Raising children shapes the parent every bit as much as parents shape their children.Raising children is a sacred calling—and not for the faint of heart. In Devotions for Sacred Parenting, the author of Sacred Parenting continues the conversation and contemplates the soul-transforming journey of being a parent. With all new material, fifty-two devotions explore the spiritual dynamics of parenting. These life-related devotions are creative, fresh, and encouraging, inspiring mothers and fathers to look at parenting from a different perspective—as a holy and high calling from God, and as an opportunity to grow spiritually as you strive to raise godly children. Devotions for Sacred Parenting helps you understand how God is parenting you as you parent your children.
Raising children is a sacred calling—and not for the faint of heart. It shapes the parent every bit as much as parents shape their children. In Devotions for Sacred Parenting, Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Parenting, delves deeper into the conversation and contemplates the soul-transforming journey of being a parent. Many books have been written about how to parent your children effectively, how to become a better parent, and how effective parenting produces better kids. Devotions for Sacred Parenting explores an entirely different reality: how parenting transforms you, the parent. It explores the spiritual dynamics of parenting and why caring for your children is such an effective discipline in shaping your soul and forming the character of Christ within you. With all new material, 52 devotions explore the spiritual dynamics of parenting. These life-related devotions are creative, fresh, and encouraging, inspiring mothers and fathers to look at parenting from a different perspective—as a holy and high calling from God, and as an opportunity to grow spiritually as you strive to raise godly children. Devotions for Sacred Parenting helps you understand how God is parenting you as you parent your children.
What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?By popular demand, the author of Sacred Marriage returns to the topic of how God uses marriage to expand our souls and make us holy. With all new material, Devotions for a Sacred Marriage explores how God can reveal himself to you through your marriage and help you grow closer to him as well as to your spouse.Fifty-two devotions encourage you to build your marriage around God’s priorities. From learning to live with a fellow sinner, to the process of two becoming one, to sharing our lives as brothers and sisters in Christ, Devotions for a Sacred Marriage challenges couples to embrace the profound and soul-stretching reality of Christian marriage.
Discover simple habits and easy-to-implement daily rhythms that will help you find meaning beyond the chaos of family life as you create a home where kids and parents alike practice how to love God and each other. You long for tender moments with your children--but do you ever find yourself too busy to stop, make eye contact, and say something you really mean? Daily habits are powerful ways to shape the heart--but do you find yourself giving in to screen time just to get through the day? You want to parent with purpose--but do you know how to start? Award-winning author and father of four Justin Whitmel Earley understands the tension between how you long to parent and what your daily life actually looks like. In Habits of the Household, Earley gives you the tools you need to create structure--from mealtimes to bedtimes--that free you to parent toddlers, kids, and teens with purpose. Learn how to: Develop a bedtime liturgy to settle your little ones and ground them in God's love Discover a new framework for discipline as discipleship Acquire simple practices for more regular and meaningful family mealtimes Open your eyes to the spirituality of parenting, seeing small moments as big opportunities for spiritual formation Develop a custom age chart for your family to more intentionally plan your shared years under the same roof Each chapter in Habits of the Household ends with practical patterns, prayers, or liturgies that your family can put into practice right away. As you create liberating rhythms around your everyday routines, you will find your family has a greater sense of peace and purpose as your home becomes a place where, above all, you learn how to love.
The bestselling author of Sacred Marriage offers hope to women who want to strengthen and transform their marriages into the profoundly deep relationships God intended. Women: you're not alone in your marriage. You never have been, and you never will be. While it may not always feel like it, God wants you to have a relationally healthy, emotionally engaged, and spiritually mature husband. In Loving Him Well--previously titled Sacred Influence--Gary Thomas builds on concepts from his bestselling book Sacred Marriage to reveal the inner workings of a man's heart and mind. He delves into Scriptures that help women gain biblical insight to influence their husbands. Exploring the research of neuroscientists, trained counselors, and abuse victim advocates, Gary also interviews dozens of wives to find what has worked and what hasn't as they've sought to build the best marriage possible. With new stories and fresh illustrations to help wives understand, love, and influence their husbands, Loving Him Well offers encouragement, biblically based support, and practical applications for the transformation of your marriage, drawing you and your husband closer together, the way God intended. Perfect for . . . Women in good marriages who want a great marriage Women who feel invisible or marginalized in their marriage Engaged or newly married women who want to start investing in their marriage from the start You'll discover the influence you can gain and the peace of mind you can build when you go first to God for your worth, validation, protection, and provision and then learn how to use that platform to help your husband draw closer to you and closer to God. Loving Him Well includes study questions at the end of each chapter and is also available in Spanish, Amándolo bien.
