"Parenting the Wholehearted Child" by Jeannie Cunnion focuses on releasing our own expectations of parenting and allowing God's grace to captivate our and our children's hearts. By allowing ourselves to surrender to the beauty of the grace of God, it will ultimately trickle down to our children.The book is divided into four sections. Part 1 deals with grace: what it means, how it looks in our lives, and what it means to allow God's grace to rule in our our hearts as parents. Part 2 focuses on introducing our children to friendship with Jesus, as well as giving tools to help encourage that friendship. Part 3 includes chapters addressing different character traits and how to cultivate those in your children's lives. Part 4 shares how to lead with unconditional love as we instruct our children in obedience.
Overall, this was a book that sums up what Christian parents should desire for our kids: a living, vibrant faith in Christ and a life that reflects Christ-like character. She offered many practical applications, as well as Scriptures and personal stories, to get her point across. This is a book that resonates with me and it's one that I need to read again and again. This would be a fabulous book for a small group to go through together, as well as for an individual to go through slowly to really digests all the great points Cunnion addresses.
"Until we accept God's wild, unrestricted love and absolute acceptance of us, we will struggle in vain to let it flow through us to our kids. But when his grace begins to transform our hearts, it also begins to transform our parenting. It's not about what we do. It's about what his grace does through us when we surrender to his wholehearted acceptance of us" (p. 48-49).
(I’ve received this complimentary book through the BookLook program in exchange for a review. A positive review was not required and the views expressed in my review are strictly my own.)
