Synopses & Reviews
Family life is a spiritual path
Is your family calendar so jammed that there’s never enough time to “be
spiritual”? Maybe you need to think about spirituality in a new way.
Author, editor, and speaker Tom McGrath shows how the hectic and ordinary
moments of family life offer endless opportunities to live more deeply.
This book is full of stories and ideas for parents who care about their
children’s souls.
McGrath suggests how we can foster a healthy spirituality in our children—
while tending to our own spirits as well. He presents many useful lessons
and practical strategies for passing on religious heritage, including:
• Introducing children to sacred time
• Examining the image of God we actively (or passively)
present to our children
• Fostering empathy to build our children’s moral character
• Learning to pray creatively as a family
• Developing spiritual disciplines as parents
• Cultivating a spirit of forgiveness in the home
Family life is a spiritual path
Is your family calendar so jammed that there’s never enough time to “be
spiritual”? Maybe you need to think about spirituality in a new way.
Author, editor, and speaker Tom McGrath shows how the hectic and ordinary
moments of family life offer endless opportunities to live more deeply.
This book is full of stories and ideas for parents who care about their
children’s souls.
McGrath suggests how we can foster a healthy spirituality in our children—
while tending to our own spirits as well. He presents many useful lessons
and practical strategies for passing on religious heritage, including:
• Introducing children to sacred time
• Examining the image of God we actively (or passively)
present to our children
• Fostering empathy to build our children’s moral character
• Learning to pray creatively as a family
• Developing spiritual disciplines as parents
• Cultivating a spirit of forgiveness in the home
Synopsis
Raising Faith-Filled Kids, written by family faith expert Tom McGrath, offers a generous collection of easy tips and tools to help Catholic families realize a spiritual path, and to help parents inspire virtue, discipline, and hope in their children. Writing from personal experience and drawing from the experiences of others, McGrath—a father of two grown daughters—shows fellow parents how to bring faith into everyday family life through familiar objects and regular routines. The book features twenty-three "Taking Action Tips," allowing parents to make immediate strides in helping their children's faith to grow.
Synopsis
Family life is a spiritual path
Is your family calendar so jammed that there's never enough time to "be spiritual"? Maybe you need to think about spirituality in a new way. Author, editor, and speaker Tom McGrath shows how the hectic and ordinary moments of family life offer endless opportunities to live more deeply. This book is full of stories and ideas for parents who care about their children's souls.
McGrath suggests how we can foster a healthy spirituality in our children--while tending to our own spirits as well. He presents many useful lessons and practical strategies for passing on religious heritage, including:
- Introducing children to sacred time
- Examining the image of God we actively (or passively) present to our children
- Fostering empathy to build our children's moral character
- Learning to pray creatively as a family
- Developing spiritual disciplines as parents
- Cultivating a spirit of forgiveness in the home
"If you ever wanted to be a great and inspiring parent, this book gives you the tools to learn how."
--Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator, #1 New York Times best-selling series Chicken Soup for the Soul
About the Author
Tom McGrath is the author of Raising Faith Filled Kids, The Meal Box, and is one of the authors of the God’s Gift series. Currently Tom is the Vice President for Product Development at Loyola Press. He previously served as the executive editor of U.S. Catholic magazine. McGrath is an avid writer and speaker on family-life issues and spirituality. Tom and his wife, Kathleen, live in Chicago and are the parents of two grown daughters, who are still always welcome at meal time.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Taking Action” Pages x
Acknowledgments xi
1 • Good News for Parents:
You Can Pass On a Living Faith 3
Finding the Treasure We Already Have • Making
Connections in a World Cut Adrift • Developing Faith in a
Commercial, Cynical Culture • Using What We’re Already
Doing • Catching the Action Right Where It Is
2 • The Basic Question:
What Do You Wish for This Child? 17
Invite the Mystery • Know Your Own Motives • Beware of
What You Ask For
3 • A “Family” Business:
The Commitment We Owe Our Kids 29
Are You Looking for Shortcuts? • Are You Playing Hide-and-
Seek? • Does Faith Talk Scare You Just a Little? • Do You
Need a Second Chance?
