Every child is a miracle. Every single one. Each is born as a seedbed of potential for loving, thinking, creating, giving, working, and so much more. Yet they also come into the world fragile, vulnerable, and dependent on those would care for their needs and shape their foundations for life– their physical, emotional and mental development as well as their spiritual formation. In short, those who influence, love, and care for a child are shaping the destiny and possibilities of that child’s whole life.

Sally Clarkson, Awaking Wonder

Awaking Wonder by Sally Clarkson is one of those books I had a hard time stopping. I found spare moments in the day and stayed up late just to read it, and talked about it to anybody who seemed remotely interested in listening. I even found myself talking to my husband about it in the bleary half-awake state when I usually spout nonsense (a distinct improvement!)

Clarkson explains that people often asked how she managed to raise her kids to be so faithful, accomplished and creative. Although she has other books about homemaking and education, Awaking Wonder is a unique mix of memoir, testimony and encouragement to parents everywhere. I was a little hesitant to begin, because some books leave me discouraged about my own imperfection. Instead, Awaking Wonder left me feeling seen and encouraged, just where I am.

A Holistic Approach to Parenting

Awaking Wonder approaches children as gifts from God, who don’t need to be fixed so much as nurtured as they grow into their own people. I love the view of parents as stewards over God’s children. It shapes the way I view my own children and my approach to parenting them, choosing love and mentorship over harsh discipline.

Clarkson describes her academic choices for her children (she homeschooled all four children after rejecting a conformity approach to education in public schools), but ultimately, academics take a backseat to relationships and faith.

As a homeschooling Christian, I loved the emphasis on teaching as Jesus taught, incorporating faith into my own life and helping my children learn “blessed hope” in Jesus Christ.

“No matter how good your church may be, a few hours each week cannot create the longing for Christ that God has uniquely designed you to impart to your children. You are to be the primary lifegiving presence of Christ to your children, through His Spirit living and working in your life…”

Sally Clarkson, Awaking Wonder

As a mother, I loved the emphasis on putting my relationship with my children above any pressure to keep up with what people feel we ‘should’ be doing. I am thankful for the reminder to slow down, snuggle my babies and remember that a home is a place to love my family, not to dazzle with my housekeeping skills. Clarkson also reminds me to take care of and love myself:

We must also be creating a sustainable, centered, and pleasurable life for ourselves so that we can be a source of joy, pleasure, comfort, and companionship as well as a teacher.

Sally Clarkson, Awaking Wonder

Her approach to academics was refreshing as well. She reminds us that children are born to love learning and exploring, and that one of our main jobs as teachers is not to crush that impulse. She gives ideas for how to create a lifegiving culture of learning through daily rhythms. In my experience as a homeschooled child, she’s right. I fell in love with reading and developing new skills, and at that point my parents couldn’t have stopped me if they tried.

I don’t homeschool– is Awaking Wonder for me?

Although Clarkson does promote homeschooling and talks frankly about her problems with public schools, there is still much to ponder for public or private schoolers. Her insights on promoting faith as a family, building traditions of love in the home, and viewing yourself as a mentor for your child are applicable to all families. As she says,

“A parent’s impact can be for the good or for the bad; it can shape an emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually healthy child or leave a legacy of emotional, intellectual and spiritual abuse and neglect, or provide a combination of both of these directions. Parents are profoundly influential in the lives of their children.”

Whether you homeschool or not, the way you approach parenting matters. Your children are watching you and love you. I highly recommend this book to any Christian family. It is a testimony of Christ’s grace to families in a broken world.

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