Family Milestones

Milestones Resources | Marriage Books & Resources

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In the midst of the chaos of parenting, many married couples forget to fight to stay connected and growing in all types of intimacy. The following marriage books and resources are helpful tools to recapture God’s vision for your marriage and stay connected while you disciple your kids. 

With all book and resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful truth about marriage and prayerfully apply it to your marriage in a way that is most fruitful for you.

Recommended Reading:

Meaning of Marriage 
By: Tim and Kathy Keller

When Sinners Say I Do 
By: Dave Harvey

A Marriage You’d Actually Want (Sermon series)
By: Midtown Fellowship

Christ-Centered Relationships (Sermon series)
By: Francis and Lisa Chan

This Momentary Marriage 
By: John Piper

What Did You Expect? 
By: Paul Tripp

$10 Great Dates 
By: Larson and Arp

Milestones Resources | Music for Family Worship

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Music may be the single greatest tool in all of creation that helps kids memorize words, concepts, and ideas. One-and-a-half-year-olds can memorize every single lyric of “Let it Go” from Frozen. While memorization without discussion and application can backfire, using music to help God’s Word soak deep into your child’s heart can lead to very fruitful conversations and discussions later on. 

With all resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Most of these songs and albums are chock-full of Scripture, but as always sing the ones that are most beneficial and enjoyed by your family.

Recommended Resources:

Milestones Resources | Books for Family Devotions

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Along with developmentally helpful Bible translations and story-books, many families find devotionals to be a helpful resource to help them study God’s Word and discuss together. These are especially helpful as your child begins to read and grasp more complex ideas about God. As well, many of these devotionals can be helpful as your child learns personal habits and rhythms of spending time with God on their own. 

With all book and resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful observations and truth and prayerfully apply them to your family in a way that is most beneficial for your family.

Recommended Reading:

Milestones Resources | Bibles for Different Stages

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Nothing is more important for stacking gospel kindling around a child’s heart than helping your child learn God’s Word. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul rejoices in the fact that Timothy has been familiar with the Bible from his infancy. And he says the reason why is that these “... sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Each of these translations and/or books based on narratives from the Bible help put the sacred writings in bite-sized chunks that kids at different stages can learn.

Baby and Preschool Stage

Preschool and Elementary Stage

Milestones Resources | Resources for Cultural Issues

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Teaching your child how to walk in the midst of our cultural moment is one of the most difficult tasks that parents face. The American narrative for reaching the good life is very different than Jesus’ narrative for abundant life. The type of person our culture is shaping us to be is very different than the type of person Jesus wants to shape us to be. The following books and resources are helpful in studying, thinking about and discussing cultural issues with your kids. 

With all book and resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful observations and truth and prayerfully apply them to your family in a way that is most beneficial for your family.

Broad Cultural Issues:

Technology:

Diversity:

Sexuality:

Manhood/Womanhood:

Milestones Resources | Parenting Books

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Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint. As we run the race marked out for us, there are all kinds of distractions and obstacles to staying focused on discipleship as the heart of parenting. For some of us, we’ve never seen healthy gospel-centered parenting modeled. For others of us we know the picture we’re aiming for but we find ourselves drifting over time. We’ve found all of these books to be helpful tools whether you’re building a solid foundation for the first time, or just need an encouraging refresher as you continue to run faithfully.

With all book recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful Biblical principles and prayerfully apply them to your family in a way that works best for you.

Recommended Reading: