Don’t worry, I promise I won’t turn this blog into a book-reviewing website. For one thing, I won’t be reading enough books to merit that, and for another, I don’t usually enjoy reviewing books. So maybe just think of this as a “part two” to my last book review post. 🙂

I so much enjoyed reading and felt so re-energized by The Whole-Brain Child that before I was even finished with it I went on Amazon and bought another book by the same authors, No-Drama Discipline, which builds on the premises laid out in The Whole-Brain Child.As the title suggests, it focuses mainly on discipline. Quoting directly from the book: “You can discipline in a way that’s high on relationship, high on respect, and low on drama and conflict—and in the process, you can foster development that builds good relationship skills and improves your children’s ability to make good decisions, think about others, and act in ways that prepare them for lifelong success and happiness.”

There’s no one-size-fits-all discipline approach, and this book doesn’t claim to be that, but it does lay out many different ways to not only mold your child’s behavior but their brain as well.

I really liked their definition of “discipline,” and I think this needs to be taught more. I certainly hadn’t ever really thought of discipline in this way until I was years into my parenting journey.

Again quoting from the book: “The root of ‘discipline’ is the word disciple, which means ‘student,’ ‘pupil,’ and ‘learner.’ A disciple, the one receiving the discipline, is not a prisoner or recipient of punishment, but one who is learning through instruction. Punishment might shut down a behavior in the short term, but teaching offers skills that last a lifetime.”

Doesn’t that just reframe the whole idea of child-training? To literally teach, instead of just punish.

A verse that is often in my mind is, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” I have prayed that over my parenting and over my children countless times, and this book offers so many good ideas of how to do that and how to do it in ways that the child literally will carry with him for the rest of his life.

I will leave a disclaimer here that I neglected to say with my review of The Whole-Brain Child, and that is that these books are not written from a Christian perspective. They simply show how the brain works and expand on that knowledge with ideas of how to effectively parent and train children with that science in mind. Think of it as the science-book version of parenting. 🙂

To me, it’s fascinating and helpful. Maybe it won’t be that to everyone. So, as with any media we consume, read with discernment. I know there were a few instances in No-Drama Discipline where I thought that as a Christian I would frame a concept in a different way or throw it out all together, but overall, a lot of what is laid out here is very compatible with Christian parenting.

And while we’re on the topic of Christian parenting, if you’d like to temper that boots-on-the-ground brain science with a little boots-on-the-ground Biblical motherhood advice, look no further than Abbie Halberstadt’s M Is for Mama podcast. I don’t usually listen to podcasts, but I’ve been so encouraged by both the book that she wrote (same title) and her Instagram account (again, same title) that I decided to give the podcast a go. I’m so glad I did.

As a mama of ten, she certainly has the experience to be handing out child-training tips, and she does that to a certain extent, but one of the things I appreciate most about her is how she effortlessly points back to Scripture again and again. With any aspect of motherhood that she addresses, she always brings it back to a Bible verse or a Biblical concept, and she doesn't shy away from calling things as they are. No excusing selfish tendencies or blaming exhaustion or less-than-ideal circumstances or any number of other things there. Again and again, she calls mothers to a higher standard. To excellence.

Honestly, it's just refreshing to listen to her. Encouraging and convicting all in one. Some of what she shared were things that challenged me to do better and to make some changes, but there were also things that really just encouraged me to keep on keeping on. I needed to hear both.

And speaking of Abbie, she has a new book coming out in September, and I cannot wait to read it. The fact that my pre-order is supposed to arrive on my birthday feels like an added bonus. 🙂

I know I was recommending the podcast, but I'll recommend her book that I've already read as well, M Is for Mama. I'm hoping to get it read again before her new one comes!

I have one more book to talk about quickly, believe it or not.

Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot.My friend Lydia gave me this book, maybe at my bridal shower. I still remember how encouraged and filled by it I was the first time I read it. Keeping a quiet heart is not the easiest thing to do while planning a wedding and looking forward to that big change from single to married. This book blessed me so much in that stage of my life and felt like just what I needed to read at that moment.

After reading through the Bible in a year last year, I wanted to slow down my Bible reading to be able to actually take it in, and I also wanted to do something that I don’t do often, which was read another book alongside my Bible every morning. When I saw this book on my shelf and remembered how it had blessed me so much before, I knew this was the one.

Keeping a quiet heart is even more important in the middle of motherhood than in the middle of planning a wedding!

I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed toward the beginning of the book. It felt harder to get into than I remembered. Of course, that could have something to do with all my little distractions named Alec, Sebastian, and Emmett. 🙂

But then I got toward the end of the book, and she started talking about motherhood, and I found myself just clinging to so many of her words.

There was validation, but there was also challenge. There was encouragement, but there was also conviction.

This book is just a compilation of short pieces Elisabeth Elliot wrote, and it seems like every time I read it there’s a different topic that speaks to me. What I loved it for last time didn’t really touch me this time, but what I breezed over last time was life-giving to me this time.

I’ve given this book as a gift here and there, and if you haven’t read it, you should!

And now, I think I've already officially read more books this year than I read last year, so bring on summer. 🙂