Lowe, Julie. Child Proof: Parenting By Faith, Not Formula. New Growth Press, Greensboro, NC. 2018. 176 pages.
“Try this new technique. Read this latest book.” When it comes to parenting, there appears to be no shortage of advice shared. Yet, for those who are in the midst of raising children, the assessment is not all of these techniques and books apply well into their parenting. Some of the instruction passed on gives the impression that if parents simply follow this technique or apply the information in that book, their children will respond accordingly. In other words, it is parenting by formula. The problem is parenting by formula is not parenting done best. That is because there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to parenting. Parenting done best requires parents to know their children well and apply what they know with biblical wisdom. It is this wisdom Julie Lowe imparts her new book Child Proof: Parenting By Faith, Not Formula.
The What and How of Parenting By Faith
Drawing from her experiences as a counselor and relating with her life as a parent, Mrs. Lowe spends the first half of the book laying the foundation of what parenting by faith is before she devotes the latter half of the book to show how this biblical truth works out with different types of and circumstances with children (such as parenting a difficult child, an anxious child, or a child with disabilities). Along the way, she equips parents by posing reflection questions and listing out some helpful thoughts and biblical considerations.
Encourage and Equip
Child Proof encourages parents to trust God in their parenting and equips them with getting to know their child. The two themes of depending upon God in faith and getting to know your child personally run throughout the book. Rather than giving a step-by-step process of parenting, which would be formula-like, this book shares biblical wisdom by providing guidance on how parenting can help shape the child with a biblical worldview. The author also reveals how attempting to parent by formula can actually hinder parenting by faith. Neither parents nor technique experts have all the answers and parenting by faith acknowledges that as well as the need for guidance from God, our Heavenly Father.
This book has a wealth of wisdom but what may be one of the most encouraging and unique contributions of this book is it emphasizes the individuality of the child, that each child is not a carbon copy of the other. This means that if you raise children in the admonition of the Lord and yet one goes astray while the other does not, that is not necessarily a reflection on the parenting. The book informs parents the goal of parenting is not in success as others see it but in faithfulness to what God has said. The book repeatedly tells parents children are moral responders and while parents can influence their children, the child is the one who bears responsibility for how they respond in life and to their parents.
A Relationship Builder
In the end, Child Proof: Parenting by Faith, Not Formula by Julie Lowe is a relationship builder for parents to trust the Lord and to know their child. This book is for the parent who knows they cannot raise children on their own but are dependent upon the Lord. If you are (or know) a parent who wants to know your child better than the latest parenting technique, then get to know how to do so by getting your copy of Child Proof. As you replace parenting by formula with parenting by faith, you will grow as a parent, leaning on the Lord and learning how to best parent your child.
I received this book from New Growth Press in exchange for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and are my honest review of the book.
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