Testimonials
PASSIONATE PARENTING
Dear Kathie,
This past winter or early spring, I signed up for a book drawing through Courtship Connection and won the book Passionate Parenting: Enjoying the Journey of Parenting Teens by Cary Schmidt. I am so very thankful for winning this wonderful book through your business! It has been a real gift from God to me!
When I started reading the book, I was so blessed by the nurturing “atmosphere” of Passionate Parenting from the very first chapter. Cary Schmidt is a Christian pastor who has a huge heart for young people, and he has a wonderful gift of conveying that through his writing. Even though we are at the tail end of raising our children, with only one of our eight children still under age 18 and the last one left to complete homeschooling, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to read this great book!
The subtitle would indicate that the book is for those raising teens, and, yes, that is the focus. However, I would encourage parents of younger children to read Passionate Parenting because I do believe that the ground work of building relationships with our children, which Cary teaches so well, needs to be established prior to entering the teen years. What a blessing it would have been for my husband and me to have read this book and absorbed its message when we first started our journey as parents!
Even though we are near the end of raising our children, I continue to search for great parenting books because now we have become grandparents, and I want to keep up on the best that is available for young Christian couples so I can recommend these to our own adult children who are parents as well as to other young Christian parents. When we were new Christian parents, there was a lack of good, child nurturing books that focused on building relationships with our children. There were many books on discipline, but not enough on the importance of building loving, heart to heart relationships with our children. The lack of relational books for parents years ago, I believe, has led to some real problems. I am so very thankful to see changes for the better in child training books for Christian parents today. Passionate Parenting by Cary Schmidt is now one of the top Christian parenting books I recommend to younger parents, along with parenting books by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller which you also offer.
Thank you, Kathie, for this outstanding book!
Grace and Peace,
Sheila
PASSIONATE PARENTING
I am a step-mom of 2 adult children, and my husband and I have 6 children together. Pastor Schmidt offers sage advice in the first part of the book about marriage and divorce which is unique and critical. You can not shepherd your child’s heart if your relationship with your spouse is not secure! I like his lists of “if you leave your family”. They are true! I have not experienced the first-hand pain of divorce, but have lived first hand with the after effects on the children. I didn’t know or understand the heart issues when my step-children were in our home. That brings me to what is unique about this book, the last chapter. Being a step-mom to prodigals, I am thankful for the recognition and advice and acceptance that the last chapter gives for parents. Whether you as a parent raised your child with heart, or authority, or indifference or somewhere in between God still has a different plan for each child.
Having 6 children ages 11 and younger, I only have one problem with this book. This book is not just for parents of teens! I realize that many parents do not realize that they don’t have their children’s heart until they are teenagers, and I see how this book can help repair those relationships. But these Biblical principles need to be set forth and embraced by parents and the church from the beginning of parenthood. For those who have been holding their children’s heart, this is a good checklist of where you are and how to get back or stay on path. I fear for those who are new to this concept of parenting and have teenagers, the task may seem overwhelming. For those, this book is encouraging and succinct.
The book is saturated with scripture and written from the heart. Each chapter builds on the previous one and is easy to read with a flow that keeps you wanting to read the next chapter. I like the outline format the author uses. It makes it easy to look up and reference points. Looking back, I have a hard time deciding which part of the book is best.
FROM MY HOUSE TO YOURS
I purchased Kathie’s new e-book, From My House to Yours, and found it to be a fast read, full of encouragement and wisdom for homeschooling moms, especially for pre-k through sixth grade. I especially love her idea about making one child a day the “helper.” What a wonderful idea for a large family, where it can be hard to make sure each child gets enough mom/dad time! I eagerly await her e-book on wisdom for those with teens and for those whose oldest children have “flown the nest!”
Laura Hambrick
CHARACTER BUILDING FOR FAMILIES
I’ve homeschooled our four children from day one. We’ve just completed twelve years of homeschooling and I love it and am convinced that God has called us to this task and he is equipping us for it. I’ve used many types of curricula through the years: some have been good and some haven’t worked out for us. It’s difficult to recommend books to other families since all the dynamics of each family are so vastly different. However, the one book that I will ALWAYS recommend, is Character Building for Families. This is, by far, my most favorite book. It’s a wonderful resource for training children in Godly character. My character gets a sharpening too. 😉 This book, I believe, can work with any type of learning, family, etc. It’s easy to use, Biblically sound, and drives home important character traits. Thank you so much for introducing this valuable resource to me.
God bless you as you serve him,
Sue Ann Privatte
SAY GOODBYE TO WHINING, COMPLAINING, and BAD ATTITUDES
Hi Kathie,
We are using the book “Say Goodbye to Whining.” As I’ve read each chapter, I shared it with my husband (who I hope will read it soon!) and then with my children. I told them what our wrong words, attitudes, and behaviors have been (including mine!) and shared what it is that I want to see and hear. I’m addressing their heart when correcting them. I think the main change is that I’m not acting like a drill sergeant using harsh tones or facial expressions and I’m trying to really listen to them with my “eyes and ears”.
Kathie, I’ve prayed for YEARS that God would put the law of kindness on my tongue and that I would be gentle with my children. It seemed to be an impossible thing to do. But with the idea of trying to honor my children, there is no place for harshness or unkindness. All of the years of begging God to change me and help me changed in ONE afternoon by purposefully choosing to honor my family. What an amazing difference! I truly love this book for all of the practical applications, ideas, and examples. They really tell you HOW to put honor in your family, not just that you need to do it and to go figure out how on your own.
By far, this has been the best parenting book I think I’ve ever read (and you should see my home library to know how significant that is!). It was definitely a word in due season.
Many blessings to you,
Rachel
PICTURE PROVERBS
Hi Kathie,
I realized that I needed to email you and tell you about my son’s reaction to the Picture Proverbs! Remember how I bought them for my autistic 17 year old hoping that he would relate given the pictures? Well…he has LOVED them!! I brought home Vol. 2 (perfect since we could pick up with the second half of the month) and he began watching on Monday the 17th. He watches the chapter that associates with the date on the calendar and has either watched them first thing in the morning or at night. Sometimes he watches them again before going to sleep! We had finished out at the end of the month and had not yet received the Vol. 1….it came this morning and he was thrilled beyond belief! He is sitting at the computer catching up on Ch. 1-5 right now…he has headphones on and is sometimes reading along! Interestingly enough, he often reads the captions under the pictures as opposed to reading the verses! I am so excited that this has worked for him and I am trusting God’s Word to not return void. I share this in case you can use this example as you talk to others who may also have autistic or otherwise specially abled children.
– Stephanie, OH
PICTURE PROVERBS
I have 4 children ages 7 and under. When I sat them down and turned on the Proverbs DVD they watched it for 5 hours straight. I was amazed and thrilled!
– AR Pastor