Building Your Library

I am passionate about learning. I've never been one to just know how to do something, I have to work at everything I'm good at. The Lord has gifted me with the desire to not be satisfied with average. He has given me passion to be the best He created me to be. I think part of that gift involves not gifting me in some areas so I will strive to learn and therefore be stronger in.

No one ever told me that parenting would take extreme effort. Yes, I was naive as a new mom!! I did lots of reading beforehand to prepare but had no idea all the areas of development in a child I would need to learn about. I wasn't prepared for all the times I would be clueless in parenting! I seriously remember one sunny morning when Isaac was about 9 months old I thought, "I could get use to just having babies all the time...this is wonderful!" Then my 9 month old turned into a 2 year old, 3 year old, etc. Let's just say I stopped at 2 kids....my vision has changed!

What I learned was that it wasn't about just having babies and loving on them. It's about raising Godly boys who will love the Lord with everything in them who will be husbands and fathers. That's a huge task that I was never prepared to take on! Parenting is this continuous journey that I will always be learning about.

As I continue to learn on this journey, I'm so thankful for men and women who are willing to share their Godly wisdom with me. This is why I find it so important to invest in resources and to be continually learning. Our children will not just "happen" to grow up right, we have to teach them. It is our God given role to teach our children the Lord's ways...He makes that very clear.

The Bible is the first and foremost resource for my parenting and I make sure to match up everything I hear and read to God's word. However, I'm so thankful for the practical resources out there.

My reading focus has changed lately. In the beginning I read lots of general parenting books that discussed discipline, how to take care of babies, etc. Now I have two growing boys and need more wisdom on how to raise them so my focus has changed and I'm seeking to read about what boys need, what they struggle with, etc. I know the sex talk is just around the corner so I'm focusing on preparing myself with many materials and resources for this area I'm not ready to dive into!

What are your favorite parenting books in general or on raising boys?