As I’ve mentioned it is officially launch week for The Christian Parenting Handbook from the National Center for Biblical Parenting. What an exciting launch it has been! I joined in on the Twitter party, which was a blast! Plus, it was wonderful to find out the book has taken off! In fact it has already sold out in some locations! Wow! Not only do I get to help share in the fun of the awesome promotions and let you know about the amazing $400 in free resources you receive if you purchase the book before May 5th, but I also got to read the book myself as part of the Launch Team!
Parenting three special needs children definitely isn’t always easy. When you and your spouse also have medical conditions it poses to be even a little more challenging. We manage to stay positive and keep going despite more than a few hard days, and it is definitely by God’s grace. He has truly blessed us with perseverance. Without Him I’m honestly not sure where we’d be! I am very blessed that my husband is a wonderful spiritual leader for our family and our older two kids, even though still young (ages 7 and 5), are very receptive to not only learning about God but actually getting to know Him and build a relationship with Him. I pray our 3 year old will be the same!
Despite our countless blessings we still face many challenges. Having three kids so close in age often results in MANY arguments, and with a sensitive girl in between two rough boys, it can cause quite a clash in dynamics. Lately, the tension in our household has really been building up, and despite our best efforts in parenting it just wasn’t working! We were at a loss! The Christian Parenting Handbook couldn’t have come at a better time!
The Christian Parenting Handbook: 50 Heart-Based Strategies for all the Stages of Your Child’s Life is presented in such a way that is easy to understand and go back and look up specific points you need at the time. I appreciated that they took the approach of saying what you’re doing isn’t wrong – it’s just not complete. Let’s face it – it’s easy to feel defeated in parenting, isn’t it? Would you feel encouraged reading a book telling you everything you’re doing is wrong? Probably not. You would probably get a little defensive. The thing with parenting that they share is, there is MORE. There is MORE than what we’re used to knowing about parenting, and without this heart-based approach – parenting is incomplete.
I was only in the first chapter of the book when I had my first “aha!” moment. It just made sense to me. It was that piece that was missing. All the discipline and rewards in the world still weren’t the full answer to our problems. They help a little, and there is still a place for them, but I truly see now it is a heart matter. Changing their behavior is temporary in that it doesn’t have lasting effects on who they will be as an adult, but changing their hearts is everything. It’s also everything God calls us to do as parents!
One example in our home is our 5 year old daughter. She has Sensory Processing Disorder and has a hard time accepting personal mistakes. Therefore she will lie in order to not take blame. This will range from blaming her brothers two rooms over for spilling her drink or the pencil itself for making a writing mistake. We, as parents, have had a hard time addressing this. My husband addressed it with discipline, and I sometimes disagreed because I did the same thing when I was young because I, too, have Sensory Processing Disorder. I still struggle with self confidence issues. What I have learned, though, is just as we cannot put God in a box, we cannot put people in a box either. God can change hearts. We know that. Whose hearts are more pliable – a child’s or an adult’s? I know God is working on mine, and I know He can work through us to change hers. The Christian Parenting Handbook is exactly what I needed to see this! We, as parents, have the opportunity to break though walls and labels and really get to their hearts! Soon she will be able to say “I made a mistake. I’m sorry.” That will be amazing! She won’t have to go to time out or get a privilege taken away, she will get acknowledgement of genuine admiration from us. I am filled with joy knowing she will be changing at the heart level in ways I didn’t have the chance to when I was her age!
I have already started implementing some of the strategies I have learned in The Christian Parenting Handbook such as: letting our children own their problem (this really works!), really studying each child to get to know their characteristics, encouraging family teamwork, affirm approximately right behavior, taking a break, treating each child uniquely (as well as helping them acknowledge “fair” isn’t the same as “equal”). These are just the tip of the ice burg. There are FIFTY wonderful strategies in The Christian Parenting Handbook! I’m just sharing a few of my favorites!
I cannot stress enough how The Christian Parenting Handbook has blessed our lives. It truly was an answer to prayer. Whether you have young children like ours or older children there really is something for parents with children of all ages. I know it is definitely a resource I will keep handy as our children continue to grow and enter different life stages!
Reminder! Buy The Christian Parenting Handbook through May 5, and you will get a Bonus Parenting Package valued at more than $400.00. Plus, you can receive The Christian Parenting Handbook Companion Guide for free if you purchase 5 copies  or more of the book! You can make your purchase directly from The National Center for Biblical Parenting. It *may* be available for purchase in other locations such as: Amazon (paperback on Backorder), or your local Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, or Mardel.
To claim your amazing free gift, simply forward your purchase confirmation to Gift@biblicalparenting.org and The National Center for Biblical Parenting will send you your special product code for the $400.00 package. If you purchased 5 or more copies of the book, they’ll send you the PDF version of the Companion Guide along with the audio segments.