Full Time Parenting by Israel Wayne. My first thoughts when reading this book were it should be called Full Time Family. It covers so many areas of family life beyond just strictly parenting. So many parenting books right now are nothing more than legalistic steps, mixed with pop psychology, of what to do to have good kids. (Yes, even the ones decrying “legalism” are usually just cloaked in a different form of it.) This book was refreshingly different, sharing life and lessons learned for building a strong family, focusing on following God and His Word. It was like true discipleship, not a checklist for “producing some kind of predictable Pavlovian or Skinnerian behavior.”
The first chapter truly lays the foundation for parenting, Be the Parent. “Because they don’t belong to you, but to Him, you need to find out what He expects of you and how He wants you to raise His children. You can’t just do any old thing you like. … You need to find out what God’s desire is for these children. … The good thing is that He is not silent. He has given us a wealth of knowledge and direction in His Word about parenting, education and child training.”
Although the book is in no way a do-this, don’t-do-that checklist, it does provide practical help, beginning with common sense foundations that don’t seem to be common sense anymore. “You are the parent, they are the children.” “Children need boundries.” “Value your Words.” “Train their hearts, not just their behavior.” “Have a goal.” And most important of all, “Throw your self on the mercy of God.”
From there Israel covers everything from helping the hyperactive child (from personal experience) to techno-parenting to purity, hospitality, the one-income family, and keeping your marriage strong to family business and home education to passing the baton. There’s even a chapter by Israel’s mom, Skeet Savage, on single parenting.
I think you’ll enjoy reading this book and find it a refreshing change from most parenting books available today. Order here.
