With Mother’s Day this past Sunday and Father’s Day just around the corner, we’re excited to celebrate parents! Parenting is both rewarding and challenging, and we want to point you to some reads that will provide encouragement as you raise children through the lens of the gospel.
Here are some of our favorite resources for parents:
Foundations by Ruth Chou Simons & Troy Simons
Though there isn’t a formula or prescription for raising godly kids, what you desire for your family begins with heeding God’s instructions to remember and declare His faithful works to the next generation. Best-selling author and artist Ruth Chou Simons, along with her husband, Troy, are gratefully raising six boys on a firm foundation of God’s Word by preaching that truth to themselves and their family daily. In this book, they invite you to join them in the holy work of training children to know and love God for a lifetime.
Foundations will help you direct your family one day at a time, as you explore 12 key truths that will help connect your children’s hearts—and yours—to the heart of God. With a simple, chapter-a-day format that includes Scripture, devotional thoughts, meditations, and discussion questions, Foundations will guide you in leading your family.
Full-Circle Parenting by Jimmy and Kristin Scoggins
Parenting isn’t for wimps. It’s not just the routines, schedules, discipline, and heartaches—it’s the hard conversations. One of the greatest challenges of parenting is navigating the crucial talks that we must have with our kids.
Jimmy and Kristin Scroggins wrote Full-Circle Parenting to help you have these vital discussions with a biblical perspective. This book will give you a “conversation map” to work through any tough conversations you have with your children and will show you how it works with topics like gender, sexuality and marriage, technology, alcohol and substance abuse, and more.
Know thy Gamer by Drew Dixon | Coming September 2022
Video games used to be as simple as a blue hedgehog running from one side of the screen to the other. Now, video games create grand adventures of secret societies, alien races that have come to destroy entire galaxies, or dark forces that have arrived to destroy ancient kingdoms.
Video games can display wondrous environments but can also house blood and gore. They can create adventures that get kids through rainy days but can also trap them in their rooms for untold amounts of time. This leaves many parents with one of two choices. They can either ignore the problems, or they can simply not allow their children to play games at all.
In Know Thy Gamer, Drew Dixon offers an opportunity for parents to understand their children and the kinds of games they are playing. By discussing some of the most important movements in the gaming world, Drew guides parents to understanding and loving their gamers through a Christian lens.
The Tiny Theologians Series | Amy Gannett
Did God ever go to school? Is there anything God doesn’t know? Does God ever get too tired to hear our prayers?
Amy Gannett, founder and creator of the popular Tiny Theologians® brand, aims to answer questions like these in Does God Go on Vacation?, Does God Sleep?, and Did God Learn His ABCs?. Each book’s engaging, rhyming text and bold, delightful illustrations make God’s omniscience (His all-knowing nature) understandable, relatable, and applicable for kids. Young readers will close each book knowing there’s no need to worry about today or tomorrow—for God never takes a vacation, never needs to sleep, and there is nothing too difficult for Him!
You Can Rest by Katy Boatman
Preteen girls have lots to be anxious about these days, and Katy Boatman, who has worked with them for 15 years, understands that. With an authentic voice and mentor mindset, Katy wrote You Can Rest to help young readers calm their hearts and minds by focusing on the one who brings true rest: Jesus.
Each day is structured with a Bible verse to open, a devotion to ponder, and a prayer to close. With journaling prompts throughout the book, this 100-day devotional helps readers reflect on their everyday anxieties from a biblical perspective, leading to hope in Christ. Packed with grace and truth and sprinkled with humor and delight, You Can Rest shows preteen girls that our worries and fears do not have the final say. Jesus does.
Mom Set Free by Jeannie Cunnion | 7 Sessions
As moms, we’re under constant pressure. We have to get it right in all areas of life—work, home, family, and faith—because our children’s futures hinge on our ability to perfectly orchestrate the present. But those impossible standards leave us oscillating between worry, fear, anger, and shame. They threaten to steal all the wonder from parenting, life, and our personal relationship with God.
Mom Set Free leads you to discover how the gospel message can empower you to parent in the freedom of God’s sovereignty. You’ll be encouraged to breathe deeper, walk lighter, and enjoy your children—and the parenting journey—more than ever before.
Never Alone by Jeannie Cunnion | 7 Sessions
Mama, Jesus set you free. Now the Holy Spirit is in you to help you live free and parent free.
In Never Alone by Jeannie Cunnion, you’ll discover how the Holy Spirit’s presence and power transform how you lead and love your kids. You’ll be invited to wrestle through the question, Do I really know how to parent in the power of the Holy Spirit, or have I settled for parenting in my own power?
Good news, Mom. The Holy Spirit is championing you in the holy work of motherhood. Where you can’t, He can! He is faithfully at work, making the gospel irresistible to your kids. You are never alone in your pursuit to point your kids to the love of Jesus.
Homegrown by Josh & Christi Staub | 6 Sessions
As parents, we want to raise children who know God, love Him, and share His love with the world. But raising kids who live out such faith is less about our own parenting skills and more about God’s power. When the Holy Spirit lives through us, we model the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—for our children.
In Homegrown, you’ll discover the fruit of the Spirit in the context of your parenting, learn how to cultivate growth in your children, and explore practical ways to live out the fruit of the Spirit together.
Christ-Centered Parenting by Russell Moore and Phillip Bethancourt | 6 Sessions
Are you equipped to talk to your kids about today’s cultural issues? Designed to help you lead your children and teens in a confident and responsible way, this resource will equip you to address topics children of all ages face, including gender issues, pornography, same-sex marriage, and more. Give your kids a biblical worldview that will produce the next generation of culture shapers—not simply the next generation shaped by their culture.
Which resource do you think will be most beneficial to parenting? Let us know in the comments below!
