Love Centered Parenting by Crystal Paine

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I like Crystal Paine and I follow her on Instagram, but when I saw she wrote a parenting book, I will admit I raised my eyebrows a bit. Her kids are still in their early teens, what does she know about parenting? But then I read the book and I was hooked from the first chapter on. 

The first couple chapters are so much deeper than parenting. They hit on the core of who we are as humans and on how we will live based on our beliefs. If I could describe in two words the premise of the book, I would say, "Live Loved".  Before we can be love-centered parents, we must first believe that we are loved, that God loves us and it is out of that love that we can love others. 

"You can't give what you don't have. You can't love your kids well if you don't believe you are fully loved yourself." "Love-centered parenting is about wholeheartedly loving our kids because we know how much we are wholeheartedly loved by God." 

Love-centered parenting isn't about doing it perfect. It's about living fully, it's about asking yourself how loved me would live and then acting according to that. It's about asking forgiveness for the mistakes you make. It's about picking up and moving on, always believing that you are loved and that you have love to give because of that. 

After the first few chapters really focusing on that, Crystal moves on to some of the more expected ideas in parenting: listening well, leaning in and loving, letting go, etc. But the first couple chapters are what really gripped me and have helped me in the days since reading the book. It's not even so much about parenting, though I think about it when I settle down to really explain to my daughter why she should keep her room clean or when I find myself saying no for the 987th time and realizing that it probably wouldn't matter if I said yes instead. For me, it's about reminding myself when I am frustrated with my spouse, with life, with situations, etc. that I am loved by God and that I can live out of that love. It means I don't need to depend on the world's affirmations, but I can move forward with confidence instead of looking around to see who is watching. Oh, I haven't done it perfectly, but I have been challenged to do it more. 

This is the type of book I should probably read every month so I can keep the message in front of me at all times.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all parents and even to some non-parents who are struggling to grab ahold of living loved as a child of God. 

I received this book from Bethany House and was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own. 

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