Parenting Children for a Life of Faith omnibus: Helping children meet and know God

Digital eBook Only - Equipping parents to raise God-connected children and teens. Collecting all the wisdom of titles previously published as Parenting Children for a Life of Faith, Parenting Children for a Life of Purpose, and Parenting Children for a Life of Confidence.

This book provides inspiration and wisdom for nurturing children into the reality of God's presence and love, equipping them to access him themselves and encouraging them to grow in a two-way relationship with him that will last a lifetime.

Rachel Turner is an author, speaker and the Parenting for Faith Pioneer for The Bible Reading Fellowship. She presents the Parenting for Faith course, a free video-based resource for church groups and individuals.

Lucy Rycroft: The Hope Filled Family December 2021

This is THE handbook of nurturing your children’s faith. (For my full review of it, check out Parenting Children for a Life of Faith.) Every parent should read it! However…it’s quite long. The new version is an omnibus, featuring three books in one, so you don’t need to read all three, but even one might be a challenge for many of us. So – promise me that if you don’t have time for the book, you’ll watch the Parenting for Faith videos (free), listen to the awesome podcast, tune in for Rachel’s regular Facebook Lives or read their blog? At the very least, the Parenting for Faith Instagram account gives lots of quick pointers, ideas and starter questions.

Extract from review by Lucy Rycroft in her blog: 'Desertmum - Pursuing discipleship through the haze of early parenting', 30.11.18

I have been reading an excellent book ... which I'm delighted to share with you today. 'Parenting Children for a Life of Faith', by Rachel Turner, has been around for a few years, along with its sequels 'Parenting Children for a Life of Purpose' and 'Parenting Children for a Life of Confidence'.

But in October, BRF brought out 'Parenting Children for a Life of Faith (Omnibus Edition)' which comprises all three books, and it is this book which I've had the pleasure to read and now share with you.

It's a pretty hefty tome, containing three books, but there's no need to be daunted. All the chapters are short and extremely readable. Rachel Turner has a very accessible style, with plenty of stories and examples to bring her points to life.

It's also very possible to dip into different chapters (as I've been doing for this review). I would recommend reading it from start to finish (as I intend to in more depth, over the coming months), because Rachel introduces frameworks and patterns which she then refers to in subsequent chapters - but you can find plenty to inspire you if you only have time to dip into a chapter now and then.

What struck me about this book was just how much I need it. After nine years of parenting, I feel I am only just scratching the surface in terms of understanding how my kids respond to events, and how I respond to them, and how that may or may not be affecting them.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that just when I think I've got parenting all wrapped up, at least one of my kids moves into a new 'phase', and the whole thing needs rethinking again. I'll be honest and say that, just right now, I'm feeling pretty negative about my ability to nurture the four precious souls God has given me.

So I need this book. And maybe you do too. As intentional as I am about my parenting, this book opened my mind to so much that I'd never even considered.

For example, I'd never thought before about the wrong views of God that my children might have picked up, and how to re-align them. I'd kind of assumed, rather arrogantly, that we were teaching them all the Right Stuff. But we're sinful - they hear our words, and they see our actions, and these don't always match up. And then there's all the stuff they're hearing from school and church and the media. All in all, that can make for a pretty confusing idea of who God is.

Another idea that I picked up, and started to put into practice immediately, is encouraging our kids to 'chat' to God, rather than follow the rather formulaic (and, if you think about it, non-relational) 'thank you - please - sorry' model. As Rachel points out, these are all essential words to use too. Any strong marriage features them in its communication: but if that was all I said to my husband, we wouldn't have a very close relationship at all! Likewise, our relationship with God can be more 'chatty', and maybe this starts more of a genuine and personal connection.

These ideas came from the first of the trilogy of books contained in this omnibus.

But the second book, 'Parenting Children for a Life of Purpose', offers great brain fodder too - specifically on the idea of nurturing our children into using the gifts God has given them - both practical and spiritual, so that they are aware from an early age of their place in the world.

The third book, 'Parenting Children for a Life of Confidence', might sound a little 'self-help' in theme, but the very first chapter reveals that it's anything but.

Contrary to the world's idea that we should be confident because we are awesomely wonderful - or the incorrect 'Christian' theology that we should be confident because God made us and we're awesomely wonderful - Rachel outlines that we should be confident because we trust in God - in other words, our confidence is in Him.

The rest of the book goes into more detail, and no tricky area is avoided: peer pressure, bullying, body image, competition. All the areas which might shake a child's confidence, Rachel calls out with truth and boldness, giving us helpful and practical ideas on how to handle these situations with grace and Biblical promises.

One thing I particularly appreciated about all three titles was the helpful way Rachel reduces concepts to simple frameworks which are easy to remember. That's not all there is - Rachel expands on these throughout each book - but for a tired and busy parent, it's good to have short, memorable phrases to pull out when we need them.

At the end of the book there's an extensive collection of FAQs, including how to disciple a child if your partner is not a believer, how to nurture the faith of a child who doesn't like to read, and how to encourage children to exercise spiritual gifts. No stone has been left unturned.

So, just to recap, this is THREE BOOKS IN ONE. Don't be put off by the size: it can easily be read one book at a time, or even one or two chapters at a time. Rachel Turner's style is endearing, easy-to-read, challenging and helpful. She is a parent and children's worker of many years' experience, so she sees the full picture of kids and their developing faith.

Parenting Children for a Life of Faith would make a fabulous Christmas present for a Christian mum or dad.

Click here for full blog.

Transforming Ministry, April 2020. Review by Veronica Bright

Rachel Turner sets out to empower, inspire and assist Christian parents to guide and help their children develop a lasting and vibrant two-way relationship with God. The book consists of three sections. [nb: this is an omnibus edition of three previous titles]

In the first, Parenting children for a life of faith, Turner says, ‘What gets missed out most often in our retelling of Bible stories is God’s relationship with people within the story.’ She stresses the importance of relationships, and suggests ways parents can help children to ‘chat’ to God and ‘catch’ his messages. The second section, Parenting children for a life of purpose, explores how Christian parents can equip their children with confidence, helping them live compassionately and courageously, understanding the power of love. The third section, Parenting children for a life of confidence, helps the reader to understand and shape their children’s attitude to life. There are ‘evangelical’ clichés in the text, and there is a tendency to take all Bible stories literally, which would not suit everybody. However, this book could be a great help to people where the whole family is Christian. The book is part of a Bible Reading Fellowship initiative, and links with a free video course Parenting for Faith, found at www.parentingforfaith.org.

Reviewed by Veronica Bright