A CLOSER LOOK: Especially for Dads 47
Show Real Strength • Write from the Heart
4 • Relationships, Messages, and Clues:
Means of Handing Down a Heritage 55
Relationships from Generation to Generation • Lessons from
Real Life • Imagination for the Day to Day • The Messages
Kids Hear from Us • The Clues Kids Need from Us
5 • Objects, Spaces, and Rituals:
Holiness That Lives Close to Home 73
Keepin’ It Real • The Sacred Jigsaw Puzzle • Sacred Time •
Sacred Objects and Places • Sacred Rituals
A CLOSER LOOK:
The Amazing Power of Rituals 95
6 • Paradise and Paradox:
Helping Kids Grasp Faith Concepts 99
Lent Is a Time to Check Your Vision • Ordinary Time Is
Special Too
A CLOSER LOOK:
Whatever Happened to Awe? 109
7 • The Intentional Family:
True Parenthood Is a Spiritual Path 117
Basic Training • Really Simple or Simply Real • Great
Expectations
8 • From Patience to Hope:
Spiritual Virtues Every Parent Needs 129
I’m Tired of Being the Adult • Give Me Patience in a Hurry
• Fear of the Lord Takes Courage • Prudence Requires
Passion • Watchfulness Is an Art • Real Hope Really Helps
9 • From Welcome to Forgiveness:
Spiritual Disciplines Every Parent Needs 153
Welcoming: “We’re So Glad You’re Here” • Letting Go:
“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” • Forgiving: “Forgive Us
as We Forgive” • Making Mistakes: “Let’s Learn Together” •
Telling the Truth: “Let’s Sort It Out”
A CLOSER LOOK:
Bored? Tell It to the Invisible Man 177
10 • What You Say and Don’t Say:
Are You Telling Lies about God? 183
Where Do Children Get Their First Clues? • Which Images
of God Are You Giving to Your Kids?
11 • Days, Events, and Seasons:
Helping Prayer Happen 191
Give Someone a Happy Birthday • Let Lent Make You a
Better Parent • Create Sound Impressions That Last a
Lifetime • Lead Them by the Restful Waters • Turn Trials
into Offerings • Say a Little Prayer for Me • Pay Your
Respects to the Sorrowful Mother • Make a Jerk List and a
Gratitude List
A CLOSER LOOK:
Forty Ways to Foster Prayer in Your Home 211
A CLOSER LOOK:
Peekaboo! I See You! 217
12 • One Story at a Time:
A Natural Way to Raise Your Children 223
How We Got Here • And Now a Word from Our Sponsor •
The Story of My Life
13 • The Greater Story:
Tying Your Children In to the Eternal Scheme 235
How a Too-Small Story Limits Our Children • How to
Connect Our Children’s Stories to the Larger Story
A CLOSER LOOK:
Darryl’s Story 245
14 • Thirst for Justice:
Making the System Work for Everybody 249
Spaceship Earth without a Paddle • Whose Family Values? •
Begin with Empathy • After Empathy, Justice • Come and
Get It!
15 • You’re Doing Fine, and Help Is on the Way 271
Selected Resources 273
Taking action
What you can do now to nurture spiritual life at home
1 • How to make your desires for your child more real 24
2 • How to be a nurturing parent 36
3 • How to uncover your family’s spiritual dimension 70
4 • How your family can learn to notice sacred time 80
5 • How to increase your family’s sense of the sacred 86
6 • How to build on the rituals you already have 91
7 • How to involve your children during Lent 103
8 • How to develop your family’s sense of awe 113
9 • How to be a genuine, spiritual parent 122
10 • How family members can be open with one another 125
11 • How to be patient, and soon 134
12 • How to instill a healthy fear of the Lord 140
13 • How to get a handle on hope 149
14 • How to let go gracefully 160
15 • How to cultivate a forgiving spirit in your home 174
16 • How to show your children what God is like 188
17 • How to get started during Lent 195
18 • How to introduce your kids to religious themes and hymns 197
19 • How to help your kids develop a strong self-story 231
20 • How to link your children to others’ stories 240
21 • How to foster empathy in your kids 257
22 • How to educate your children about justice 261
23 • How to teach your children solidarity 265
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