Manny & the Garden of Gratitude: When You Want to Complain

Michael R. Emlet, MDiv, MD, practiced as a family physician for over ten years before becoming a counselor and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF). He is the author of the books CrossTalk: Where Life & Scripture Meet, Descriptions and Prescriptions: A Biblical Perspective on Psychiatric Diagnoses and Medications, and Saints, Sufferers, and Sinners: Loving Others as God Loves Us, and the minibooks Chronic Pain, Angry Children, Help for the Caregiver, and Overeating: When Enough Isn't Enough.

The Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) has been teaching people how to understand the wisdom and depth of the Bible and apply its grace-centered message to the problems of daily living since 1968. A biblical counseling and educational ministry located in suburban Philadelphia, CCEF operates a robust biblical counseling ministry in their home office as well as on-site training for others with a heart for discipleship. CCEF also teaches several accredited counseling programs both on-site and through distance learning in conjunction with Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. As an extension of the local church, CCEF accomplishes its mission through a unique synergy of counseling, training, publications, and conferences.

Joe Hox was raised on a farm in southern Iowa where he doodled whenever he wasn't spading thistles or bottle-feeding pigs. Everyone knew by his crooked hay rows that he would choose art over farming. Joe spent the first part of his art career as a teacher, and now his focus is illustration. Joe has illustrated all the Good News for Little Hearts series books. His favorite book projects have been with his wife, Kate Hox, the author of Who Is Jesus? 40 Pictures to Share with Your Family, and Who Is God? 52 Pictures to Share with Your Family .

“If complaining happens frequently in your home (as it does in mine!), Manny and the Garden of Gratitude will help you talk with your kids about grumbling and explain how gratitude to God is possible—even when life is hard or we don’t get what we want. Like Manny’s family, yours can learn together the contentment that comes from trusting God’s faithful care.”

Christine M. Chappell, Certified Biblical Counselor; author of Lament: Crying Out in Faith; host, Hope + Help Podcast, Institute for Biblical Counseling & Discipleship

“As a dad of two boys, I know the sound of complaining well, especially in my own heart. We desperately need help confronting the grumbling that steals worship from God and blinds us to his faithful care. In Manny and the Garden of Gratitude, Emlet exposes the doubts beneath our complaints and helps parents and children grow together in grateful trust, even amid great loss.”

Timothy St. John, Counseling Pastor, Lighthouse Community Church; author of After Church Hurt

“Mike Emlet’s book, Manny and the Garden of Gratitude, lovingly helps kids take steps in learning to be grateful while they are young. This book is a beautiful gift for children, and growing in contentment is a gift for a lifetime.”

Amy Baker, Director of Ministry Resources, Faith Church; editor of Caring for the Souls of Children

“‘God stays with us on good days and hard days.’ This truth from Mike Emlet’s Manny and the Garden of Gratitude leads to sincere thankfulness and contentment. Readers big and small will recognize their own complaining hearts in Manny’s struggles—and learn alongside him why the Lord can be trusted today and always.”

Lauren Whitman, Faculty & Counselor, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; author of When Parents Feel Like Failures: How Jesus Quiets Our Distress