The Gift of Values is a practical resource for parents to help them develop rich, meaningful family devotions, and to instill all-important values into the lives and hearts of their children.
Volume One covers the following values:
Honesty
Right attitudes
Courage
Perseverance
Diligence
Obedience
With each value there are the following sections:
Once Upon a Time – stories that demonstrate some aspect of the value being studied.
Think About It – questions you can ask your children to get the ball rolling.
Boom Clips – personal glimpses into the Boom family!
Something To Do – practical activities which will reinforce the particular value.
So Said – inspirational quotes that you can use to stimulate discussions with your older children.
Words To Live By – verses from the Bible.
Dig Deeper – suggestions for further reading, and DVDs and movies to watch.
The Gift of Values - Volume One
The Gift of Values - Volume One is published by Boomtree Publishing in a hard back edition, brown leather-look with gold hot foil printing. 149 pages.
“This book is just fantastic – it is everything I longed for as a young parent. Rosie Boom has produced an outstanding resource for parents. As a young mother, I spent many hours scouring bookshops and parenting magazines for help in creating family times with our children. I searched for material which taught Christian truths, was inspirational and which captured the hearts of our youngsters. This book is what I was looking for. Put together with so much love and care, it will be treasured by parents everywhere. Rosie’s passion for educating children, her mother’s heart and her concern for her children’s character all shine through.” – Mary Grant, Co-founder of Parents.Inc. and editor of Parenting Magazine
“What an awesome book. It is practical, honest, and contains such powerful keys to raising children in the ways of the Master. Rosie’s heart is poured out through this book, and the love and devotion she has for Jesus is contagious. We highly recommend this excellent book for every one to read.” – Ian and Jane McCormack, Evangelist and pastor, England
“The Gift of Values has sparked my joy for teaching character-building devotions to my children, and has injected wonder and enthusiasm into the experience. Here is a tool that will help make these precious times even more memorable, fun-filled, and a real learning adventure. I appreciate the honest, real-life touches throughout the book. I’m certain that with the aid of this book, God will draw many little hearts even closer to Him.” ~ Chris Bovill, mother of six and co-ordinator of HEART (Home Educators Annual Retreat)
“The Gift of Values ~ Volume One is a valuable resource for parents in their important but often difficult task of bringing up a family and instilling good values into young lives. It is full of practical suggestions and creative ideas, drawing on the wisdom of the past, the author’s experience of the present and the teaching of Scripture.” – Dr John Sturt, Counselor, Auckland
“Hear O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Over the last 17 years of home schooling I have spent many wonderful hours doing family devotions with the children. It has been the joy and the heart of our home schooling. Many women began asking me to write about what I’ve learned over these years, and what I found to be effective. So finally, I put pen to paper and wrote the first volume in a set of four intended books for parents to use in their family devotions.
Rosie
I couldn’t wait to write this book. For many years I’ve dreamed about having time to write down some of the things that have worked in our family, and share them with others. With six busy, noisy children, free time is not something I have a lot of. I teach the children at home, and although it is one of the greatest joys of my life, home-schooling is both demanding and time consuming. However, Jacob, my youngest will be six next week, and I have just finished applying for my last home-schooling exemption today! That makes me very aware that nothing lasts forever. Josiah, our firstborn, will be seventeen this year. I am very conscious of how little time we have left with him in our home, and I’m
so grateful I have been able to home-school him all these years. Yes, I stillfeel sad when I think about him leaving home, but I’m not consumed with regrets over all the things I wish I’d done with him, and the time I should have spent with him. That is the greatest gift home-schooling has given me – TIME. Time with my children, time to disciple them in the ways of the Lord, time to enjoy them.
For the past twelve years, the children and I have cuddled up on the sofa each morning and enjoyed devotions together. This is the heart of our homeschooling. We take as long as we like and don’t skimp on this all important part of our day. Over the years we’ve studied the Bible, read hundreds of stories, worked our way through many inspiring devotionals, and devoured countless biographies. Every six months, I have used a portion of my homeschooling money to purchase devotional books, and have amassed quite a collection. While being very aware of all the wonderful books available on this topic, I have had a persistent urge to write yet another one, relating our own journey and the things that have ‘worked’ in our family.
My aim in writing this book is to give you, the parent, a resource you can use in your own family devotions – something that is simple and usable.I don’t want you to have to wade through pages of writing just to glean a few things that you can integrate into your own family experience. I have laid it out in such a way that you can pick it up and follow it through step by step.
Alternatively, you can use one small portion at a time. I have deliberately not made this an exhaustive study of each topic, despite the very real temptation! I have tried to keep it fairly streamlined and un-daunting.
For those of you who have children in school, the thought of having family devotions may seem like the straw that would break the camel’s back.
I’m aware of the hectic rush it can be in the morning to get your children off to school on time. I hope this book will be so easy to read and use, that you will feel inspired to snatch even just a few moments of your busy day and enjoy some special time with your child. Remember, every moment counts.
We can feel discouraged if we don’t achieve all our goals, but rather, we should be celebrating every small step along the way. If you feel daunted at the ideaof family devotions, start small. But try to make it a habit. Remember, great oaks grow from little acorns!
For those of you who have struggled with family devotions, and found them more a curse than a blessing, my hope is that this book will make you think, “I can do this!”
And for those of you who have yet to embark on the wonderful journey of family devotions, my prayer is that this book will be just what you need to get you started.
This is my gift to you. – Rosie