Growing Strong Daughters: Encouraging Girls to Become All They’re Meant to Be

by Lisa Graham McMinn

Filled with strategies, personal insights, and practical tips, this informative book helps parents instill values, self-esteem, and confidence in their daughters.

Genres: Parenting, Family, Nonfiction, Christian, Christian Living, Womens, Childrens

Paperback

First published July 1, 2000

About the author

As a contemplative Quaker I see my job as loving creation, holding hope, nurturing, laughing, praying, and being attentively grateful. My blog, “Reflections on the Ordinary” captures appreciation for things messy and glorious, ancient and ever-changing, living and dying, and always held in the heart of God.

Alongside writing, my professional journey has included nursing, academia, farming and husbandry, and the offering of spiritual direction. For 20 years I taught sociology to college students, journeying with them as they connected dots from here to there, making sense of the world and their place in it. My Ph.D. gave me access to the ivory towers of academia that continues to inform my writing. When I transitioned out of the classroom, I trained to become a certified Spiritual Director and currently am in a lovely chapter tilted toward spiritual care.

I’m a tender of a small dairy goat herd, dahlias and daffodils, broccoli and beans, and people’s storied lives. In addition to crafting words, I make goat milk soap, and an occasional round of goat milk cheese.

For 44 years I have been married to Mark, and live grateful for our journey together with all its vicissitudes. We live at Fern Creek, a small farm outside of Newberg, Oregon where we preserve what we grown, and so our grandmother’s traditions, and a more simple way of life. For the last 42 I've mothered three extraordinary daughters, and for the last 13 years have had the joy of grandmothering six curious, blossoming souls.

My childhood faith has been deepened and broadened by the contemplative practices of Quakers, earthy Franciscan spirituality, the wisdom of ancient mystics, and most significantly by long walks with God in the woods.

Reviews

[Dayspring · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have any children, but I love this book. Lisa McMinn was one of my favorite professors at Wheaton and offers incredible insight into the development of individuals, particularly women. I respect Lisa greatly and highly recommend this book.

[Shannon Guerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a lot of really great stuff in here. It’s pretty well written and not just full of the same analogies and stories we (I, at least) generally expect in modern Christian non-fiction. She speaks of empowering girls but sometimes does so by magnifying negative stereotypes that seem to be less of an issue nowadays (but maybe that’s geographical; maybe those issues are still extremely prevalent in some places).

I was disappointed with the overall emphasis on families who live the basic American dream, happy with their two-income household and sending children out to be educated and raised by other people. After reading 200ish pages about empowering girls and raising strong daughters, toward the end of the book the author absurdly wonders if schools would ALLOW parents to take their children out to lunch…and I laughed out loud. If the author still thinks she needs a teacher’s permission to spend time with her daughter, I think she still needs some empowerment herself. 😂

I would’ve loved a more Kingdom-minded approach to raising strong daughters rather than one that just puts a Christian spin on basic American culture.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot recommend this book enough! She encourages women to be all they are meant to be as God's image bearers. Passionate, kind, thoughtful, and bold, it is a must read for every woman

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the emphasis of the book and especially that the author has raised three daughters of her own. I also like her honesty in the book, not pretending like she did the perfect job of parenting. Actually, it seems like it was pretty messy at times which is how a lot of parenting is.
Even though I am a Complementarian in the world of men's and women's roles, I always love to learn from a sister in Christ who represents the other side (Egalitarian). It helps me to see the weaknesses that many time appear in complementarian circles.
On a side note, it was frustrating how she misrepresents complementarians as hierarchical. I noticed two different occasions where she seemed to caricature the complementarians as hard core hierarchical authoritarians. The complementarian view has a high view of women, the difference is between them and egalitarians is of roles. This comes about through differing interpretations of Scripture. What is ironic is that I bought this book at a Desiring God conference with John Piper who is one of the key members of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. She mentions this in the book as a hierarchical perspective. It wasn't in a section called "Dangerous Literature from the other side!"
Anyway, I thought there was a TON of stuff in this book that I needed and will definitely use in continuing to raise my two daughters. She has helpful sections in the end of each chapter that are aimed at "Where do we go from here" type stuff that I plan on going through and talking about with my wife.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the chapter written by Lisa's husband on Fathers and Daughters.
I could write a lot more. Thank you Lisa Graham McMinn for writing a helpful book on girls.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't immediately agree with everything the author said, but I admit that some parts were very liberating. One of the things she mentioned was that there was a huge bias in christian circles towards the SAHM, which piled on the guilt for mums who were not so for one reason or another. Her thesis was that mums had always worked / contributed to the family income up till the Industrial Revolution, where it became less possible to work from home through cottage industries or through farm work. Then a more distinct difference emerged between the mum who went out to a factory to work, and the mum who stayed at home with no real 'work' that provided a steady stream / meaningful amounts of income.

Before the industrial revolution, only women from very wealthy homes, or who had husbands with large incomes, could afford to be full time mothers. And for these women, they weren't quite mothering all the time either, having access to nannies, governesses and the like. Guess her point was that even the Proverbs 31 mother worked, and that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a mother working. The only thing that has changed through the centuries is that it's become harder and harder for a woman to work with her children nearby.

The other parts that were good in her book included how we should communicate with our daughters, through reason and debate, partly to show them that they should aspire to any job that a man could aspire to, and to groom their potential without pre-conceived notion of what girls should be good at, etc.

[Bold Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

... This book is an easy read. It seeks to help modern Christian parents chart the middle path between the antiquated, overbearing fundamentalist religious zealotry that birthed our republic and the nihilistic hedonistic moral relativism that passes for an ethics system in a modern collapsing empire. Included in one of the waning chapters is the debate over a couple of passages from Genesis wherein the role of the woman is believed by many to be defined. While the book addresses specifically parents of females, useful information abounds within for parents of males as well. Though information in this book is dated (McMinn does an excellent job of addressing the issues facing parents in the late 1990s and early Millennium), it conforms well to the paradigm set forth by modern, scientific Christian intellectual gatekeepers. Nothing is referred to as “Satanic” or “evil.” The book contains no references to “sin,” “heaven,” and “hell.” Ergo it is mild in taste, basic in nutrition, and packaged for mass consumption. Dig in!

Read the entire review here: http://boldbookworm.com/gsd.html

~ BB

http://boldbookworm.com

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still reading this book, but not because it's hard to get through. There's so much packed into each chapter that I find myself taking a break to think about it and then talk about it with Steve. I'll have more specifics to write about when I finish it, but I thought I'd give an update as to why it's been on my "currently reading" list for so long. I anticipate that I'll be reading this book multiple times in the coming years... I'm REALLY pleased with it so far.

[Jenifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a mom of a 2 year old daughter I LOVED the tips that McMinn wrote in this book. The steps that we can take toward making not only our daughters, but ourselves, strong and confident members of God's family and society as a whole. I strongly recommend this book to any mom of daughters!

[Donovan Mattole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to re-read this, now that my daughter is about to enter high school. If you have a daughter - any age - read this book - you won't be disappointed.

[Cws]

248.843

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book even for people with only sons! Particularly applicable to people raised in a traditional/religious home and who have a philosophical or religious commitment to gender equality.

[Sheila Nelson]

Good book. Making me think about some of the things I'm doing with my daughters. However, some of the assumptions she makes about boys are off. She should recognize this shortcoming.

[Megan Westra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute must-read for anyone raising daughters or working with girls and young women.

[Bryan Bridgeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it. Very insightful.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad a book like this exists, and I'm glad I read it. It provided good thoughts as I raise my own daughters.