The Christian Family Toolbox: 52 Benedictine Activities for the Home

Like any home gardener who loves caring for growing things in the yard, parenting is all about nurturing growth in our kids. Just as a gardener employs a wide variety of tools in the garden, even so, wise parents employ a wide variety of tools to grow their kids up in wisdom, grace and love. "The Christian Family Toolbox" offers parents a whole year's worth of "tools" to nurture growth in your home among your children.

I had just finished writing "The Christian Family Toolbox" the day the earthquake hit. We don't take earthquakes casually in our coastal village. Our beach town is highly vulnerable to earthquakes and tidal waves. Our beachfront grade school is located just a few feet above sea level, and has the distinction of being the most vulnerable school in the nation to the threat of a tsunami. My children grew up in that school. The day the earthquake hit, one son was in Middle School (10 miles away), one in High School (12 miles away) and one in college (90 miles away). My wife called to discuss what we should do. "They're in God's hands", I said, trying to sound reassuring. We've always believed our children belonged to God first. I found myself fighting away feelings of fear, wondering what we would do if it were a real emergency, with a 30-foot wave crashing into our village resulting from an offshore earthquake. I've always been amazed at how many thoughts can crash through our brains in a few short moments: Have we adequately prepared our children for facing emergencies? Have we spent enough time with them? Did we love them enough? Have we successfully given them a solid foundation of faith in Jesus Christ? What could we have done better as parents? The only waves to break over our coastal village that day were waves of panic and then relief when we heard the "all clear!" signal on the emergency loudspeakers in town. The earthquake was an inland quake, centered 100 miles away. Though the earthquake did cost over $2 billion dollars in damage to buildings and property in the northwest, no tsunami hit our town that day. That night at dinner, our family joined hands in a circle and prayed together, thanking God for protecting us and watching over our lives even when the earth shook under our feet. Then we talked practically about what we would do in the event of a major earthquake and tsunami. "The Christian Family Toolbox" provides parents with the type of guidance and encouragement we discussed at our family dinner the night of that earthquake: spiritual foundations and practical tools for building stronger families, families equipped to face times when the foundations begin to shake.