It's been a long time since Dr. Hoffman required book reviews during college and 20 years later I don't remember the proper format since I don't know if I've written one since earning my degree, but as with everything else in the digital age the rules have certainly changed, so I'm just going to hope Dr. Hoffman isn't reading this.
When I found out Kristen Welch was coming out with a new book, on gratitude & entitlement I couldn't wait to read it. I have long been a fan of Kristen's blog We Are THAT Family, her work founding both The Mercy House and Fair Trade Friday, as well as her book Rhinestone Jesus, so I knew I would love this. In fact, many of my own views on how to encourage gratitude in our home have come from reading Kristen's blog over the years. More than a year ago Kristen wrote about what their family eats on Mondays and we adopted the same tradition, for the same reason.
I applied to be on the launch team, and was accepted, thinking, "This book is going to be easy for me to read." I didn't expect the level of conviction I would feel. (God has REALLY been chipping away at my pride lately). Kristen's words come from a mom who is in the trenches with a daughter who is in high school, a son who is in middle school, and a daughter who is in elementary school. Kristen readily admits that she didn't write the book because she has all the answers she wrote it because she doesn't.
The first few chapters were hard to read, and I didn't like them, despite my familiarity with Kristen's work, and knowing where she was coming from. The reasons I didn't like the first few chapters had nothing to do with Kristen's words and everything to do with my own conviction. I didn't want to think that, while I was trying to raise grateful kids, the reality is that I have become pretty entitled myself. In the days that followed reading the opening of the book I started seeing things in my own life that I expected or deserved. As Kristen wrote, "We often buy things not so much because we need them, but because we feel like we deserve them. We work hard; we owe it to ourselves." OUCH.
As I continued to read the book, pray, and examine my own heart I was cheering for Kristen as I wrote this. THIS is what I want our family to look like. I want our family to be counter-cultural, even though I know it's going to be hard. I want a home that is Christ-centered and focused on the needs of others, rather than our own wants and desires.
More than one friend has commented "This is the book I wish I'd had when my kids were younger." I can identify with Kristen, and her perspective, because we are in similar places in life. While her youngest is roughly the same as as my firstborn, she is parenting in the same world of technology and social media that I am.
It is with the greatest confidence that I can say EVERY family in 2016 could benefit from this book, because we can all use a bit more gratitude and a lot less entitlement.
Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World is available today!!!
When I found out Kristen Welch was coming out with a new book, on gratitude & entitlement I couldn't wait to read it. I have long been a fan of Kristen's blog We Are THAT Family, her work founding both The Mercy House and Fair Trade Friday, as well as her book Rhinestone Jesus, so I knew I would love this. In fact, many of my own views on how to encourage gratitude in our home have come from reading Kristen's blog over the years. More than a year ago Kristen wrote about what their family eats on Mondays and we adopted the same tradition, for the same reason.
I applied to be on the launch team, and was accepted, thinking, "This book is going to be easy for me to read." I didn't expect the level of conviction I would feel. (God has REALLY been chipping away at my pride lately). Kristen's words come from a mom who is in the trenches with a daughter who is in high school, a son who is in middle school, and a daughter who is in elementary school. Kristen readily admits that she didn't write the book because she has all the answers she wrote it because she doesn't.
The first few chapters were hard to read, and I didn't like them, despite my familiarity with Kristen's work, and knowing where she was coming from. The reasons I didn't like the first few chapters had nothing to do with Kristen's words and everything to do with my own conviction. I didn't want to think that, while I was trying to raise grateful kids, the reality is that I have become pretty entitled myself. In the days that followed reading the opening of the book I started seeing things in my own life that I expected or deserved. As Kristen wrote, "We often buy things not so much because we need them, but because we feel like we deserve them. We work hard; we owe it to ourselves." OUCH.
As I continued to read the book, pray, and examine my own heart I was cheering for Kristen as I wrote this. THIS is what I want our family to look like. I want our family to be counter-cultural, even though I know it's going to be hard. I want a home that is Christ-centered and focused on the needs of others, rather than our own wants and desires.
More than one friend has commented "This is the book I wish I'd had when my kids were younger." I can identify with Kristen, and her perspective, because we are in similar places in life. While her youngest is roughly the same as as my firstborn, she is parenting in the same world of technology and social media that I am.
It is with the greatest confidence that I can say EVERY family in 2016 could benefit from this book, because we can all use a bit more gratitude and a lot less entitlement.
Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World is available today!!!
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