The Passionate Mom by Susan Merrill

I have to say first and foremost that I thoroughly enjoyed reading Susan's book! Her approach to writing a parenting book is much different than most books I have read. She doesn't write about a parenting list of "Do's" or "Don'ts" but rather 10 patterns we should follow based on the life of Nehemiah.

• Perception- Are you paying attention to what is going on in your child's life? Do you notice when they are struggling or need encouragement? Are you making yourself available to your child's needs? 
• Pondering- Study your child. Ponder everything you learn about your child so you will know when something isn't right. 
• Passion- Be passionate for your child. Keep guiding them to make the right decisions even when they are making the wrong ones. 
• Prayer- Pray over your children. Pray Bible verses over each of them and pray that God will reveal to you what choices to make regarding your children. 
• Patience- Exercise disciple over yourself so that you can be a patient parent. Sometimes that includes letting your children fail when you want to bail them out of their problems. 
• Preparation- Build relationships with the people involved in your children's lives. Teachers, coaches, parents of their friends. This will ensure that you will have access to much more information about your children that you would not have otherwise known. 
• Purpose- Know your purpose as a mother. A passionate mom knows the reason for her existence as a parent and is determined to fulfill it. 
• Planning- Make a plan for how you want to parent your children. What are the values you would like to instill in them before they leave home?
• Problem solving- You will face many trials and tribulations as a mother. As a passionate mother you must learn to solve those problems to the best of your ability. 
• Perseverance- As a mother, you need to intentionally maintain your purpose in spite of any problem you may face while continuing steadfastly until the end. 

Nehemiah was extremely passionate about protecting his people. In fact, it was much like the way a mother protects her children. He cared about his people's spiritual life just as much as their physical life. Isn't that true for us mothers? Our children's safety and spiritual life are of utmost importance to us.  

Susan also shows her vulnerability to issues that all of us mothers face each day by including a "Confession" in every chapter. This area most often describes how the author struggles with the subject at hand. She explains how she is an ordinary mom, just like you and I!

The author also notes that just because we want something for our child, it does not mean that it aligns with God's will for our child. Ultimately, when we pray we need to ask that God's Will will be done in our child's life.

This was a fantastic parenting book! The topics were interesting and it was amazing to read a parenting book that had incorporated a Bible lesson into it. Susan also includes resources in the last chapter which include printable TALK cards, examples of how to pray Bible verses over your children, how to make a cell phone and driving contract for your teenager, and a link to receive a daily e-mail. I will highly recommend it to all of my friends and I rate it as 5 stars.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”