Real Kids, Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children's Spiritual Lives

by Karen Marie Yust, Eugene C. Roehlkepartain (Foreword)

In a culture that has lost touch with love, compassion, and meaning, how can parents be intentional about building a spiritual foundation for their children’s development? In looking to their own upbringing for guidance, parents often feel even more at a loss―they don’t want to make the same mistakes their parents did, so they either become too strict, or they take a completely hands-off approach. A pastor, a teacher, and a mother, Karen Marie Yust offers a refreshing array of resources and provisions to guide and sustain parents and children on thier mutual journey. Drawn from a three-year study of children’s spirituality, as well as the best in theological tradition and literature, Real Kids, Real Faith provides insight and a variety of helpful tips for nurturing children’s spiritual and religious formation. Yust challenges the prevailing notion that children are unable to grasp religious concepts and encourages parents to recognize children as capable of authentic faith.

Genres: Parenting

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2004

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked reading this book. I enjoyed Karen Marie Yust's thoughts and ideas on practicing your faith with your family. I could sense her deep commitment and love for this topic. And she provides a bunch of helpful practices. She starts off with some great advice: as parents we must provide our faith in every fabric of our families lives. So providing Christian books alongside popular books, prayer time alongside fun time, Christian movies alongside popular movies, etc. Also, always talking and reading about Christian Bible stories, again and again and again. One thing I found fascinating (I will try to paraphrase and I hope I don't mess it up) is she writes that what we grow up with imprints on us so much that we live to relive those experiences as adults. As an example she provided: when her husband and her got married and their first Christmas together, one's tradition was a star on the Christmas tree, the other an angel. And for a few years, they compromised, and both felt the tree was missing something, because their family tradition changed. This really inspires me to continue to work hard to provide my children with meaningful and lasting memories of our beautiful Christian traditions and faith. The two chapters I enjoyed especially were on story telling and praying with children. It's a good read, however if you have read a bunch of parenting books already, you will be rereading the same material. But it's always inspiring to read another good parenting book :)

[Carla H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very practical book for parents and others who work with children. As the premise of the book states, many parents, in striving not to make the same mistakes their parents made, create a new set of mistakes. Because we know there is no perfect solution in raising spiritual children, this book helps to reinforce positive spiritual disciplines and practices that work. It was required reading in a class on ministry with children and young families, and I thanked my professor for assigning literature that is truly usable.

[JJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note much helpful here. Read like a research paper and not something I could make use of. What disappointment!