Parenting is a school for spiritual formation, says author Gary Thomas, and our children are our teachers. The journey of caring for, rearing, training, and loving our children profoundly alters us forever…even when the journey is sometimes a rough one. Sacred Parenting is unlike any other parenting book on the market. This is not a “how-to” book that teaches readers the ways to discipline their kids or help them achieve their full potential. Instead of a discussion about how parents change their children, Sacred Parenting turns the tables and demonstrates how God uses children to change their parents. Stepping beyond the overly-tilled soil of method books, parents can learn a whole new side of parenting. They’ll be encouraged by stories that tell how other parents handled the challenges and difficulties of being a parent—and how their children transformed their relationship with God. The lessons the author writes about are timeless. But in this edition, Thomas adds in some additional insights and stories that he’s learned and lived over the past fifteen years of his own parenting. Gary has found that the lessons have remained much the same but there are new applications for the readers in this generation who are just now coming to his book.
What if God designed marriage to make you holy instead of happy? What if your relationship isn't as much about you and your spouse as it is about you and God? In Sacred Marriage, bestselling author Gary Thomas uncovers the ways that your marriage can become a doorway to a closer walk with God and with each other. Join over one million others who have already uncovered Thomas's tips for fostering a sacred marriage. Within the pages of Sacred Marriage, Thomas invites you to see how God can use your relationship with your spouse as a discipline and a motivation to love God more and reflect more of the character of his Son. In addition to life-changing insights from Scripture, church history, and time-tested wisdom from Christian classics, you'll find practical advice and techniques to make your marriage happier by becoming holier husbands and wives. In Sacred Marriage, Thomas will give you all of the tools you need to: Turn marital struggles into spiritual and personal appreciation Love your spouse with a stronger sense of purpose Confront your weaknesses and sin in order to grow your relationship with God and with your spouse Partner in the spiritual growth and character formation of your spouse Transform a tired marriage into a relationship filled with awe and respect Thomas reveals that sacred marriages teach us to love God and others well by fostering a healthy sex life, a strong prayer life, and a rich spiritual life. God uses our marriages to help us grow in character, in prayer, in worship, and in service--we just have to recognize that the purpose of marriage is holiness, not happiness. Each copy also includes thought-provoking discussion questions designed to spark conversation between couples and small groups, allowing you to dive deeper into the lessons that Thomas shares in Sacred Marriage. Join the one million others who have already started on their journey to transforming their relationship with their spouses and with their Creator.
The wedding is planned, but are you spiritually prepared for your wedding day? Trusted relationship author Gary Thomas coaches engaged couples on how to grow closer to the Lord in the days leading up to the wedding as a means of preparing them for all the days after the wedding. Engagement is bursting with promise, hope, joy, and anticipation of all kinds. It can also be one of the busiest times your life. For some, planning a wedding, with all the decisions involved, can feel less like the exciting onset of marriage and more like a tedious to-do list. Amidst the busyness, this devotional is designed to encourage and guide you through the spiritual priorities and challenges that lie ahead in order to grow a joy-filled marriage filled with love, grace, and God's blessing. In addition to helping you celebrate the joys of marriage and become radically connected as you create an even deeper passionate relationship, this lovely book also provides encouraging entries that will help you deal with common issues such as: Building physical and emotional intimacy Repairing trust Celebrating differences Being a team player Managing finances With a special section on the marriage vows and thoughtful meditations for the bride and groom, Preparing Your Heart for Marriage will help you grow in your relationship as a couple on your journey from “me” to “we.”
Gary Thomas, one of this generation's most trusted writers about the spiritual life, explores what it means to build a life of true pleasure - one that will liberate your spiritual life, marriage, family, community, and outreach. Many Christians assume "pleasure" and "sin" are synonymous. Others define godly pleasure so narrowly that they drastically minimize the powerful and holy role that pleasure can play in their lives. Still others feel guilty even thinking about how to build a life of pleasure. For all of them, Pure Pleasure provides an entirely new paradigm. It invites Christians to embrace a life of true pleasure as a pathway to obedience, worship, and service. Building on his bestselling books Sacred Pathways, Sacred Marriage, and the ECPA Gold Medallion-winning Authentic Faith, Gary Thomas takes readers to a new level of faith by providing a theological and inspirational framework to help them cultivate the kind of life that pleases God. Abounding with spiritual insights and practical exercises, this book invites you to shake off the shackles of misunderstanding about sin, provides the freedom to approach life in Christ with new wonder and joy, and challenges you to experience life as God meant it to be: overflowing with pleasure. Also available: Pure Pleasure small group video study and study guide, Spanish edition, and more.
Pregnancy is an exciting time, and you don't want to forget a single moment of this journey. Waiting in Wonder inspires you to record stories and prayers for your baby as you create a memory book you'll treasure for years to come. And you'll feel the comfort of God each day with devotions and Scripture selected especially for moms-to-be. This devotional includes: A helpful "Points for Prayer" section and a "Mommy's Memory Verse" for each week Weekly entries that trace the growth of your baby Daily devotions that lead you closer to God With its invitation to draw near to God while you're expecting, Waiting in Wonder is a sweet and memorable gift for friends and loved ones for baby showers, or as a gift for yourself at this momentous time of life. Embrace and prepare for the calling of motherhood with this devotional journal, a gift you can one day give your son or daughter as a reminder that you loved and prayed for him or her even before birth.
