936 Pennies - Review

I just recently finished reading 936 Pennies: Discovering the Joy of Intentional Parenting by Eryn Lynum. This book really challenged my thoughts on parenting and gave me the encouragement to make some changes to how I interact with my girls.

The author, Eryn Lynum, was given a jar of 936 pennies on the day of their baby dedication at church. Each of the 936 pennies represents one week out of the 18 years that child will hopefully live in their home. Each week, she would take one penny out as a reminder to use that time wisely. The purpose of the book, 936 Pennies, was to help parents see how to invest the time a child lives in your home in an intentional way so that when they leave the home, they are prepared to live their lives according to the god-honoring example set during each of those weeks.

Eryn presents realistic and practical ways of "investing" those pennies in a child. From spending more time outdoors and less in front of a screen to relying on God when fears in parenting threaten to overwhelm us. Through stories with her own children she shares insight into the ups and downs of parenting.

As I mentioned before, many parts of this book really challenged me. I know I'm not always intentional with my time. I give into my laziness and selfishness and don't take advantage of enough opportunities to spend quality time with my children. I've recently found myself saying yes to my kids more often when they ask me to play with them because I know that is time I'll never get back. This book was a great reminder of the blessing my kids are in my life, and I would strongly recommend it to any parent.

The main issue I had with this book was how child-centered it made the family. And while she mentions the need for Jesus in parenting, she still sometimes makes it sound like how your child turns out completely relies on your parenting. What a terrifying thought! She wouldn't say that, I don't think, but she could have made it more clear in some cases. (For more of my thoughts on how important Jesus is in our parenting, see this post.) In spite of that, I highlighted many parts of the book, and I look forward to seeing how I transform my parenting through the principles I learned.

Have you read 936 Pennies? If so, what did you think? Do you have any other awesome parenting books to recommend?



I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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We Can't Save Them

I recently read on article titled Homeschool Will  Not Save Them. In this article, a woman shares her story of how she had made some assumptions when deciding to homeschool her children. She did all the things she thought a Christian parent was supposed to do and assumed God would save her children because of them, but in the end, her daughter turned away from the Truth. It's a heart-breaking, but eye-opening read. My post is not about homeschooling, or schooling at all. Because there are plenty of other things we do with the misunderstanding of "If I just do this, my child will grow up to be a Christian." Ultimately, we think we are our children's savior.

In our family, we go to church pretty much every Sunday unless someone is crazy sick. We read our Bible stories before we go to bed. We pray before we eat. And still I think, I could be doing more. And I probably could, but that's not the point. I know my salvation is not based on my works, why would I think my children's would be? There is absolutely nothing I can do to save my children. No church activity, at-home devotional, schooling choice or gospel presentation can force my girls into an understanding of their need for a risen Savior.

This doesn't mean I don't have a responsibility of course. I am to "train up [my] child in the way [s]he should go," (Proverbs 22:6) but ultimately it is God who will guide her steps. We are not to "provoke [our] children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."(Ephesians 6:4) But in the end, it is the Holy Spirit's job to work in their hearts and give them a deeper understanding of God. I am to fulfill my responsibility to teach, train, correct, discipline, etc because God has given me the gift of these children, and I want to "steward" that gift well. But I am not a savior to my children, Jesus is.

This is GOOD news! Or at least, it should be. I am not perfect and if it were left up to my own works none of my children would be saved. No one would be saved. But how hard is it to leave the futures of our children in someone else's hands? It wouldn't be, if we always remembered how powerful and loving our God is. He is the only one who CAN save them, and he wants what's best for us and our children.

Does this mean that all of our children will be saved? Unfortunately, no. God, in his sovereignty, chooses those whom he will save and we are called to respond. So, what does that mean for us as parents? We are called to be faithful and obedient. Obedient in our walks as believers, and by extension, our roles as parents. Faithful in our roles as prayer warriors for our children and for others. Faithful, and obedient.

I don't think this just applies to our children, either. This applies to anyone we desire to come to know the Lord. Spouses, parents, siblings, friends. We are called to live our lives in accordance with his will and to share the Truth of his great salvation plan with the people around us. We are to feel the burden of the lost in our lives, but we are to trust the burden of their salvation to the Savior. Trust in the One who saves.

Do you have kids who don't yet know Jesus? Or are there others in your life you are trying to lead to salvation? Don't give up! Share that burden with others. What a blessing it is to know there are other people out there who are praying for your loved ones. Who are showing the truth of the gospel to them. Let's be the church!

Praying for Girls - Review

I've fallen behind on my reading. This is in large part due to the fact that I started keeping all three girls at home on my days off. I'm not going to stress about it though, because I want reading, even nonfiction, to be enjoyable. When it becomes something I "have to" do then I get less out of it. My July/August nonfiction book was Praying for Girls by Teri Lynne Underwood.

This book was so incredibly practical. Raising kids is so wonderfully hard, and each gender comes with its own set of challenges. Since we have three girls, having applicable scripture-based prayers to say over my daughters is invaluable to me. Praying for Girls works through five main areas of a girl's life: her identity, her heart, her mind, her relationships, and her purpose. Each part is broken up into different aspects of the main areas with Biblical truths, Scripture-based prayers (for both daughters and mothers), and creative ways to talk to daughters about those truths. Combined they form effective tools to help us, as parents, guide our daughters into becoming godly women.

I already prayed for my kids every day, but having very specific prayers that address circumstances they'll face in life, and suggested ways to talk to them about those circumstances (based on their age) was a huge blessing. This is a book I feel like I need to continuously work through over and over again to guide me through praying for my kids. It's easy to feel overwhelmed with the prospect of raising children in today's society, but prayer is the best way to help us in that feat. Ultimately, we have to come to a place where we realize that there's only so much we can do, and God is in control. Wonderfully, He loves our kids abundantly more than we every could. It says in the book, "We don't have to be perfect prayers, nor do our prayers have to be perfect, because the God who hears us and loves us - and our girls - is perfect and perfectly able." What an amazingly comforting thought.

If you have girls, I couldn't more strongly recommend this book. I believe it has helped make my prayers more focused and effective, and it has given me ideas of how to talk to my kids now, and in the future about what it means to be a Christ-follower. I pray it has a similar impact on your family as well.

Thank you to Bethany House Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book to review. All opinions, however, are my own.

Resources for Moms

Happy Mother's Day! In honor of the day I want to look at tools that make us better moms. I've offered a few below that I've enjoyed recently, but what I really want is for you to tell me what resources you've used that have helped you. Now, this isn't just for moms with littles like mine. This could be for moms of older kids, grandmas, or those without kids but act as a mom-figure for others. I'll take a look at the suggestions and expand the list so that we can have a place to look when we need help/advice. Now, of course the best places to look are the Bible and our own moms. But lets add to those.

1. God Centered Mom Podcast - A friend recently recommended this on Facebook and I thought I'd check it out. I want to start listening to podcasts instead of audio books all the time on my long drive to and from work. I've only listened to a few so far, but she and her guests talk about some really interesting things and it's neat to see the perspective of other moms (and dads).
2. The Introverted Mother - I need to give credit where it's due. I found this article on my friends' blog. These ladies are amazing and have interesting perspectives on motherhood as well. Anyway, this article really spoke to me because it's me to a T! If you think this might describe you as well then check it out.
3. Don't Make Me Count to Three - Some of you may have seen where I reviewed this book by Ginger Hubbard. She gives her take (from a biblical perspective) of disciplining children. I didn't necessarily agree with everything, but she gives a lot of good advice that I need to do better about implementing.

So now it's your turn. What blogs, podcasts, articles, books, etc would you recommend to other mom's or mom-figures?