From Marriage and Family Experts Dennis and Barbara Rainey Dennis and Barbara Rainey have spent decades helping families find biblical help to strengthen and transform family relationships. Through radio broadcasts, conferences, and other events, they have been teaching on the foundations necessary for building godly families. Now they bring insights and expertise gleaned from those years of ministry, as well as from their own personal experience of raising six children, to The Art of Parenting . Expanding on parenting themes shared with FamilyLife audiences in person and on the radio, Dennis and Barbara offer trusted advice on how to establish Christian values in your home. In The Art of Parenting , Dennis and Barbara will help you to experience God's truth and apply his Word in your family by focusing your attention on four crucial elements in your children's lives: 1. Identity--understanding who they are in Christ 2. Character--learning to live wisely and honorably 3. Relationships--fostering godly connections with others 4. Mission--understanding why they are here When you apply biblical truths in these four areas, you can feel confident your children will have a foundation they can build upon for the rest of their lives. From our observations and experience it seems that most parents today have three basic goals for their children: We want our children to be safe . We want them to be happy . We want them to be successful . But how do we achieve those goals? You only have so much control as a parent. No matter how much you protect your children, they will still be touched by danger, by injury, by sickness. You can give them happy moments and memories, but you can't prevent them from experiencing sadness or fear or disappointment. You can help them build useful skills and a strong work ethic, but at some point they will leave home and make their own choices; you won't be able to control the outcomes. That's why passing on a living faith is so important. In fact, when they are closely connected to God, safety and happiness and success will look different, because God defines them differently than our culture does. And we guarantee that there is nothing more satisfying than watching your children grow into adults and work through everything life throws at them when you know at their core they walk with God. As 3 John 4 says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." Embrace God's Purpose and Plan for Your Family Parenting is an exciting adventure, full of twists and turns. But sometimes it feels like you don't know where you're headed, or you're just making it up as you go along. How can you get where you want to be without having a plan in place? Dennis and Barbara Rainey have spent decades teaching on the foundations necessary for building godly families. Now they share the insights and expertise gleaned from those years of ministry, as well as stories and teaching from their own children about the challenges of parenting today. The Art of Parenting focuses your attention on four crucial elements in your children's lives: 1. Relationships--fostering godly connections with others 2. Character--learning to live wisely and honorably 3. Identity--understanding who they are in Christ 4. Mission--understanding why they are here When you apply biblical truth to these four areas, you can feel confident your children will have a foundation they can build upon for the rest of their lives. Dr. Dennis Rainey is the cofounder of FamilyLife, a Cru ministry, and has authored or coauthored more than 55 books and Bible studies. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and hosts conferences on marriage, men's ministry, and parenting globally. For more than 26 years Dennis was the host of the award-winning nationally syndicated radio program FamilyLife Today , and he continues to be a contributor to the broadcast. He and his wife, Barbara, live near Little Rock, Arkansas, and have six married children and 24 grandchildren. More about their work and resources can be found at DennisandBarbara.com. Barbara Rainey (www.familylifetoday.com) is a wife, mother of six adult children (plus three sons-in-law and two daughters-in-law), and "Mimi" to twenty-one grandchildren. After graduating from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, Barbara joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ in 1971. Her husband, Dennis, whom she married in 1972, is the president of FamilyLife, a ministry of Campus Crusade that is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Barbara has published articles on family-related topics and is the author and coauthor of many books. She speaks at FamilyLife's Weekend to Remember marriage conferences and is a frequent guest on FamilyLife Today , a nationally syndicated daily radio program. Having faithfully served alongside Dennis for more than forty years both in ministry and at home, Barbara has recently launch