by John Trent and Gary Smalley. The Blessing, discusses the power behind the parental position to give life to your children through the words you say and the actions that you do. After reading, Birthright
by John Sheasby I was excited to read a book that would give practical advice on effective parenting. However, I ended up being disappointed with the book.I didn't have any problems with the principles of the book, rather I had issues in the way the message was delivered. The first thing I disliked about the book was their "1 Million Blessings" initiative. The initiative is to have a million people sign up on their website committing to blessing their children. While I understand, they believe in what they are teaching, for me, it came across as a commercialization of a truth of God. A second problem I had with the book is I felt they overstated and oversimplified things. In their teaching, they have 5 key elements that constitute a blessing. They restated the same concepts over and over again, without really adding anything new. I also felt like they oversimplified people's life stories to support their theory. They spent a lot of time pointing out where the blessing was missed and giving the impression that if we effectively give a true blessing to our children then everything will turn out in the end.
I personally did not walk away from the book learning anything new and I feel that there are other resources which express these same principles in better ways.
PS I received this book free of charge from Booksneeze. I was not paid for my opinion.
In the last sentence, you say that you feel there are other resources the express these principles in better ways. Could you direct me to some of the resources that you are referring to? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSteve
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your question. The Blessing took people through the pain of not having a blessing in your own life and then encouraged you to live differently by giving a blessing to your children. The two resources which have made an impact in helping me sort through pain with God's help are Waking the Dead by John Eldredge and Birthright by John Sheasby. While these books do not focus on parenting per se I think the same principles discussed in The Blessing are found in the books I listed.