Review
Modern families are often over-extended in their schedules. The effort to have it all is tempting to parent and child alike as children respond to the values of their parents and peers. The author intends to address this harried schedule while filling the family’s need to reconnect with God.[1] The authors Austin and Green outline a plan for the family to discover God’s purpose for their family. Using the Bible as an instruction outline, the authors prioritize God as the first and most important goal of their otherwise busy week.
Austin and Green provide a framework for establishing and agreeing on the family’s goals in pursuing God, emphasizing planning and consensus. Re-prioritizing the family is not simple and requires all members’ personal and familial commitment. The statistics prove that modern secular and even Christian families are too disconnected in their daily lives. The resultant state leaves parents guilty of not knowing their children’s priorities. We often leave parents knowing that they also do not have the proper importance of placing God first. The authors provide lists of ponderables for the family and outlines for discussion toward bringing the family to focus their daily living in Christ.
Added to reflection and planning are the questions all family members must ask each other, i.e., are we living how we want to live? Are we there for each other and share a consensus on our goals? The authors provide lists of questions and examples of familial “mission statements” parents can use to align goals with actions properly. Opportunities to serve neighbors and the community are the focus of the emphasis. The result is a family that solves the crisis between belief and action.[2]
[1] Jerry Pipes, Victor Lee, and Steve Green, Family to Family: Families Making a Difference (Alpharetta, GA: North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1999), 3.
[2] Ibid., 10.
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