Customer Reviews

How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being in childen's ministry and seeking to work with parents on raising their children to learn about God, I found this book to be an excellent resource to help churches and families work together to raise children to learn about Jesus and the things of God. This author gives guidance to parents for every age group from "pre-birth" to high school, giving them a useful guide for discipling their children. The author not only gives guidance to parents, but also includes a section for churches on how they can partner with parents in teaching the children. The author clearly states that there is no guarantee, and if you do "A, B & C" then your children will come to know and serve God, but that this is a guide providing practical things you can do to purposefully teach them the things of God.

As a Children's pastor, I found this to be a great resource and I am recommending it to all of the families in our church.

"How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph" by Linda Massey Weddle is a thoughtful resource for godly child-rearing. Whether you are a parent, a church leader or working in children's ministry, this book is a beneficial tool for anyone who wants to be deliberate about training up godly children in the way that they should go. There are good suggestions for bonding with children and instilling Biblical principles and thinking. It would have been nice to have a resource like this when my girls were younger.

This is the guide to the book How to Raise Modern-Day Joseph. It is plainly writen in a manner that any parent could understand. I like it because it puts the responsibility for raising a spiritually sound child directly on the parent where, in my opinion, it belongs. This book is full of ideas on how to incorporate spiritual training in the home for all the different times in a child's life. It has suggestions for fathers and for mothers. As well, it has a second section that is for the church, where it can support the parents with personal help and with classes for both parents and children, and what to teach at different stages in life as well as set out some guidelines so that parents know what to expect from their church support groups. It's not a day-by-day bible study but rather gives directions on how to establish a plan for your family (very important) and ways of including different projects and ideas into that plan. The author is an experienced member of Awana so many of her ideas also come from that area. Definitely a great read full of usable ideas for parents of children at any stage in life.

I foung this to be a wonderful resource that I wish had been around when my kids were younger. The book starts before your child is born, encouraging new parents to discuss how they are going to raise their child and progresses through the years with helpful tips, checklists, appropriate memory verses, etc. You can pick up anywhere in your child's development with this book and see some positive results. Does it guarantee they'll turn out great? Of course not, but the odds are in your favor! There are a lot of parenting books out there, but if you're wanting to raise your child with a love for God and aren't sure how to instill that, this is a great source of insight.

I love this new book by Linda Weddle! It's filled with practical ideas for spiritually training kids at each age. As a parent of two girls, this book gives me a clear target and focused plan for helping my daughters grow in their relationship with God. I especially like the suggested Bible verses to memorize and Bible biographies to study for each age segment.

My favorite part of the book is the family itinerary in each chapter. A worksheet is provided to help parents customize their plan and goals for each child's spiritual journey in each age stage. Getting the plan is writing makes it real and concrete.

I highly recommend this book to all parents. It will greatly benefit your family and help raise a generation of kids who know, love and serve Christ.

What can you say about How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph other than great book! Linda Weddle and Awana teamed up to produce a phenomenal book that will benefit many people, both parents and ministers, in the days to come. It is much deserving of four stars and will remain a resource of my shelf of children's ministry reference books for years to come.

To give you an idea of what you are receiving if you decide to purchase How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph, the book systematically breaks down developmental and spiritual needs of children ranging from birth to high school graduation. While you hopefully will continue to be main influencers of your children after age 18. The first 18 years are key and are where this resource focuses it's attention on.

They are teaching you to raise a child that turns into a modern day Joseph. So you might ask, what does it mean to be a modern-day Joseph? Well, the book develops its' chapters and content around several threads seen in the life of Joseph. Those threads are: Respect, Wisdom, Grace, Destiny, and Perspective. While other qualities are addressed in this book, you will see these five throughout the text. A child who is raised to have those five qualities as veins that other things in their life flow from, well that is a modern-day Joseph. He or she is one who respects well, is wise, experiences grace, pursues destiny, and has perspective.

But that is not all, one other aspect I love they incorporated in this book is that the first half of the book is addresses the life stages from 0-18 in the context of parents, while the second half addresses the life stages for churches. my challenge to you as the reader is whether you are a parent or a pastor, that you would read the other part of the book. Why? Because we become more of a unit as the family sees how the church is trying to partner alongside of them and vice versa.

Overall, this is a great book that would profit any parent or minister. From the beginning of the book, Weddle notes that this book is merely a tool that hopefully gives words and practical tips to things parents are wanting to see implemented in their children's lives. My prayer is that you would find that to be the case.

I was browsing through David C Cook's catalog the other day and spotted the book, "How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids". Bing! An Idea! This would be a great follow up tool after Egypt VBS. Perhaps unchurched parents would like to take a parenting class/seminar (even Sunday School!) using this book.

The book is divided into two sections. Part One: especially for parents and Part Two: especially for churches. Each part is divided into age groups from birth all the way through high school. In the introduction, author Linda Massey Weddle, gives suggested goals for dad, mom, and how to fit these things into a busy schedule. She introduces "Life Threads" (character traits) and where each one fits into a child's life. The sample itinerary for a family may be a bit overwhelming for families new to the church, but you could pick and choose parts in order to make a customized plan for your family.

Each chapter covers what kids are like at that particular age, what they are asking (spiritually), what you can do, and suggested Bible verses and stories. Most chapters end with a checklist with knowledge indicators, love indicators, and service activities.

These chapters would be an <strong>amazing resource </strong>for churched families who are looking to organize and structure their spiritual life a bit more. They want their children to know and love God, but they are not quite sure how to get there. They are familiar with the Bible, but are not certain how to pass that on to the next generation.

However, I'm not sure this is the right resource for families new to the church. There would be quite a learning curve catching up with the terminology, the Scripture passages, and all the "spiritual to-do's". I could see parents quickly becoming overwhelmed, discouraged, and throwing in the towel.

The final chapters give suggestions for ways the church can support the parents in passing on a legacy to their children. Again, it is divided into ages, with each age concentrating on a different "Life Thread". From what I've read (I haven't read it all), this section looks very promising. The ideas look great: not overly complicated and truly helpful.

All in all, I'm very impressed with this book, especially for parents already familiar with the Christian faith. However, I think any parent wishing to raise a child who loves God will benefit from this book. Most of the ideas are simple to implement, as long as you take it one step at a time. Great book!

BLOG: [...]

Love the practical tips in this book for different stages of a child's life.
The author also explains the importance of both parents and churches in the spiritual growth of a child, but is sure to point out that the Lord works in each person's life individually. Great reminder.
I will definitely implement some of the tips!