Tag Archives: Parenting

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Resource Review – Life Ki-do Parenting by Jonathan & Lisa Hewitt

Godly Men: Being Deliberate With Our Wives and Kids

Life Ki-do Parenting by Jonathan & Lisa HewittNot too long ago, I received a copy of Life Ki-do Parenting by Jonathan and Lana Hewitt from the Time with Tracy blog. It contains an interesting approach to parenting. Much of what he says makes sense, and seems very practical. While not written from a Christian point of view, Life Ki-do Parenting conveys a very positive, others-centric strategy to parenting that is crucial to raising our children. Here’s a brief synopsis of the book.

My first question was what the title meant. In the middle of the first chapter, Hewitt explains it: ki means “inner strength or spirit,” and do means “the way.” So, Life Ki-do means “the way of living from your own inner strength and spirit and honoring the same in others.” Hewitt teaches martial arts, which provides a little more insight as to where his teachings and methods come from. This background lends itself to strong discipline as well.

While good, I think his approach stops short. In order to effectively communicate these principles, we cannot approach this on our own strength; we need God as the foundation.

That said, the Hewitts give some solid principles that go a long way to establishing some good parenting habits.

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4 Steps To Resolving A Crisis

Being Deliberate With Our Wives and Kids

Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a hurting dad. He had taken his family on vacation. They had big plans, and were planning on enjoying a few days away from the routine. But the very first night, his oldest daughter ran away. All of a sudden, vacation turned into crisis.

4 Steps To Resolving A Crisis

The family returned home, the police started searching, the next day, the girl was found and brought home. She did it again later that week. Only this time, her parents knew where she went, and were in communication with the parents of the friend she was staying with.

I don’t know all the specifics of this family’s home situation. I don’t have any idea why this happened. Nor do I need to know. What I do know is this: this dad was hurting. His daughter was making some poor choices and it was very painful for the rest of the family.

I had the opportunity to visit with this dad a few evenings ago. I’m not sure anything I said helped him very much. But it was obvious that his daughter’s decisions were hurting him. And he was facing some tough decisions: How should he respond… harshly? or with love? What sort of punishment was necessary? What changes needed to be made to prevent this from happening again?

I don’t know if he was actually thinking all those things. I know I would have been. And I would have been questioning my role as a father. Could I have done anything to prevent this? Did I fail somehow?

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Book Review: Be The Dad She Needs You To Be by Dr. Kevin Leman

Be The Dad She Needs You To BeOne of the most important relationships a daughter will ever have is the relationship with her father. This relationship is critical, and as a result, many dads fall short in this area. It’s not for a lack of willingness as much as it is a lack of understanding. Many dads simply don’t understand their daughters, and they don’t know how to build that connection.

Dr. Kevin Leman inspires dads to be the dads that their daughters need them to be in his newest book, Be The Dad She Needs You To Be. As a father to three daughters, I can relate to the struggles many dads face trying to relate to their daughters. Leman addresses most of those fears in this book, and leaves dads with the knowledge that they can make an impact in their daughters’ lives. And that it’s not as hard as it seems.

Covering almost every topic under the sun, including discipline, encouragement, the “talk,” being present, and more, Be The Dad She Needs You To Be is a pretty comprehensive manual for dads to keep handy. Each topic is approached in a manner that is easy to read and understand, but leaves dads with the ideas, tools and resources to make strides in that area.

Leman gives great pointers on how to be a great dad to your daughters. But he also includes some incredible insights in how to partner with you wife to be the most effective dad that you can be. So moms can read this as well, and gain a lot of practical advice on how to make a lasting mark in their daughters lives.

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Book Review – Bad Dads Of The Bible by Roland C. Warren

Bad Dads Of The BibleOne of my greatest desires in life is to be the best dad that I can be. With six kids, that can be a heavy responsibility. Knowing that, I try to find as many excellent resources to help me be a better dad.

Roland C. Warren, former President of the National Fatherhood Initiative, has added another great resource to my shelf. His book, Bad Dads Of The Bible, gives some excellent input into how to be a better father to your kids.

Most of the time, books for dads are written from the perspective of what a dad should do. In this case, Warren has written his book from the perspective of what not to do.

Warren takes a brief look at the lives of eight men from the Bible, and examines the mistakes they each made with their children. From there, Warren encourages us to avoid those kinds of mistakes, and gives some positive actions to take to help.

