Some great books in the past few months! Working through some more now too!
Finished since last
post:
Grace-Based Discipline by Karis Kimmel Murray
This was an excellent book! On top of having a great gift and
style in writing, Karis Murray shares a lot of very practical advice when it comes
to dealing with your child’s bad behavior. Many important reminders include: Don’t
take your child’s behavior personally, your child is a sinner so “we shouldn’t
be surprised if they act that way”, “you must separate your child’s behavior
from their heart” and what the book really boils down to: How does God
parent/discipline us? This is crucial because “Parents are the primary
reflection our kids see of God’s heart and His grace.” How you parent and
discipline teaches your child more about God than anything you could possibly say!
As parents we ought to seek to parent as God does His children, and for that we
need wisdom. “The only way we’ll be able to discern whether to give our
children consequences, mercy or anything in between is if we’ve built a close
enough relationship with our kids to afford us some perspective. That’s the
only way our discipline will truly be for them.” (emphasis hers)
Karis differentiates between grace and mercy, punishment or
retaliation and discipline, shame and remorse and gives practical examples. She
also helpfully lays out the type of discipline and/or consequences that are most
effective for different ages. Throughout the book there are great stories and
examples from Karis’ own experience under her parents (who modeled this well)
and with her own children.
Don’t Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Hubbard
Another parenting book I would HIHGLY recommend (I’ve had a
few other moms recommend it to me). Easy and fun to read with great practical wisdom
for moms seeking to raise their kids according to Biblical principles. She talks
about how to deal with getting to the heart of your child, handling manipulation,
using Scripture in our correction, when you’re feeling angry, how to Biblically
reprove and rebuke (NOT scold) and with physical discipline. Really excellent
and highly practical.
“Behavior is simply what alerts you to your child’s need for
correction. But don’t make the mistake that so many parents make and allow your
desire for changed behavior to replace your desire for a changed heart.”
“When we correct our children for wrong behavior but fail to
train them in righteous behavior, we will exasperate them because we are not
providing them with a way of escape.” - In other words, what they should do
instead. Most of the time, righteous behavior needs to be learned by hands-on teaching
and practice… it’s not automatic!
“Our desire should be for the child to ponder what he could
have done right rather than what he did wrong.”
“…truly beneficial communication is based not only on the
ability to talk, but also on the ability to listen. Let me suggest that rather
than talking to your child, you talk with your child.”
Memories Before and After The Sound of Music by
Agathe Von Trapp
Written by the eldest daughter of Captain Georg Von Trapp, we
are given the real and rest of the story of the “The Sound of Music”. Great
biography/autobiography of her family’s history, her upbringing and the real
Trapp Family Singers.
Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing
Autism by Jenny McCarthy
This was just an interesting account of one mom’s fight to
find a way to bring her son back after his regression into autism. (She did by
the way.) But it was a long, hard journey and she had to fight for so much
along the way. It’s a sad story in many ways (losing your son mentally and
emotionally is awful, and also because she does not know Christ and thus God’s
role in this story), but it’s still very inspiring. A mother’s love and a
mother’s instinct should never be ignored.
