Parenting Ahead helps parents with younger children build a foundation for their family based on biblical principles for the teen years to come. Readers will learn to practice redemptive parenting where their children grow to see the world through a gospel lens based on biblical truth.
As parents of young children anticipate the teen years, counselor Kristen Hatton helps them lay the groundwork so that having honest conversations, setting reasonable limits, and exploring issues of the heart will prepare them and their children for the next stage. Hatton helps moms and dads make the connection between their current parenting and future outcomes. By evaluating their parenting, they will see where their own fears, desires, and insecurities lie and how to pivot to practices of faith and trust in God.
Proactive, long-haul parenting will help parents and children be better prepared for engaging in the realities of peer pressure, decision-making, and recognizing the connection between behavior and the heart.
AUTHOR
Kristen Hatton is a counselor and author passionate about helping families. She lives with her pastor-husband, Pete, in Dallas, Texas. Together they have three young adult children and a son-in-law. Kristen is the author of Get Your Story Straight, Face Time, The Gospel-Centered Life in Exodus for Students, and Parenting Ahead.
"As we navigate a complicated time in our world, parents need wise guides and trusted voices offering help and hope for the journey. Kristen brings the experience of a seasoned parent and the wisdom of a trusted counselor to this book. It is a needed resource."
David Thomas, Therapist; bestselling author ofRaising Emotionally Strong Boys andAre My Kids on Track?
"While Kristen reminds us there is no perfect parenting formula, in Parenting Ahead she offers helpful perspective on what does and doesn't matter on this journey. As a mom of three teens and one preteen, I appreciated her encouragement to keep a long-range mindset and to continue my efforts to intentionally connect and communicate God's gospel love in our day-to-day family moments."
Heather MacFadyen, Host of the Don't Mom Alone podcast; author of Right Where You Belong
"Parenting teens doesn't start on your child's thirteenth birthday. It starts on the day they are born. In a world where culture is catechizing children and parents 24/7 into deformed notions of what it means to be human and what it means to parent effectively, Kristen Hatton offers up a hope-filled and biblically faithful corrective that helps parents understand the high calling and high privilege of nurturing our kids in the Christian faith. Thank you, Kristen, for helping us see what it means to parent with grace under God's Word in today's changing and confusing world!"
Walt Mueller, The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding
"Most parenting books teach parents what to do only in the present moment. While these tips are necessary, good parenting means focusing on the big picture with our kids. In Parenting Ahead, Kristen Hatton helps parents be proactive with their younger children so they are better prepared for the changes and challenges of the years to come. Whether your child is two or twelve, every parent will gain important insight."
Meg Meeker, MD, Bestselling author of Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: Ten Secrets Every Father Should Know
"There has long been a pressing need for a grace-filled guide to the sanity-testing experience known as parenting teens. I thank God that Kristen Hatton answered the call with this brilliant, refreshing book. Jammed with helpful stories and hard-won experience, Parenting Ahead serves as a reminder that God's mercy extends not only to adolescents but to those who've been tasked with raising them. Highly recommended."
David Zahl, Author of Low Anthropology; director of Mockingbird Ministries
"Parenting Ahead is a gift to parents faced with raising kids in the current crazy culture. This book does much more than provide parenting techniques it will help you understand the heart motivations behind what you and your children do. Hatton accomplishes this by providing a scriptural doorway through which to encourage, strengthen, and challenge parents. Parenting Ahead is not just a book to read and stick on a shelf this is one of those books you read and then purpose to do!"
Marty Machowski, Family Pastor; author of The Ology, God Made Boys and Girls, Parenting First Aid,and other gospel-centered resources for church and home
"With the wisdom and compassion of someone who has been there, and the candor of someone who trusts Christ's grace for her mistakes, Kristen speaks gospel good news to ears ringing from toddler tantrums, inviting them to trade the tactics they use to make it to bedtime for grace and intentionality, cultivating connection instead of choosing convenience, and laying the foundation we need to parent our toddlers as well as our teens."
Abbey Wedgeworth, Mom of three (loud) little boys; author of Held and the Training Young Hearts children's book series
"Kristen Hatton writes like the counselor and teacher that she is. In Parenting Ahead, she gives moms and dads a rich theological foundation for redemptive parenting and offers practical biblical wisdom, all in a tone of warmth and compassion for parents who want to raise children who love Jesus. She does not offer useless formulas; rather, her own trust in Jesus encourages her reader to persevere in hope, knowing that his love for our children is greater than sin, the world, or our own weaknesses as moms and dads."
