We’re Not Okay: Modern-Day Harm Reduction in Christian Parenting
What Every Parent Needs to Know in a World full of Drugs, Drinking, and GASP! Sex.
The two most important lessons I took from Leah Grey’s We’re Not Okay: Identity and Trust.
Identity
Who are you? Do you understand and live your identity in Christ? How many mistakes, and how much pain, could you have avoided it if you accepted it sooner?
One thing I write about here on Fruit of Brokenness is the importance of understanding who God is, and who we are in Him. If you base your identity on anything other than what God says in Scripture, you not only undermine your spiritual health, but also your mental health.
Unhealthy people make unhealthy choices. Unhealthy choices make us unhealthier. It’s a vicious cycle, from which God yearns to set us free.
Parents who live their identity in Christ set a vital example for their children. If we want our kids to recognize Satan’s lies in the world, God’s Truth must be the heart of what we teach them. And we must be careful of the influences we allow into our homes through modern entertainment and technology.
There’s no perfect way to raise children that ensures they won’t fall victim to lies and chase after lesser things, but, as so many of us have learned, when we turn back to God and lay our lives at His feet, He redeems even our worst mistakes. It’s as true for our kids as it is for us.
I’d sure like to save my kids from as much heartache as possible, though. Wouldn’t you?
Trust
Have you ever heard of Jochebed? There’s a good chance you have, but didn’t catch her name as it’s not given in the Exodus account of her story. I know you’ve heard of her son.
As a mother, Jochebed demonstrated the trust in God we need for our children. It was not a good time to give birth to a boy. At least not if you were a Hebrew. By Pharaoh’s order, all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown in the Nile to die.
For three months, Jochebed hid her baby, but the time came that she could hide him no longer. So she made a special basket, and set her beloved boy afloat on the river all the baby boys were meant to die in. Young Miriam watched her baby brother from the riverbank.
The baby Moses became the adopted son of a princess instead of a snack for a crocodile.
A mother’s trust in her wise God not only saved her child’s life, it was the catalyst for Israel’s redemption from slavery.
It’s difficult to wholeheartedly trust God with our children, because it feels like setting them afloat in a river full of crocodiles… because, spiritually, that’s pretty much what it is. But God is able to use whatever happens, or doesn’t happen.
About Leah Grey
Leah Grey was a small-town Canadian girl before chasing her dreams to New York City. Things didn’t go quite like she’d planned, and, following her husband’s entry into long-term substance-abuse treatment, she had to head back to Canada, and her parents’ basement, with her two young sons.
Living in relationship with, loving, an addict is hard. Leah’s experience led her to launch her blog, and Grey Ministries, which includes the private online Live, Love, Hope Community for women struggling with a loved one’s addiction.
What Leah Has to Say about We’re Not Okay
A Book for Parents
What every parent needs to know in a world full of drugs, drinking and gasp! Sex. If you’re a Christian parent struggling with how you’re going to successfully raise children in an increasingly sex-crazed, sin-filled, oh-my-goodness what can we do kind of world, this short book entitled, “We’re Not Okay” is five dollars well-spent. Written from my own experience as a Christian “wild child”, it’s a testimony to the importance of teaching children their identity in a broken world.
Why You Should Read We’re Not Okay
Are you a parent? We’re Not Okay is a good reminder to be mindful of the influences on our children in our home, and set healthy boundaries. Our presence and influence must be intentional. We need to know who we are in Christ, and do all we can to fill our children’s hearts and minds with the knowledge and understanding of who they are in Christ. The book also encourages us to do what’s best but doesn’t come naturally: TRUST.
The book is small, but there’s much more to glean.
Leah Grey’s We’re Not Okay is available on Amazon, in paperback and for Kindle. Learn more about Leah Grey here.
Before you go, check out more Books Worth Reading here!
Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of this book to review.
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