If I'm honest I struggle to read through an entire Christian book which says more about me than anything else. But this was not the case with Big Picture Parents! Why this book is great is that it gets to grips what it is like to be a parent in our current social media / google culture, being honest and open about how that affects the way we raise our children and bringing God's word into the huge job that he has called us to as parents. Harriet Connor has been able to interweave insightful and wise biblical principles that are ground in the muck and mire of daily parenting. Often it is tempting for authors to include jarring life anecdotes that have little relation to the bible passages they are wishing to expound upon, so it was really refreshing to read this book where teaching and real life application come hand in hand in a way that has personal integrity. I would like to finish by quoting the book itself to give you a taste: "We live in a world which urges us to chase after things that make us feel good. As parents we want to protect our children from feeling unhappy. But current research confirms what the Bible has been saying all along - that happiness makes a wonderful long-term by-product, but an impossible short term goal. Realising that I could not make my children happy shook the very foundations of my parenting. It forced me to step back and see the bigger picture. We and our children were made for more than happiness - we were made to be in relationship with God, his creation and each other. Parenting is not about helping my children to feel good, but to do the good that they were created to do. And ironically, doing this - giving my children a sense of purpose and connection with God, creation and others - is actually the best way to help them find lasting happiness."