Spirit-Led Parenting: From Fear to Freedom in Baby's First Year [Paperback]

Megan Tietz (Author), Laura Oyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2012

Spirit-Led Parenting

Over the years, a mainstream approach to Christian parenting has emerged, and it’s one that promotes sleep training and feeding schedules for infants, warns that spoiled children and marital discord are certain by-products of homes where newborns are over-indulged, and promotes these methods as the Biblical way to care for a new baby. Unfortunately, the message of mainstream parenting advice preys on the universal fear of new parents everywhere: the fear that if they stray from the program, their babies and their marriages will suffer.

In Spirit-Led Parenting: From Fear to Freedom in Baby's First Year, two mothers share their stories. They tell of a journey that began in fear-soaked, tear-stained days marked by an overwhelming fear of failure that eventually found redemption in discovering the freedom to ignore the wisdom of man and follow the direction of the Spirit.

· This gentle path looks toward the example of God the Father, seeks after Christ's unequivocal call to servanthood, and leans upon the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in determining and meeting the individual needs of each unique child.

· Spirit-Led Parenting doesn’t encourage a methodology, but rather a mindset. This outlook on parenting is radically different from what has become the trend in Christian circles, and yet the authors believe that it is firmly rooted in and supported by Scripture.  

· Throughout the book, the authors show how parenting with a spirit-led approach has allowed them to become more peaceful, happy mothers, more intimately connected to their husbands, and closer and more surrendered to Christ.  

Sharing from their unique experiences as well as their shared philosophy, Megan and Laura play the role of big sisters, wrapping their arms around the shoulder of the new mother trying to navigate the confusing world of life with a baby and answering those important questions:  “What if the ‘right’ way doesn’t feel ‘right’?” and “Could there be more than one way to honor God as I care for my baby?”

There is another way.  That's what they wish they had been told as new mothers. And it's the message they are passionate about sharing with new parents everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Megan Tietz is the creator of sortacrunchy.net, a blogging community devoted to discussion and dialogue at the crossroads of the Christian faith and the practice of natural family living. Over a decade ago, she married her college sweetheart and now they are raising two of the sweetest girls you’ve ever met. They make their home on the windy plains of western Oklahoma. Laura Oyer met her husband, Mark, in preschool, married him sixteen years later, and now spends her days caring for their two children and pretending to keep the house clean. Mark and Laura serve in leadership at their church in northern Indiana, and she has served as part of her city’s Community Relations Commission. Laura blogs at InTheBackyard.net.

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Civitas Press (March 28, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615619207
• ISBN-13: 978-0615619200
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Will be purchasing in bulk for every new mama I meet March 30, 2012

By Emerging Mummy

Format:Paperback

I have been waiting for a book like this for years! I can hand it out to new parents with absolute confidence that they will receive soul food, grace and wholeness, love and gentleness as they embark on their parenting journey. (I'll be buying them in bulk, no doubt, and it will be every baby shower gift from here on out.) In a church culture that can so often emphasize control and fear-based "what-if" scenarios for exacting obedience even from the start of our parenting journey, it is so refreshing to read that parenting is not a war, there is no "us vs. them" with our children. Our example in all things is this: I want to parent my tinies the way that God parents me. There is no recipe or training guide for marionettes of perfect obedience but instead a long process of capturing hearts, pointing towards Jesus. And the incredible thing about this heart-attitude for parenting is that it transforms our own hearts, minds and lives to be more like our Savior. This is a beautifully written book by two mothers whose collective voice I have learned to trust.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Letting Go of Fear April 1, 2012

By KPotler

Format:Paperback

I remember when my oldest was 4 years old, throwing a temper tantrum in his room, and I sat in the hallway and cried. I cried wondering what would happen when he turned 16...I feared that this was just a glimpse of what was to come. Reading Spirit Led Parenting was a breath of fresh air, I wish I had read 17 years ago when my son was first born. Those days were filled with anxiety over whether or not the choices I made as a parent would affect him for the rest of his life. Megan and Laura do an amazing job of snipping the strings of fear that so often carry a new mom away. There are so many unknowns to parenting. Most of them time we feel unequipped to handle them. But these smart mamas remind us that we have all been given the most important tool there is, ready at our disposal, the still small voice of the Spirit. They remind us that there is no cookie-cutter answer to parenting, that we've all be chosen specifically to raise our own children and God is faithful to direct us each step of the way. This is a book I'll be giving as a gift at baby showers, for years to come!

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I hoped for July 1, 2012

By A.W.

Format:Paperback

I love the idea behind this book, but after reading it I see it as basically a book about Attachment Parenting, written from a Christian perspective. I wish it had been advertised as such. Surely there is a need for such a book in certain circles, but my circle was not one of them. I was hoping that the focus would be on following God's leading for you as a parent rather than the opinions of others, which is what the title and description suggest. The authors did address this idea frequently, but unfortunately it seemed to apply primarily to the decisions to breastfeed, avoid sleep training, and other attachment parenting principles. Attachment parenting has gained a lot of popularity recently, and there are some good results from this, such as promoting awareness of the emotional and biological needs of children. But in my experience, the tables have turned and now many people are judged by AP parents for not adhering to these principles. I am a first-time mother of a 9 month old, I am a Christian, a professional counselor turned stay-at-home-mom, I breastfeed on-demand, have worn my baby using multiple types of baby carriers, etc. so I am by no means a 'babywise' proponent who would be defensive against AP ideas. But almost every mother I know is an AP parent. From the moms group I attended at a hospital, to the mommy-and-me class through the local public school system, to the church playgroup, to the La Leche League that meets at my church, to my next door neighbor, nearly everyone breastfeeds, cloth diapers, shops at the local natural baby toy store, eats organic foods, babywears, co-sleeps, etc, and there is certainly a feeling that these are the best things to do. While the authors may have felt judged by the more strict, babywise-type parents, I experienced the reverse of that, leading me to feel that this book was too one-sided. I enjoyed reading personal stories I could identify with and that helped me feel normal for the new mom struggles. I also loved the parts about how God uses the baby year to shape and grow us as parents just as much as to shape our children. Someone feeling led to AP-style choices would be greatly encouraged by this book. But as much as the authors tried hard not to be judgmental, I still felt like the book implied, "If you follow the Spirit's lead, you will likely be led to these approaches." I know this is the opposite of what the authors were going for, but it's how I felt as a reader. I really wanted this to be my go-to baby shower gift, but I think parts of it will be discouraging for some. I wish the book had offered a more balanced approach affirming a variety of parenting decisions led by the Spirit rather than statistics of why breastfeeding is ideal, sleep training might not be a good idea, even subtle suggestions that birth should be unmedicated. Then I would feel much more comfortable sharing this otherwise encouraging book with pregnant or parenting friends who fall along different points of the spectrum. I'd love to see an updated edition in the future that provides a more inclusive approach, or at least a more upfront and accurate description of the book.

Note: I see now that the Amazon description of the book is pretty accurate. At the time I read it, all I had to go off of was the book cover itself.