The book is Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna. Ever heard of the Barna group? To read more about it go here. But basically is it researchers whose research is based on the Christianity in the world.
So this book is based on research. The Barna group researched what they call "spiritual champions" which is young adults who are actively living for Christ. They studied the young adults as well as their parents to discover what their parenting was like and how it was different from mainstream society. And wrote the correlations in this book to help us have an idea of a direction we should go in if we want to raise spiritual champions.
Barna makes the point that there is no conclusive formula to raising children. There are many similarities in these families and the decisions they made on raising children that we can learn from. From other books I have read and from my college studies, it is believed 85% of children's personalities are developed by age 6. Barna included that he believes "that the spiritual war occurring in individual lives is pretty much won or lost by the age of thirteen." Wow.
Chapter 1 is all about society's idea of parenting vs. Biblical parenting. Barna gives alot of frightening statistics on what young people believe today about the Bible, Jesus and Christianity as a whole. He goes into lengthy discussion about how many people leave the job of spiritual training up to churches, government programs and other things outside of the home. This is not Gods intention for families. As I said in my last post, GT and I have the sole responsibility of raising our children and doing it in accordance with God's word. Going to church only adds to what we are currently doing in our home.
Chapter 2 compares parenting to being like a coach. We are the spiritual coaches for our children. We are the ones who train them, discipline them, encourage them and love them in all aspects of life. All of this is in vain if we do not have a genuine relationship with our children. I want to take a little side bar here to talk about spirituality. Christianity, spirituality, religion all have different meanings to different people. I believe all of life is spiritual. Living for Christ is our life. No matter what we are doing or where we are doing it. My relationship with Christ isnt only active on Sundays. Its all day every day, which pours over into my parenting. Its not a formal, pull out the Bible thing every time, but simple things like praying when we see the sun, singing songs, talking about God and His word. There are so many times throughout the day that I see God in things and share it with my children because EVERYTHING is spiritual.
The main conclusion made in Chapter 2 is that people who produce spiritual champions make parenting their "primary job in life". I know this can cause all kinds of controversy about staying home vs working. I think the main point is whether you work or not, your life is about your family. GT works 50 plus hours a week and I know his heart is here with us. As soon as he is home his life is all about his family. At the end of this chapter is a hands-on challenge GT and I are going to start on Monday.
Hands On Chapter 2
Lydia's list:
- 3 Things I will commit to do during the next thirty days that will improve my relationship with my kids:
1. Read Gods word daily.
2. Be more intentional to spend just me and Audrie time daily.
3. Take more time to sing songs to Ki and tell him how much Jesus loves him.
- 3 Things I will change in my behavior during the next thirty days in order to have a more positive and biblical influence on the lives of my children.
1. I will not get on facebook from 7am to 8pm. Including on my phone.
2. I will not clean any part of my house while my children are awake.
3. I will take 30 minutes a day or more to teach Audrie a Bible story (I will do one story a week)
GT's list:
- 3 Things I will commit to do during the next thirty days that will improve my relationship with my kids:
1. Spend more quality time with them.
2. Hold Ki more.
3. Gripe less and teach more.
- 3 Things I will change in my behavior during the next thirty days in order to have a more positive and biblical influence on the lives of my children.
1. Say yes more instead of no.
2. Play on my phone and Ipad less.
3. Pray for them more.
Will you join us? What are things you will commit to for the next 30 days that will enhance your ability to raise spiritual champions?
1 comment:
Thanks for your review - I was browsing to find a review on this book. Waiting for further posts.
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