Have you ever felt that as a woman who takes on many roles, you are sometimes just drowning in a surplus of tasks, needs, demands and wants? From the many hats we wear as mother, wife, grandmother, sister, friend, counselor, co-worker, etc. every part of life can whisk us away and carry us downstream if we are not intentional. Some days, the overwhelming task of being entrusted with the raising and training of my two little ones can seem a bit daunting. I am way less than intentional— I’m just trying to survive! But as Melissa Spoelstra says in this great book Total Family Makeover, God calls us to be the key disciple-makers in our children’s lives and disciples are made, not born. Because parenting is such a deeply personal matter, nearly every sentence of this book resonated with me on a personal level. Melissa gently but firmly reminds us that we cannot use the behavior of our children to be our parenting measuring rod. In other words, we need to "shift our focus from our children’s behavior to the joy-filled adventure of teaching them what it means to follow Jesus.” The rest of the book focuses on eight practical steps to make disciples at home. Each of the eight steps revolves around a basic spiritual discipline or practice that we want our children to embrace in their walk with God— both now and after they leave home. These eight steps are:

As much as I love the break down of these eight practices, the way each chapter is explained is truly where the rubber meets the road. Each of the practices begins with Modeling, or looking at the example Jesus set for us in each area. Within this section are extra boxes of practical information, ways to incorporate this into your own family. The section on Modeling is followed by Training, which is equally chock-full of ways to implement each spiritual discipline into your family. 

Melissa writes with a familiarity to family life. Even though we’ve never met, through her writing, I feel like she has been a fly on the wall in my living room. More likely, its the Holy Spirit-inspired words of this book that speak so true to the heart of what every family needs— a makeover from the inside out, an intentionality in making disciples, and a plan of how to do that. 

This book would be a great study to work through as a small group, church, or group of friends. Each chapter concludes with Group Discussion Questions, Extra study for getting into God’s Word and ways that you can dig deeper on the given topic. I feel like this book would be great for children of all ages. There are suggestions for all age ranges, and everything can be tailored to suit your child’s age. I cannot wait to get started on implementing the practices in this book and continuing to intentionally make disciples of the precious little lives God has entrusted me with. 

And now.... for the Giveaway part!!!!! Only one more day to enter!!!!