Anna Meade Harris, Senior Director of Content at Rooted Ministry
"In this winsome and gospel-centered invitation to be forward-thinking about the teen years, Kristen Hatton shows us Jesus and his compassionate pursuit just the very remedy for our sin-ridden hearts that my husband and I hope to offer our own two girls."
Holly Mackle, Humor columnist for Lifeway's HomeLife Magazine; author of Bright Star: The Story of Esther
"Biblical parenting in today's culture requires a new level of awareness, thoughtfulness, and education. Backed by Scripture and counseling experience, Parenting Ahead offers parents practical ideas and principles that have the power to transform families from the inside out. The discussion on over and under parenting alone is worth the cost of the book. If you want to be a solid, healthy parent to your preteens and teens, this book is a must-read."
Krista Gilbert, Life coach; author of Reclaiming Home; cohost of The Open Door Sisterhood podcast
"I found myself nodding in agreement as I read Kristen Hatton's wise words. Her redemptive parenting approach is filled with wisdom, encouragement, humility, compassion, grace, and truth all qualities children crave from their parents. This practical parenting book is grounded in God's Word. Parenting Ahead is the guide parents of teens and preteens need. I highly recommend it."
Lori Wildenberg, Licensed parent and family educator; parent coach; author of several parenting books, including The Messy Life of Parenting: Powerful and Practical Ways to Strengthen Family Connections
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I have 5 teenagers now and needed some new information to remind me to stay the course. This author has kids that have gone before mine and she helped me re-think the way we were parenting with grace vs discipline. This incredible book helped remind me of keeping the communication door open and having empathy for the pressure our kids are under.
So much wisdom in this book!! There are so many parenting books out there, but this one has been the most helpful!! I think about this book often!!
Really loved the content!! So helpful and real!! Highly recommend if you have kids or plan to :)
So helpful! Was a great reminder of a lot of the things that I knew already, but changed the way that I discipline in a very specific way. Highly recommend for parents of all aged children, not just teens.
Beyond helpful! This must read book is and reminds Christian parents of beginning with the end goal in mind and structure your parenting as such. Grace grace and grace ! Parenting is such a gift and a journey and having a spiritual mentor like Kristen share real life wisdom grounded in the gospel while also reminding us of the importance of the heart of the parent is invaluable. Thank you for sharing your Godly wisdom .
This is the best book on parenting I’ve ever read - and I’ve read a few! So rich and Gospel centered and grace driven. My big take away is to focus on leaning on Jesus alongside your kids. We are co-sinners learning to run to Jesus for grace together. Must read for any momma out there and my new go to gift for young moms!
You don’t have to live in dread of the teen years! You can lay the groundwork early and prepare yourself and your kids to enter the teen years, and beyond, armed with the tools and the grace to navigate the issues that will arise. There is a real connection between our current parenting patterns and future outcomes and Kristen lays it all out. She helps you consider your parenting practices in light of God’s word and His perfect guidance and then adjust or reinforce as necessary to walk into the coming years with faith and trust in God and a hope for positive relationships and outcomes. Can't wait to share this with my mothers small group!
Thoughtful and practical help, insight and wisdom in this little book! And the author offers it with grace and personal experience, not formulas.
As a licensed Christian counselor, this is a book I’ve shared with many parents who are trying their best to do all they can for their kids.
A really helpful resource for parents whose children are in the teen years, or will be in the future. Hatton writes a grace filled message that encourages and challenges parents to consider what their goals of parenting are, and how they are shaped by the gospel. Part 1 encourages perseverance and hope as the foundation. Part 2 focuses on some pitfalls that hinder, including parenting styles, idols, the influence of the world, and the avoidance of pain. Part 3 considers what living redemptively might look like - confessing sin, being open about our idols and our struggles, and offering mercy and forgiveness to each other - for parents and children alike. She proposes ways to continue to move towards our children, challenges families to consider where their time, effort and money goes, and encourages slowing down, saying no, and setting boundaries. Hatten is honest about her own failings, mistakes and regrets, but also shares wise choices and decisions that they made. Overall, she strikes a really helpful balance - acknowledging God is in control, we are sinful and will make mistakes, that no parent is perfect, and that there is no foolproof parenting formula. Yet, at the same time, there are things we can do as parents to be proactive, gospel focussed, and intentional. Worth a read for anyone in or entering the stage of parenting teenagers.
