Myrtle Felkner - Born to Be a Blessing: A Parents Guide to Raising Christian Children

What a challenging and important position we have if we are among those with children in our lives! Whether you are a parent, a grandparent, or a teacher who guides children, this book is meant to inspire and perhaps even to enrich some of your day-to-day contacts with the young. There is no more challenging task than faithful parenting as we seek to make God known in our families.

Making the most of every moment is the name of the game. The time that modern families have together may be very limited, and it may be that your children do not see you in the better parts of the day. This author and parent does not view parenting as a process of setting down rules, seeing those rules are obeyed, or demanding proscribed behavior; in other words, ruling the roost through demands for compliance rather than cooperation as a unit seeking to live in tune with God. Granted, children must be aware of family expectations and boundaries, and God must ever be a part of our growing together as a family; and that means seeking God and God's will for every detail in our lives.

Aren't those details wonderful! Families who add humor, adventure, active learning, and imagination to their God-seeking will find God in every detail, every experience. Of course, study of the Bible is important; its lessons are primary and are repeated often in our lives as guidance and inspiration. Study of nature, its creatures, its wondrous unity, draw us closer to the God of creation. Knowing Jesus impacts every relationship, both inside and outside the family. As we grow in our own knowledge and practice of faithful discipleship, our children are nurtured in their faith.

I want to express my own appreciation and love for my partner in raising our children, The Potato Peeler Guy, and for our children, Barbara, Joan, and Bill, and their families. A special thanks is extended to Joan, who helped her computer-challenged mother to pull this manuscript together.

Myrtle E. Felkner

Photo by Michael Browns

Every child is born to be a blessing. As parents, most of us want to respond positively to all the privileges of parenthood. None is more important than guiding and nurturing the child in faith formation and development.

This book speaks to that privilege from years of experience and from the viewpoint of parent-child relationships that respond to the child's world. Whether the child is involved in creative play, has had a bad day, or is simply searching for answers to a number of childhood's dilemmas, this book offers some insight into faithful living. Parents will deal with areas of the child's life such as self-control, truth-telling, sibling rivalry, generosity, decision-making, heroes and heroines, all set within the context of our faith in God and our desire to live as loving, faithful disciples of Jesus.

Each chapter begins with a verse of Scripture and ends with questions for meditation and discussion. Wonderful stories of real children are included in every chapter as the author shares from her decades of working with children in a variety of settings. Positive and practical problem-solving is illustrated; humor and moments of joy are shared. This book should call forth from readers a response of hope and energy for the best job of allraising Christian children.