Do You Want to Raise Heroes? It Starts With YOU!

If you want to raise kids to be heroes, but you struggle to be brave yourself, I have the perfect book for you – Brave Moms, Brave Kids. This is definitely one to add to your motherhood arsenal!

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“The problem we face as mothers is we cannot hold on to both fear and faith simultaneously.”

Wow. Is that incredibly convicting for anyone else? Have you ever thought about how holding on to your fears — yes, even those pesky “Mommy fears” — is a sign of your reluctance to trust God?

I have struggled with fear for a very long time. I’ve never been the first to do anything, skydiving is nowhere near any bucket list of mine, and one time I literally retreated down the diving board ladder at our local swimming pool because I was terrified to take the leap. And I’ve never even attempted it since.

But once I became a mom, I was ushered into a whole new realm of fear — “Mommy fear.” And it is more crippling and ubiquitous than I ever thought possible.

Seriously, before I became a mom, I kind of made fun of the “helicopter moms” that were always hovering over their children, afraid for their safety or failure. (Okay, I really made fun of them.)

But now I get it. The second Aidan was placed in my arms, I was suddenly filled with the overwhelming weight of responsibility and the fear of any kind of harm coming his way.

But as understandable as that fear is, I can’t let it keep me from raising well-adjusted adults who can think for themselves, take care of themselves, and do great things for God. I can’t let my desire for safety and comfort get in the way of my children experiencing God’s greatness and will for their lives.

Fear may be all around me, knocking at the door of my heart, waiting to be let in as it always has been, but I cannot allow it any longer. The stakes are too high to be fearful. I have to learn to be brave. For my sake. For my children’s sake. And for the glory of God.

And fortunately (or divinely, I should say), the perfect resource crossed my path to help me grow in that very area. That resource was a brand-new book (not even yet released) by Lee Nienhuis called Brave Moms, Brave Kids: A Battle Plan for Raising Heroes, and it is changing the way I look at my children and my God-given responsibilities as their mother. It’s making me brave.

What is Brave Moms, Brave Kids?

Brave Moms, Brave Kids is a letter from one mom’s heart to any mom desiring to raise heroes for Christ. It was written by a mom who has been where you are and walked the road you’re on right now. A mom who has felt the “mommy fear,” struggled to be brave herself, and ultimately opened her hand of control and released her children into the hands of God. A mom who says, “I know this is hard, but it is too important not to pursue with everything we’ve got.”

The book is broken down into three parts:

In the first, author Lee Nienhuis discusses why it’s so hard to be brave in today’s world, and yet why it’s so important. She describes what fear is, how it can be used in both constructive and destructive ways, and what happens when it’s left unchecked (hint: nothing good.) She also declares the importance of raising our kids to be heroes and tells us why it is so vital that we first light the fire of bravery in ourselves before we try to pass that torch on to the next generation.

In the second part, Lee uses the acronym BRAVE to teach us, as moms, how to develop the habits of bravery in our own lives. The acronym is as follows:

B – Believe God

R – Reflect

A – Ask Forgiveness

V- Vigilantly Pray

E – Equip Them

The third, and largest, section is devoted to providing profound, yet highly practical, advice on how to disciple our kids to be brave. A few of these include “Teach Them to Know and Obey Their God,” “Teach Them About the Value of the Word of God,” and “Teach Them to Find Their Identity in Christ.”

The book concludes with a chapter called “A Word to the Grandmas,” another for mothers of prodigals, and a set of meaningful reflection questions to help readers get the most out of their reading. These questions would also be good for small group studies.

From the back cover:

“Brave Moms, Brave Kids is an equipping tool that will help you

identify the qualities present in true greatness
reject “Mommy fears” and replace them with immovable truth
learn strategies for praying for and training your children more effectively
develop seven key lessons we must teach our children to live for Jesus”

MY THOUGHTS

This book was something I definitely needed to read. I’ve read a lot of books about motherhood and parenting, but this one was different. This one spoke to one of my deepest and most difficult challenges as a mother – fear.

More specifically, letting go of my need to keep my kids in a bubble so that nothing bad will ever happen to them because I’m just not sure I could handle it if it did.

But I also truly desire to raise kids who are effective warriors for God’s Kingdom. That’s what got me excited about having children in the first place — to exponentially expand my reach in this world. But as Lee writes in the book, “just the term warrior indicate[s] they [will] see war.”

So if I truly want to raise kids who are heroes, I need to release my grip on them, at the same time doing everything I can to equip them for the battles ahead.

And most importantly — or else risk everything else I do being completely ineffective — I need to develop a hero mentality in myself. And that’s what the lessons from Brave Moms, Brave Kids are helping me to do.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK?

In a heartbeat. To every mom who has ever struggled with mom fear (are there any out there who don’t??). To moms who desire to raise kids who are lights in the dark world and heroes of the faith. To moms who want to be counted among the ranks of the brave themselves.

I would absolutely recommend this book to these moms, and every other Christian mom who wants to make the most of the precious time she has to influence her children.

(I received an advance reader’s copy of Brave Moms, Brave Kids from the publisher, but you can get the book when it comes out February 1! You can also preorder the book at any time before then.)

A FEW FAVORITE QUOTES

I have two back-to-back pages of quotes, so narrowing it down is going to be TOUGH, but here are a few of my favorites:

Not having ultimate control could drive me crazy or it could drive me to my knees in prayer.
If He were to cater to our wishes for an anxiety-free existence, we would not grow.
… until we step out in our own faith walk, this whole effort lacks credibility. We must disciple our children out of habits being developed in our own lives.
If we don’t tell our kids that following Christ is going to be a fight, they will be shocked when the journey gets tough. (I LOVE this one!!)
Easy isn’t brave … easy only prepares them for easy.
We cannot protect them from every fiery arrow; we must train them to lift their own shields of faith and believe God on their own.