This week, our Parenting Encouragement and Formation group started a multi-week study in Rare Leadership. In addition, our faculty are finishing up their year-long study in this transformative book.
Why does this book matter? Why should you spend $10 and a couple of dozen hours to read?
I'm glad that you asked! Over the last 20 years, I've read a fair number of educational and parenting books. Each has made good points and passed along helpful ideas. What Warner and Wilder do in this particular book really stands out from the crowd. Their own work, combined with the experiences and wisdom of many others, articulately spells out what a robust, joyful life can look like as an adult and as a child, and how that can be achieved through habits, bonding with good people, and constantly going back to a God who knows our needs and our children's needs before we even mention them.
The fact is that as much as we teachers and parents like to take possession of our children's education and even future, they are truly in God's hands. He is their Father; we are temporary parents, temporary teachers, but on the same journey with the living God as our students and children. We just happen to be a few decades ahead of them.
Connecting with the wisdom, tradition, and experience of those who have gone before us and those who are perhaps just a few steps ahead of us in maturity and Christlikeness is the way of discipleship. It is also the way to rear children and engage students. Not through the modern gimmicks of grades, testing, punishments and rewards, and self-esteem projects, but through consistently pointing young people back to what it means to flourish in this life--doing good work with good people for a good reason.
It all starts at home. It all starts with us, the adults. While Rare Leadership is not the final word on what a transformative education and discipleship should look like, it can go a long way to helping us be much clearer in our vision for our children.
If you haven't purchased a copy yet, I urge you, for the sake of your children, even your grandchildren, purchase one today. The Foreward and Preface, each only a couple of pages, are worth your time and money.
Commit to helping your children grow--all of our children to grow--through becoming more equipped to grow in maturity yourself. And do it within a community. We all need you. For truly, we are all in this together.
And for the free book offer...
Life Model Works, the organization that Jim Wilder helped to co-found and publishes most of his books, recently donated to RMCA several dozen copies of the wonderful book, Joy Starts Here: The Transformation Zone. Co-authored by Jim and three other writers, it is an exploration into the obstacles and opportunities that each person has to live on the fuel of joy, as we were created.
Drop by the office to claim your family's copy at no charge!
