I’ve been meaning to share some of my favorite parenting books, and tonight I was reminded of that once again. I picked up Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments by Kara Durbin almost two years ago, though I realized I wouldn’t get a lot of use out of it until my kids got a little older. Lo and behold, that moment is here.
The book is basically a list of Scriptures organized by topics you would deal with in instructing your children in God’s ways (e.g. apathy, bragging, cooperation, listening…) It is designed to make it easy (and quick) to find the Scripture references you need when discussing such matters with your kids.
For example, tonight I asked my son a question. He knew answering truthfully would mean he couldn’t do something he wanted to do. So he lied. We’ve never talked about lying because it’s never happened before. So first I defined “lying.” (It helped that he had watched Pinocchio last night. I wonder if that’s where he got the idea?) Then I told him to go get his Bible. While he was retrieving it, I ran to my shelf to grab Parenting with Scripture. I looked up “lying” in the index, and it sent me to the entry on “honesty.” I turned there, skimmed the eight verses listed, and selected the one that seemed the most clear cut and easy for him to understand. I noted the reference in my mind and set the book aside so that when he came back I could take him in my lap. We looked up Proverbs 12:22 in his Bible: “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.” We talked about what that meant, and then I had him repeat a prayer of confession after me. He got very teary-eyed as he prayed, so then I showed him 1 John 1:9 (“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.) He stopped crying and we cuddled for a while. Teachable moment, indeed.
It was so helpful to have a reference to point me to an appropriate Bible verse quickly. I am thankful for all the time Kara Durbin put into creating such a practical resource for parents. I know it will get plenty of use in the years to come as we seek to train up our children in the way they should go. I highly recommend it for all Christian parents!
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Note: I have the original edition of the book. The link above is for the new edition released April 1, 2012.
