson Publishing
A fellow mom told me how this book completely changed the way she communicated with her son and has helped their relationship grow. This peaked my curiosity, so I decided to listen on Audible, and I was impressed! Emerson teaches moms how to understand their sons’ basic needs and talk to them in a way that helps them feel respected, whether that involves encouraging, teaching, or even disciplining. He gives countless examples and testimonies throughout the book, which I found very helpful. I have started using “respect talk” with my son, and I can tell that he feels honored, and it has only deepened our relationship. I hope to continue this technique through his teen years.
Shepherding a Child’s Heart
By: Tedd Tripp
This is a staple Christian parenting book for many families I know, including our own. Tedd Tripp lays a foundation of what it looks like to raise children in obedience and respectfulness. He discusses the need for children to learn to submit to their parents’ authority, so they in turn grow up to submit to God as their ultimate authority. Specific strategies are taught to reach the heart of a child while disciplining, so the child will learn not to obey out of obligation, but out of respect and reverence to God and those in authority over them.
Grace-Based Parenting
By: Dr. Tim Kimmel
Thomas Nelson Publishing
I recently listened to the abridged audio version of Grace Based Parenting, and I thought it was a great book every Christian parent should read. It provides a nice balance between discipline and grace, and it gives an understanding of how to parent with a mindset of grace. Dr. Kimmel discusses ways to meet our children’s inner needs for security, purpose, and strength. He discusses the importance of allowing children freedom to be open with us, to be unique in how God created them, and to make mistakes and learn from them. While Dr. Kimmel is definitely for discipline and consequences, he also reminds us to discipline for the right reasons- not out of fear, control, or a desire to uphold a certain image, but to parent the way our Heavenly Father parents us- through His unconditional love and grace.
Why Can’t I Get My Kids to Behave?
By: Joey and Carla Link
WestBow Press
This is the perfect book for those wanting practical steps to help teach their kids obedience and respectfulness. Joey and Carla have over 20 years experience in principles of parenting and have been writers and teachers on the subject for many years. In this book, the Links get to the heart of obedience and provide practical tools to help train kids that are easy to understand and implement. Parenting tools such as making routines, setting consequences, and giving positive reinforcement are discussed and taught. I have listened to a lot of the Link’s podcasts over the years and have applied the principles that they discuss in them and this book with great success. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their parenting and their children’s behavior.
On Becoming Babywise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nightime Sleep
By: Gary Ezzo MA and Robert Bucknam, MD
Parent Wise Solutions, Inc/Hawksflight & Associates
This parenting book teaches parents how to transition babies to a consistent schedule to acquire happy wake, feeding, and nap times during the day and receive a restful sleep at night. This balanced approach helps mom use both the baby’s hunger cues and developmental feeding schedules to help discern the best time to feed her baby. The approach helps babies get a full feeding each time and minimizes continual snacking that can lead to nutritional problems. Sample schedules are given as guidelines to help babies fall into a routine of napping, eating, and wake time, contributing to a restful sleep at night. I have talked to many moms who were so thankful to have their baby on a nice routine and sleeping through the night at an early age after following the advice in this book. I used this book myself, and although I had a very colicky first child, she still slept through the night very early on and adapted to a nice routine during the day. Because this book uses a more parent-directed approach even at the beginning stages, it lays a nice foundation to help children understand that Mommy and Daddy are the ones in charge and know what is best.
On Becoming Babywise, Book Two: Parenting Your Five to Twelve-Month-Old Through the Babyhood Transitions
By: Gary Ezzo MA and Robert Bucknam, MD
Parent Wise Solutions, Inc/Hawksflight & Associates
This book is an extension of On Becoming Baby Wise and discusses topics such as introducing solids, wake time activities, behavior training, and sleeping routines. Specific, practical ideas, such as teaching basic safety rules and sign language to aid in communication are discussed. Training inappropriate behavior, such as throwing and spitting food, with age-appropriate consequences are also addressed. The authors give practical advice for difficulties with nap time and night time sleep. I have seen the amazing fruit of following the wisdom in this book with my own babies and friends’ children as well. Training children from the very early years helps lay a foundation for an easier toddler stage and helps them learn good habits that don’t have to be broken later.
On Becoming Pretoddlerwise: From Babyhood to Toddlerhood (Parenting Your 12 to 18 Month Old)
By: Gary Ezzo MA and Robert Bucknam, MD
Parent Wise Solutions, Inc/Hawksflight & Associates
This practical parenting book is the third book in the Becoming Wise series and addresses twelve to eighteen-month-olds. Topics pertinent to this age include nap and feeding transitions, setting goals for your child, speaking life-giving words, teaching boundaries, preventing inappropriate behaviors, and correcting disobedience. Reading and following through with the principles from this book will save you a lot of time and frustration and will help produce a happy toddler who learns to obey his parents willfully.
On Becoming Toddler Wise
By: Gary Ezzo MA and Robert Bucknam, MD
Parent Wise Solutions, Inc/Hawksflight & Associates
This book is the fourth book in the Becoming Wise series and focuses on eighteen to thirty-six-month-olds. Topics discussed in this book include walking and boundaries that come with this new freedom, neurological development, structuring your toddler’s day, behavior/correction, and potty training. This book is packed full of great wisdom and practical ideas to raise happy, obedient, and thriving toddlers.
The Toddlerhood Transition: Parenting Your Eighteen to Thirty-Six Month Old
By: Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo
Growing Families International
Toddlerhood is one of the most difficult stages to parent, and as a mom it can be very tiring and frustrating. Toddlers are by nature selfish and want to do things their own way, and thus they are often rudely awakened to the fact that the world doesn’t revolve around their desires. The Toddlerhood Transition resource has some great ideas for training toddlers, which I implemented and found very effective. It also made disciplining in elementary years much easier. Topics include focusing on “why” we discipline before the “how,” the need for structure and routine, how to teach obedience and self control to toddlers, and different ways to both praise and correct your toddler during the training process. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to start training positive behaviors in the toddler years.
Parenting from the Tree of Life
By: Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo
Growing Families International
This Tree of Life Series series is by the same authors of the Toddlerhood Transition but geared towards elementary children. My husband and I went through the curriculum with some friends recently. The videos are filled with lots of Biblically based principles for training behaviors and visual examples of how to implement them. One such principle that sets this curriculum apart from others is an overarching theme of communicating words that bring life to your child rather than death. For example, the series teaches that if your children are yelling at each other, you should ask, “are you being kind?” rather than say, “stop being so mean.” Always pointing to the positive words creates a positive atmosphere in your home and prevents your children from being labeled with negative words that unintentionally become part of their identity. There are seventeen “visits” or videos divided into three sections. The first is focused on relationships and talks about the importance of a healthy marriage, speaking your child’s love language, and speaking words of life to your child. The second section is focused on character training and gives practical principles to teach traits such as kindness, respect, and good manners. The third section is about training behavior, and a great emphasis is placed on teaching positive behaviors to minimize the need for correction of negative behaviors. I am so thankful for this curriculum and the wisdom I have learned in training my kids. The benefits of having happy, respectful children with minimal discipline issues is worth the time invested in this series!