Some real-life stories are heartbreaking to me, that is why one of my goals is to read more about children and teens and to help parents to improve their relationship with them. If a person understands themselves and their unique design and purpose since they are little, and they embrace their identity in christ is less possible that they make bad decisions such as cut themselves, live licentious sexual lives, or suicide. If you are a counselor you will find it useful to find this kind of resource.

Cyndie Claypool de Neve identifies an important distinction Christian parents seldom make: the goal is not to raise self-confident children, but God-confident kids. This itself is a challenging, counter-cultural statement and Claypool de Neve does a solid job describing the practical difference. As she says in the opening chapter,

Imagine with me the impact of a generation of children and teens who are God-confident, looking to Christ for their joy, strength, wisdom and purpose. They would grow into adults who positively impact business, politics, media, education, science, medicine or whatever purpose God has designed for each of them. When humbly standing on the rock of their faith, Christ's grace, love and compassion would pour forth from each one, becoming a salve to a hurting world and helping others find their purpose and confidence in Christ.

Having almost raised two children (with her husband), she shares honestly and biblically interesting and creative ways to help develop God-confident kids at each developmental stage. She interacts with current issues such as the ubiquitous technology pressures, the threatening world children live in (eg. school shootings), and offers ideas for how to acknowledge these challenges and help youngsters live with faith, not fear.

The book is filled with suggested prayers and plenty of Scripture. I would recommend this book for Christian parents of all ages, especially those with children under twelve as the formative years set the stage for future God-confidence.

Note: This book was provided to the reviewer by Baker Books in exchange for an unbiased review through the Baker Book Bloggers program.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

The title alone was enough for me to pick up this book and read it. I am a Christian, and my daughter is 16. I am often caught in the middle between humanism (I'm also an educator) and Biblical principles, and this author has a perfect balance. I love the fact that she perpetuates the idea of "God-confidence" as opposed to "self-confidence." The world would have us believe that our kids need to believe in themselves and they can accomplish anything. However, that teaching is not in line with the Word of God teaches. Believing in yourself can only get you so far. I recognize the fact that many people in the world can accomplish great things on their own, but there's something about a Christian who relies on God when he/she comes to the end of himself/herself.

This book was a very easy read, and it is organized in a sensible way so that parents can find exactly what they are looking for. The author always brings us back to the Bible, and every good thing taught in psychology is always backed up with a Christian principle. The author also shares a wide variety of real-life examples, for which I am very gtateful. For Christian parents, I believe this is a must-read. I believe non-Christian parents could glean truth from the book, but without embracing all the truth of the Bible, it might be one that doesn't make a lot of sense.