Passionate Parenting

by Cary Schmidt

Proceed with caution! This is not a book for quick fix parenting. If you're looking for a way to make parenting easier or less burdensome, this is not the book.

Parenting is work. Parenting is tough. And, contrary to popular expectations it gets harder as the kids get older.

Passionate Parenting is about pursuing the heart of your teenager and helping that heart fall in love with the heart of God. It all begins with examining your own heart as a parent. It begins with being passionate about your own relationship with Jesus Christ and HIs will for your life.

Then it overflows into a passionate, heart-focused, parent-teen relationship that is built on authenticity, transparency, laughter, godliness, and growth.

The teen years are the best years of parenting. But for many families they are the worst. For many they are nothing more than years of distance, brokenness, hurt, and regret. This doesn't have to be your family!

If you're up for the challenge of becoming a passionate parent - if you long to enjoy the teen years, and you're ready for some tough and rewarding work - then dive in! This book will equip you for the journey! (From inside cover)

Genres: Parenting, Family, Nonfiction

227 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Cary Schmidt is the senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church of Newington, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Tom Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the best word I can use to describe my attitude toward this book is that I appreciate it. I don't marvel at it as some do. Its flaws include a tendency to lecture, and a tendency to rely too much on experience/opinion rather than the Word of God. But its strengths are many and varied. Cary does a very good job of bringing a wide number of aspects of good parenting to light, and of giving helpful, sound, practical advice. Even better, he deals much with the philosophy behind successful parenting rather than just the actions themselves. Although I do not think it is a great book I do think it is a very good one, and one that is well worth reading (and thinking) through.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, kudos to the author for using KJV throughout the entire book.
This parenting book goes above and beyond all other parenting books I've read. How to "fix" an errant teen? First, look at self. Fix self. Second, don't band-aid fix the behavior, but find out what the root of the issue is and work on that.
There are only a few minor things I disagreed with the author about, and if I were to struggle to find something annoying about the writing, it would be the overuse of em--dashes.
I definitely recommend this book.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book on raising teens was like attending a parenting class. I believe the main theme and message of the book was to reach the heart of your teen. Parenting now a days is focused on behavior modification and keeping with the rules. If my two daughters only catch how to obey rules, I have failed as a parent. After reading this book I was reminded and challenged once again to focus on the heart of my girls. I desire for my girls to develop their very own relationship with God. I don't want my girls to love God because Mommy and Daddy love the Lord, but because they do from their heart. If my girls leave my home with a genuine walk with God, I believe they can face anything. "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it".

[Josh Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read on parenting teens...period! If your children are currently teenagers, about to enter the teen stage, or you work with teenagers, this book will aid you greatly.

[Matt Goins · Rating 5 out of 5]

REAL and PRACTICAL

My wife and I have 3 teenage boys, ages 15, 14, and 13. Man, I needed this book at this time of my life. The author is refreshingly transparent and intensely practical as he walks parents through what it looks like to be passionate in what God has entrusted them to do. A definite reread in the near future!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is an excellent book. I have read many Christian parenting books, but Passionate Parenting exceeds them all. It is jam packed with not only practical, but biblical advice on capturing the heart of your child.

[Tim Minge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book filled with helpful and practical parenting advice.