The Lifegiving Parent: Giving Your Child a Life Worth Living For Christ

It’s no secret that Clay’s and Sally’s hearts beat for the family, and now they’ve offered those heartbeats for us to consider, emulate, and find encouragement from. The Clarksons specialize in inspiring a biblical big-picture mind-set with next-step practicality in a world that often finds parenting burdensome. The Lifegiving Parent offers delight and wonder to parents in the trenches.

American parents often say they feel powerless to raise their kids in the best way. Either they feel inadequate to do the job or they worry they don’t have the kind of influence on their kids they once dreamed of having. The solution isn’t “education” as we typically think of it, nor is it slightly better sermons or youth groups. Children need formation

— something that’s far more broad, intentional, and rooted in the people and traditions that ground a home.

At a time when the plethora of parenting books are mainly focused on technique, Clay and Sally Clarkson provide a vision of parenting as an art. The Lifegiving Parent is an intensely practical window into how to be the person your children need so that they can grow up surrounded by the truth, goodness, and beauty that will set them up for a life worth living.

Clay and Sally Clarkson are the beloved parenting guides we all seek

— gentle yet firm, wise yet adventurous, curious yet convicted. In The Lifegiving Parent, the Clarksons faithfully lead us all into a deeper, more meaningful exploration of Christian parenting through personal lessons, biblical insights, and practical teachings. To read this book is to sit down to a treasured mentorship, Yorkshire Tea in hand.

With a beautiful balance of biblical teaching, practicality, and an understanding of the challenges parenting brings, Clay and Sally Clarkson’s latest endeavor offers thought-provoking insights and reflections on their parenting journey. Moms and dads can mutually benefit from the reminder that passing along the gospel to their children isn’t about following a formula but about a parent’s authentic relationship with God overflowing into every aspect of family life. Part handbook, part manifesto, this book offers ideas for actionable steps to nurture our children’s hearts, warming them to the life-giving love of Christ.

With biblical wisdom and decades of personal experience, Clay and Sally Clarkson offer families a treasure in The Lifegiving Parent. It’s a humble yet urgent message to each of us pursuing this messy mission of raising kids to love Jesus and love the world. We are the lifegivers. It’s not a formula, program, or set of methods. It’s a way of life. With God’s help, we will pass on what we possess, giving the life of God to our children. No matter what stage of parenting you are in, you will find The Lifegiving Parent challenging, helpful, and encouraging.

Clay’s and Sally’s amazing relational styles inspire parents to new heights. They not only tell us “what” but also show us “how.” Any parents who read this book will find tools to breathe new life into their homes.

Clay and Sally have once again delivered a book that every parent would be wise to read. Inviting and encouraging, this book is a tool kit for passing on an inheritance of following Christ. It’s a guide for guides, teeming with wisdom earned from years of navigating the wilderness in search of the Water of Life. For the millions of younger parents longing for wise and practical mentors, The Lifegiving Parent is an answer to prayer.

Parenthood is an incredible gift and an extraordinary journey of discovery. The Lifegiving Parent is an inspirational and insightful book for all parents, no matter where they are on the journey. Each chapter is thought provoking and will challenge you as a parent to acknowledge and pursue the God-given role and influence you have in the lives of your children.

My husband and I passed this book back and forth with enthusiasm. The Lifegiving Parent is for every hopeful, weary mother or father. Our home is different because of the ministry of Sally and Clay Clarkson. Their vision has lifted our eyes, and this book is a gem we’ll return to again and again.

Wisdom is crammed into these pages—the wisdom of the Scriptures exposited and the wisdom of God embodied in over three decades of parenting. You won’t find formulas, guarantees, or glossy depictions of family life in this book. Instead, there are well-worn and well-loved pathways into the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit . . . for parents and for children.

There’s nothing I want more than to be a life-giving parent to my children. This book is at the top of my go-to stack of books to help me through the beautiful and challenging phases and stages of parenting. You must add it to yours.