“… God could have chosen anyone to be the parent of your teen. But He didn’t choose just anyone; he chose you. This is no coincidence.”
Raising teenagers has always been a hard, but rewarding part of parenting. In today’s world, it’s even harder and scarier, but can be even more rewarding. Raising Successful Teens: How to Help Your Child Honor God and Live Wisely by Jeffrey Dean is a book that parents of teens can look to for guidance and support. The author raises current difficulties parents having raising teenagers and looks at how parents can not only address those from a Biblical perspective, but help the teenager develop a Biblical perspective about that topic in their lives.
Raising Successful Teens was sent to me as part of a book launch for Multnomah books. The book is a revision of The Fight of Your Life and will be released on Sept. 3, 2019. I was given a free copy in exchange for a fair review.
The book starts off establishing the importance of the relationships a teen has with his or her mother and father and how important family and communication are in a teenager’s life. Then, the book addresses specific topics: healthy cell phone boundaries, pornography, dating and social media. The book ends by discussing how important faith is in helping a teen develop a good view of their purpose in life. One of my favorite chapters is “The Top Ten Questions Teens Are Asking.” It gives insight into what teens really worry about – their family, their identity and their faith. The author does a good job of relating stories from his own parenting and counseling experiences and does not come across as being a perfect parent at all. There are also concrete tips at the end of each chapter for parents to try out.
Raising Successful Teens is a good resource for every parent to read and have on a bookshelf. It is a book I will use as a reference as we are just about to enter the teenage years. Christian parents will especially find the faith-based aspect of the book helpful in looking at today’s issues from a Biblical perspective.
What is your best tip for parenting teens? Share on the blog!