Book Review:: Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord

Did you know moms and dads spend between two and three thousand hours a year with their children while they're growing up? How are you spending that time?

As a new mom I was inundated with information on how to be the best parent ever, how to raise a successful child, how to get them to sleep through the night early on (ahem, what?), etc. Yes, all that is nice but my mother's heart just wants this little being to grow up knowing, loving and faithfully following our God. In the world today this seems like an impossible task, but Dave Stone writes Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord with simplicity, experience, humor and truth to show that it really isn't impossible any more. Besides this book, I would give this one to new parents. This is one I'd pass on. It will not only challenge you to be a better parent, but also a better person in the Lord.

"It's a simple principle, but an uncomfortable one if we take it to heart, our children will be more apt to love the Lord if we do."

That seems easy, right? But yet it hits you in the gut. It's not about what you do with your children, it is what you do about your children while they are watching. Stone goes through a number of topics from 'who you are when no one is watching' to 'the key' (yes, he has the key!) to raising godly children. He also provides the easiest, yet "most untapped resource available to parents": "if we love our families and want our children to grow up to be people who love the Lord, then praying for them ought to be as natural as breathing." Even easier than the first! Being a faithful parent isn't just about being the best there is, it's praying, communing with the One who is the perfect Parent. While going through various ideas, Stone also throws in things his family has done throughout the lives of their children. He has some wonderful ideas from date nights for parents (which he says besides your relationship with God the parental relationship should be the most important in a family) to date nights with your kids, trips with each child, teachable moments and some of the best discipline ideas I have ever seen. It's not as easy as it sounds nor is it guaranteed to work but with God's help and a prayerful parent,

"We can't know what the future holds or what our children may experience as committed Christians. But we can know that whatever life brings to them, filling their minds with the Word of God is a gift that will last a lifetime and beyond."

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from booksneeze.com for this review. Opinions expressed are my own.