"Battle Ready Moms Raising Battle Ready Kids"

by Reba Bowman, non-fiction, 2009, 212p, rating=3.5

"Mom, you are in a war for the lives of your children. The enemy is real and deceptive, and his weapons are varied. If your children are going to become the men and women that you want them to be, you must take this battle seriously and prepare to fight. Battle-Ready Moms Raising Battle-Ready Kids equips mothers with the weapons they need to fight for the spiritual survival of their children. You'll learn • Why your role as mom is critically important to the well-being of your children • How to encourage good choices through connection, not rules alone • How to build character and nurture individuality • How to guide both girls and boys from infancy to young adulthood. Using Bible-based wisdom and experience-based advice, Reba Bowman challenges you to become the best mom you can be -- because the destiny of your children depends on it." (book's blurb)

I was attracted to the title but after seeing the title description A Biblical Strategy for Confident Parenting and reading the blurb, I sat on it for awhile.  I just wasn't up for something heavy.  Well, I finally got to it and it is definitely a Christian book.  God and scriptures were heavily mentioned.  Rightly so since Ms. Bowman was outlining how to raise children in God's influence.

I didn't get into this book until Chapter 5, which happened to be where the analogy of the military began to set in for me.  It was an excellent way to shape the book's substance.  The military has guidelines in training its soldiers to come out of a battle successfully, so as this book's point that God has also provided the guidelines to come out of Satan's grasp well, particularly as it relates to raising children.

This was a fine line on being preachy.  But even with the abundance of Christian language, it didn't give the hell fire tone.  Ms. Bowman was sincere in her words to reach out and offer her knowledge.  And she did so in an orderly and specific manner. 

Being under the umbrella of a Christian faith, I followed this book well.  So much so that it was not like I was generally learning anything new but was getting a refresher course.  Definitely nothing wrong with that!  Hearing something more than once is an excellent way of really sinking in a concept.  And this book has many potential Ah ha! moments for parents.  So if you're a parent who wants to raise your child(ren) in God's influence, then read this book and you might find the Ah ha! moment you've been looking for.