A valuable and convincing combination of devotional handbook and parenting survival guide.
A Christianity-infused manual delivers advice to parents coping with the upheavals of raising children.
Knowles begins her debut book at the end of her parenting journey. The oldest of her three kids was ready to go off to college, where he would get a degree, find a terrific job, marry a wonderful person, and be followed in that same pattern by his younger brother and sister in short order. Things would proceed smoothly, and the author and her husband would have finally successfully navigated their children’s perilous teenage years. And although Knowles decides to keep the specifics private (a curiously courtly decision that lends an extra degree of moral authority to the account), she then makes it clear that this neat, orderly picture never really happened. Her relations with her kids became dark and complicated—and, inadvertently, resulted in a prolonged learning experience that served to deepen the author’s faith. At first, this experience was rocky; the events occurring in her life didn’t seem to align with what she knew about God’s words and Christian Scripture. But eventually she came to a different understanding, guided by Peter’s sentiment of casting all one’s cares onto God. From these struggles flow all of the book’s useful insights into building better relationships, from individuals appreciating the concept of forgiveness (Knowles reminds her Christian readers that forgiveness is given not to the offending person but to God, who commands it) to parents reconciling themselves to the loss of “might have been”-style dreams for themselves and their children. The author writes all of this in a clear, straightforward prose that can look deceptively simple; Knowles packs a lot of hard-won wisdom into a comparatively small page count. Her sage advice to her fellow parents going through rough times with their kids boils down to urging them to have courage, regardless of the circumstances. Christian parents will find a great deal of worthy counsel in these lessons.
A valuable and convincing combination of devotional handbook and parenting survival guide.Pub Date: April 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-973610-79-3
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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