Child Proof: Parenting by Faith, not Formula {Book Review}

Parenting by Faith not Formula by Julie Lowe is a fantastic book. Real life stories & examples of how to blend your family’s needs & individual personalities. Truth is taken straight from the Bible and applied in tangible ways. The ‘how-to’s, ‘why’s’ & additional reflection questions don’t intimidate you, but bring guidance, hope, and encouragement. This may be one of my favorite parenting books!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was under no obligation to write a review. My honest opinion has been provided without any requirement to write a positive review.

DESCRIPTION, via Newgrowth Press:

As a freedom-over-formula parenting book for moms, dads, and caregivers of all ages, Child Proof provides biblical insight and encouragement for readers who want to parent by faith. As an experienced counselor of children and families and an adoptive and foster mom applying the CCEF model of biblical change, Julie Lowe uses Scripture and biblical wisdom to teach caregivers how to know their children and specifically love them with the love of Christ. 

Every family is unique, which is why Child Proof explores the need for parents to cultivate personal and intimate care for their children as modeled in God’s individual, personal, and fatherly care to his children. This child-rearing book lays a foundation of parenting by faith and progresses by teaching readers how they can know their own kids well and raise them accordingly. By discussing particular issues moms and dads might have in family life, Lowe demonstrates how formulas aren’t the answer, and parenting with biblical wisdom is best for a proactive rather than reactive approach to parenting.

Through Lowe’s personal and professional experience, moms, dads, and caregivers,as well as those helping parents—pastors, counselors, youth workers, and churches—will discover gospel-centered application rather than formulas for the ideal family, equipping guardians to be experts at knowing their own children so they can know Scripture and live it out personally in their homes.

By establishing a mindset rather than a model or a step-by-step “how to” approach to parenting, Child Proof empowers readers to come up with their own blueprint for their families through a biblical framework.

Author

Julie Lowe is a faculty member at CCEF. She holds an MA in counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary. She is a licensed professional counselor with over 18 years of counseling experience.  Julie is also a registered play therapist and has developed a play therapy office at CCEF to better serve families, teens and children Julie and her husband, Greg, have six children and serve as foster and adoptive parents.

Click here to purchase a copy.

Parenting First Aid: Hope for the Discouraged {Book Review}

Oh, parents, you’ll be SO thankful to have this book!! Whether you have a week-old baby, or are in the midst of the hard & heavy, @martymachowski nails it on the head with his look at grace-filled, prayer-based, relying-fully-on-Christ parenting. Bathed in scripture and real life, it’s a balm for this mama’s soul. Getting myself a journal, and going to read it again as its intended devotional layout.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was under no obligation to write a review. My honest opinion has been provided without any requirement to write a positive review.

Book Description Via New Growth Press:

In this uplifting and faith-strengthening devotional book for parents, best-selling children’s author Marty Machowski encourages parents in the midst of trials. Full of Scripture, testimonies of faithful parents, and insightful meditations, Parenting First Aid equips moms and dads to run to God and trust his ability to do what they can’t. 

Parenting isn’t getting any easier, especially with the introduction of insta-porn on electronic devices, the ease of access to drugs, and the ever-increasing blurring of sexuality. This useful resource is for the weary and overwhelmed parents struggling with their children’s choices, and the culture that wars against their souls.

For families with small struggles or weighty parenting trials—such as children involved with drugs, sexual sin, and teenage rebellion—Parenting First Aid is full of personal, real testimonies of God’s faithfulness to those experiencing hardship.

The easy-to-use format provides encouragement to turn to  God in the midst of family difficulty. While God does not promise happiness and ease in parenting, all can find comfort in God and peace beyond understanding through the Scriptures and meditations found in Parenting First Aid.

Author

Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for more than twenty years. Marty leads Promise Kingdom, the gospel-centered children’s ministry of Covenant Fellowship. He and his wife Lois and their six children reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

He is the author of The Gospel Story Bible, Long Story Short, Old Story New, The Gospel Story Curriculum, Prepare Him Room Advent Curriculum and Devotional, Wise Up Family Devotional and Curriculum, Listen Up Family Devotional and Curriculum, Dragon Seed, and The Ology.

Click here to purchase a copy.