I thoroughly enjoyed reading Gary Thomas’ Sacred Parenting. His writing engages the reader through various stories and examples. This is one of those books that I want to read in one sitting, but can’t due to lack of time. The book is appropriately subtitled: “Sacred Parenting: How raising children shapes our souls.” This is exactly what the book is about. If I could sum up the book in a sentence, it would be: Parenting is a sacred task by which we may learn how to be holy and sanctified.

When it comes to parenting most of us think about how we can help shape our children’s souls, and while this is a proper perspective, we often miss the other side of the coin where our children can help shape our souls as well. This is precisely the author’s point. He encourages parents to think of our children as little teachers. Thomas isn’t arguing that children are our authority or that we are equal. Parents are still their children’s authority figures. Rather, the work of raising children has much to teach us about love, sacrifice, self-denial, God’s love, patience, etc. With gracious instruction and helpful stories, Thomas does a good job of setting the reader’s mind and heart in the right direction of looking at how she can parent not only for the sake of her children’s soul, but her own as well!

If you’re looking for a book on how to raise your children, this is not that book (as Thomas freely admits). However, if you’re searching for a primer on ways that God can use your experience as a parent to grow in understanding and living in His will, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.