The eight lives Warren examines are both well known and more obscure. Some are stories we are familiar with and others aren’t. And some of them you may find surprising. Here are the eight dads, and their mistakes.

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Book Review – Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess

Bible Stories For His Beautiful PrincessSometimes you just have to read things that are out of your normal genre.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reading stories from Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess. That’s because I have a three year old daughter, and she is completely fixated on princess stuff right now. Princess pajamas. Princess movies. Princesses wear their hair like this Daddy. Princesses dance this way Daddy.

In fact, my daughter is fully convinced that she is a princess. So when I saw the opportunity to read and review Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess, and enjoy doing it with my daughter, that was a no-brainer for me.

My daughter and I have really enjoyed the time together.

Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess isn’t really a Bible. The stories are Bible stories, but they are simplified and generalized to the point where they can only really be referred to as “Bible-based.” That’s quite alright, though. My daughter is only three, after all, and the finer details of most of the stories contained in these pages would be lost on her. But at the same time, these stories serve to teach her the basics of many of the main themes found throughout the Bible.

After each story, there are two closing elements. There is the Princess Jewel. This is a brief value lesson derived from each story. My daughter and I say these out loud together, enjoying finding the jewel of truth from each story.

The other element is the Princess Prayer. This is a brief prayer that seeks God’s help in applying the lesson learned form each Bible story. Again, my daughter repeats these after me, learning to ask God for his leading and becoming quite comfortable praying.

Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess is an incredible resource that I enjoy sharing with my daughter. And she’s excited about it as well. After all, it is a princess Bible, and she carries it proudly to church, around the house, and has even been seen sleeping with it.

If you have daughters, and if they love princesses and princess things, then you need to check out Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess. It’s an incredible opportunity to spend some quality time together.

My daughter’s favorite story so far is the story of Ruth? What Bible stories do your kids enjoy? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you would like to share Bible Stories For His Beautiful Princess, by Sheri Rose Shepherd, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

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Book Review – Road Trip To Redemption by Brad Mathias

Road Trip To RedemptionOne of my biggest worries in life is that something will happen to one of my kids. I pray for my kids on a frequent basis in this regard, and try not to fret too much over something I have little to no control over.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to Brad Mathias’ family when they were faced with a major family crisis surrounding one of their daughters. He details their story in his book Road Trip To Redemption.

How often do we slide into the rut of maintaining the status quo in our families? That’s exactly where Mathias was with his family. He had successfully saved his marriage from almost divorce several years earlier, and had regained a sense of equilibrium, or so he thought. But when his middle child began displaying harmful behavior and experiencing severe depression, he knew something was up.

When he and his wife discovered the unthinkable truth, their carefully ordered world tarted to crumble around them.

As Mathias struggles to find the answers to healing for his family, a wild idea entered his mind. What if he took a road trip with his family from Nashville, Tennessee, to the wilds of western Canada in order to reconnect his family with one another and with God?

That’s exactly what he did. And in the process he and his family discovered healing and grace.

While this story tells of a much bigger crisis than most of us may ever face, this story can help each of us in our parenting journeys with principles that the Mathias family found the hard way.

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Book Review – Parenting On Your Knees by Vicki Tiede

Parenting On Your KneesOne of the biggest passions of my life is being the best dad I can be to my kids. Three of my kids are older children, one is entering her teenage years. But the other three are preschool age and younger.

While I could have used Parenting On Your Knees with my older three, I will definitely be applying some of the principles with my younger three kids as we struggle our way through the preschool years.

Vicki Tiede has done an excellent job of putting together a book that is quick and easy to read, and yet with a deep and meaningful impact for parents.

She has written each chapter in a very brief manner. That works out quite nicely, since you may only get a few minutes to read with preschool age kids in the house.

Also included with each of the thirty-three short chapters are suggested resources; one for the parent to read, and another to read to your kids. I’ve never seen such an idea in any of the parenting books I’ve read, and many of these suggestions have made their way into our plans and budget for the near future.

Parenting On Your Knees is an excellent resource for parents, whether this is your first child, or number four, five, six…. I recommend that you pick it up and read it yourself. You’ll be glad you did.

What is your favorite parenting book? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in reading Parenting On Your Knees, by Vicki Tiede, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Cross Focused Media as part of their Cross Focused Reviews blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“