Loving Our Kids on Purpose: Making a Heart-to-Heart Connection

I spent 5 years under Danny Silk's ministry, I know the man, I know his ministry and I know his family. This book was not written in a vacuum and the advice and principles from this book not only work for your family but will work for your everyday connection with people. Raising powerful children should be the goal of parents and this book will help you get there.

This is an excellent gift for Grandmothers and Grandfathers to give to their son, daughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law. Oops, also for Moms and Dads to give to each other! Tt is just great! All kids are seemingly hurting for 100% parental and grandparental love. The author bases his biblical teachings in the book on the Word, love and life experiences. Do we all know how to make a heart-to-heart connection? A favorite chapter is "Changing Our Truth Filters" This important book is for all teachers of children and is set off in short topical sections for ease of reading with time demands, and learning and putting into everyday practice.

I like this because:

1. This is not another "Raise your kids so that they don't hate you and you do this without spanking"

2. This book solid doctrinally.

3. This book emphasized raising disciples if you came into the book with that missional mindset.

I would have emphasized the hope in Christ for regeneration but even still, salvation is of God alone and we don't know if God would save our kids. I do know that our kids will be raised by two parents who love Christ, trust Christ and puts their hope in Christ. That is where this book comes in.

I have always equated Christ commission to us, "Raise disciples" with raising children. That is, it is our delightful duty to show our children the wonder and awe of God's beauty and point them to Christ. This book helps you to help equip the little saints to know that they do have choices, they will make those choices and accept the rewards or consequences of those choice.

Also, love the emphasis upon the parents to not control your children. Would you try to control a disciple in pointing them to Christ? Absolutely not. Can you really control your kids? Absolutely not. Shall we contend for their souls and continue to instruct them in light of God's wisdom? Hopefully so.

My kids are wonderful. Yet, because of this book, I can definitely see that if I keep doing what I am doing then might harden my kids' hearts. This book has made me look at my communication with my kids in not only being more gentle but giving them actually choices in everything they do. I don't want to be this drill instructor barking orders at them. This book has changed my speech.

I wish we would have had this book 30 years ago. It is the most practical guide to parenting I have ever read. It's not how I was raised, nor how we raised our children, but, I believe if children are raised like Danny Silk suggests...our world would be a different place.
A must read for all parents~

I thought this was overall a good book about valuing relationship over obedience/the rules. I think I already knew many of the things in here, but it was a nice confirmation. The spanking description toward the back of the book really weirded me out. I'm against spanking totally, and was surprised he includes it.

Danny Silk has taken solid foundational insight from the Word of God and put together a masterpiece for us to use and enjoy now and for generations to come. If you want to learn how to raise your children the way God has intended, this book is for you. This cutting-edge work is truly a gift from God. Highly recommended!

Danny Silk's Loving Our Kids On Purpose changed my life! It not only transformed my relationship with my son, it strengthened my relationship with my husband and with God. It's good to have your spouse (or anyone else that might be helping raise your children: parents, partner, etc.) to read it as well so that you're on the same page. My husband didn't read it, but was open to my teaching him. Understanding the long-term effects your patience has on your children developmentally is crucial. Understanding how to love your children the way God loves us is incredibly encouraging. Enjoy.

I use these strategies in my 7th grade classroom and have seen INCREDIBLE growth. First, I have to confess that it has been somewhat hard to transition over to this style of "parenting". I got used to my more "I'm the boss", tyrannical style of teaching. Of course, I connected with the kids and loved on them, but at the end of the day...they knew I was boss because I made sure to tell them. And yes, there was some success with this technique, but there was also a HUGE down side. Kids respected me because they HAD to, and many kids resented me. This is not the results I wanted to see. When my husband and I got pregnant we read "Loving Our Kids on Purpose", and I quickly realized that many of its strategies could be implemented in the classroom setting. So, I didn't waste any time trying it out. I saw immediate results. It helped create a overall happier, and more cohesive classroom community. Kids wanted to work, wanted to behave, and we had FUN doing it!!! What do ya know!?!?!?! I am also a MUCH happier teacher because I am not busy being so bossy and mirco-managing. It has been freedom for me, and for the kids. We will be using it with our baby girl.

Thank you for a great reminder of the ultimate Father and His bountiful grace. My husband and I read this before the birth of our daughter. As a teacher, I found it just as applicable in my classroom. I challenge my students daily to come up with solutions vs me being the problem solver. Thanks again.

This book was such a breath of fresh air for me as a new mom. It helped me to understand that our relationships with our kids should not be based on fear and control but on love and freedom. Much like our Heavenly Father loves us and gives us free will, I learned the most important thing for our children is to have a heart-to-heart connection with us. I also learned some skills for setting boundaries for when my kids get older. I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether they are parents or not. It will change your life!