This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The issue I have with reviewing Christian books is that I'm a Christian, but I'm not THAT kind of Christian. So when I start reading a free ARC sent to me by the publisher where parents are wondering what they did wrong to make their son want to be gay, well, first off, you did nothing and it's not about you. This is about your son realizing who he really is, how he was made, and being brave enough to tell you, his homophobic parents, in hopes that you will continue to support and love him. You want to raise a successful teen? Support and love.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
In the beginning of Raising Successful Teens by Jeffrey Dean, I was a little turned off just because some of my viewpoints don't align with Dean's. But I kept reading and did like the tips about effectively communicating with your teen, staying on top of the hot social media trends, how to talk to your teens about sex, and respect for the opposite gender. It's a scary world out there. I'm going to have totally different challenges raising my teen than my parents did raising me. (And that wasn't very challenging at all, to be quite honest.) I read news stories all the time about date rape, sexting, and underage drinking, etc. Whether or not I'm coming at it from a Biblical perspective, I want my kid to make good choices. Isn't that what we all want for our kids? This book is encouraging in that even if there are challenges, a parent can stay the course and have everybody come out okay on the other end. (Unless you try to "pray the gay away". That's not how it works.)
The book also raised some scriptural questions for me, so now I have some verses to investigate further for a better understanding outside of the author's context. I guess any book that makes you dig deeper into the Bible is a good one, right?
This is a book about how to raise teens from a Biblical perspective, and if you are a Christian, you can decide how far you want to take Dean's advice.
Raising Successful Teens is published by Multnomah and is on bookstore shelves now. I received a free review copy for my honest review.
Comments
Post a Comment