Love and Marriage: Resources for Your Children to Have and to Hold

In my interview last week with David and Carolyn and their married daughter, Michelle, in the Love and Marriage series (entitled Premarital Counseling for Preschoolers), Carolyn referred to books that she had read to her children from an early age to help them have right thinking about the subject of love and marriage.  David and Carolyn are the parents of 7 children.  Michelle, the oldest, is 26, and married, expecting their fourth child.  David and Carolyn also have a new grandbaby boy through their son and his wife, born just this last week!  Their children still at home, include their son, Michael, who is 19.  Then they have a reversal "baby", Daniel, who is 9, and they adopted 3 girls (sisters) from Liberia 2 years ago.  The girls, as far as one can tell in these cases, are about 10, 7 and 5.

We were talking about courtship, and why in the world it should be something that parents of young children need to think about!  They became very animated at that question. Go back to the link above to read the interview.  The rest of the story will be written, but had to be delayed, due to unforeseen circumstances.  So, I asked Carolyn if she would write out a list of some of her favorite books which, she believes, help to give children a right and righteous outlook on love and marriage.  At any age, but especially if you have young children, reading books which depict a loving marriage, and the kind of family interactions which you want them to aspire to, is very important.  Even in some books which are our personal favorites, sometimes children pick up on things which completely escape our notice:  Carolyn's daughter asked as they were reading a beloved favorite one day, "Where's the Daddy?"  Sure enough, come to think of it, he is never depicted.  The children go everywhere either alone or with their mother.  They eat and the mother puts them to bed at night, without ever a mention or sight of the dad.  Many other situations may establish their beliefs and desires, and cement those, in the stories they read or that we read to them. (Parents must beware, also, of the images their children see through the media of film, TV, computer, etc.)

Here is the list of resources that Carolyn recommends as excellent for young, and older, children:
(certainly at least as young as 4 years old)

• Keepers of the Faith (for boys and young men)
• Keepers at Home (for girls and young ladies)  both by Keepers of the Faith.
• Lamplighter Books:  Teddy's Button, Hedge of Thorns, The True Princess, The Three Weavers 
• The Squire and The Scroll by Jennie Bishop
• The Princess and The Kiss by Jennie Bishop
• Door Posts:  Polished Cornerstones, Plants Grown Up, For Instruction in Righteousness, all by Pam Forster
• Wilderness Wife by Etta De Gring, story of Rebecca Bryan Boone
• Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by Sarah, Stephen and Grace Mally (Go to the link, and visit Tomorrow's Forefathers, to check out the Mally Family's ministry and then go to their blog, to be inspired in your own family relationships of love.  Also check out Loving the Lord Ministries (ministry of the Vest Family) and the Loving the Lord blog.  As your girls get older, participating in Girls' Groups and attending a Purity Conference, ministries of Amy Vest and her family, can be very important in a girl's life, as to staying on the right track that God would have her travel. 

 Carolyn emphasized that the "best book" your children will ever read that pertains to marriage, is you and your spouse daily living out a Christ-centered marriage!  A challenge for all of us!

About David and Carolyn:
David,47, and Carolyn, 48, are the parents of 7 children, aged 3 to 26.  They have walked the path of courtship twice with their children. They have 3 grandchildren through these two marriages and are expecting their fourth any day their fourth, a boy, was born about a week ago!  But they can also easily identify with parents of small children, because they have 4 younger ones, as well, and their three grandkiddos, all under 5 years old, spend much time at their house.  They wouldn't have it any other way!