“This book is about one thing: equipping us, as we are right now, to confidently enable our children to have vibrant, two-way relationships with the God who loves them.” writes Rachel Turner in the introduction to this book and having read through the pages that follow I must say this is by far the best parenting for faith book I have read so far. This omnibus version actually brings together 3 previously published books into one volume with 3 parts: Parenting Children for a Life of Faith; Parenting Children for a life of purpose; Parenting Children for a life of confidence.

Parents generally want the best for their kids. For Christian parents, this also includes their spiritual lives. This book is a great resource for any Christian parent who desires the best spiritually for their kids but find themselves caught up in the reality of parenting survival. I love that rather then burdening parents with more ideas or tips of things they should be doing, she releases parents with every day solutions that they can incorporate in their own parenting style. Full of practical ways for parents to not only incorporate the ‘head knowledge’ aspects but also the ‘God connection’ relationship.

The book is full of real life examples of different families and approaches to topics like “discipling our children proactively”; “modeling the reality of being in relationship with God”; “connecting children to God’s heart”; “praying with children” and so much more. For parents in the beginning stages of parenting there is also a chapter entitled “Starting well with under-fives” that captures the core ideas in ways to set a foundation of God connection. Part 3, Parenting for a life of Confidence has chapters the cover media influence, friends and peer pressure, comparison, humility and failure as parents seek to nurture a confidence that is rooted in God. This section is particularly helpful for parenting for faith for older kids and teens.

While this book is about “parenting for faith”, the value in not limited to parents. Grandparents, God parents and any other adults that are seeking to nurture a life of faith in kids will benefit from reading this book. The reality for many of our churches is that it is grandparents who are bringing kids to church and wondering how to more effective in passing on faith. This is an excellent resource to be equipped in ways to “grandparent for faith”.

There is also a free, video based, 8 session Parenting for Faith course based on this book which is an excellent resource for churches to equip families in key areas. Check out the website here.