Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture by Mary DeMuth
In one sentence, what is Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture about?
It’s about learning how to parent our kids in a winsome, authentic way, so that our kids are well-prepared to face life when they leave home.
What does postmodern mean? And why should it matter to parents?
Postmodernism is the waiting room between what used to be a modern worldview and what will be. According to several postmodern scholars, we’re in a shift right now, leaving modern ideas behind, but what we are shifting to is not yet fully defined.
Postmoderns believe that rationalism and/or more education doesn’t necessarily
create a better society. They typically don’t embrace the notion of absolute truth, though they reach for the transcendent. They are skeptical, and often question whether science is something to be embraced or feared.
The question for parents is how will we mine the current worldview, even as it shifts? What in it can we embrace as biblical? What is not biblical? What I’ve seen in the church is a fearful adherence to what is familiar. So we cling to modern ideas, even though they may not be biblical and shun postmodern ideas even when they might be biblical. Our children will meet this shifting worldview no matter what our opinion of it is.
What will I get out of reading this book?
Grace. A lot of grace. I share a lot of parenting stories (and they’re not all triumphant. Oh how I fail!). One mom told me yesterday that it was the stories that spoke to her. Basically, the premise of the book is falling in love with Jesus, that parenting is more about our vital relationship to Him than it is about following a set of parenting rules. Good parenting flows from a good heart. The best thing we can do for our kids is to get right with Jesus. That applies universally, to every relationship we face, even our relationship with potty-training toddlers.
What’s different about this book from your last parenting book?
The last parenting book (Building the Christian Family You Never Had) focused on relearning parenting if you’d grown up in a home you didn’t want to duplicate. I shared the story of my upbringing, and the amazing things Jesus did to heal me and make me a new parent. This book is more about my journey of parenthood since then. We spent two and a half years in France, a hotbed of postmodernity. We watched our children grow in grace, despite persecution and really difficult school situations. The book is really a testimonial to Jesus and how He amazingly worked through my children.
Who should buy this book and why?
Any parent parenting kids from toddler-hood to teen-dom who wants to see their kids truly and authentically engage with Jesus, and, in turn, engage the world in a positive, light-bearing way. Why? Because I believe the book (because of God’s work in my life and my kids’ lives) is transformational.
Click here for and autographed copy or to buy it now!
Be sure to check out the other blogs participating on the Authentic Parenting Tour this week.
Almost Hypergraphic
AskMeanMom.com
Audra Marie
Blogging for Writers
Camy’s Loft
Coming Home
Edgewise
FreshBrewedWriter
Good Word Editing
Heather in Madrid
Lexical Light
Mother Inferior
Pattie’s Place
Seedlings in Stone
Spoiled for the Ordinary
They Hang Like Paper Lanterns
Traveling Together
For a complete listing of the blogs participating in the six week tour, visit here.
