Not distinctly Christian. Practical and challenging.

"What is 'effectiveness' in a family?" asks author Steven R. Covey. He promptly answers with four words: "a beautiful family culture." Building this culture is the primary theme of Covey's parenting guide, a manual based on concepts introduced in his blockbuster, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey, a New-Age business guru and leadership authority, has consulted with the world's top corporate and political leaders, but closer to home he is the father of nine children. Here, Covey reinterprets each of his now famous "habits" (Habit 1: Be Proactive, Habit 4: Think Win-Win, Habit 6: Synergize) to apply to parenting and family-life issues. Covey suggests writing a family mission statement, implementing special family times and "one-on-ones," holding regular family meetings, and making the commitment to move from "me" to "we" as techniques to improve family effectiveness. Covey is a brilliant storyteller. By weaving the voices and anecdotes of his wife and children with his own inspirational and informative stories, exercises, and parables, he has created a book with something for all parents interested in enhancing the strength and beauty of their own families.

This book has lots of good and simple ideas related to raising a family today but ultimately I found most of the material too corny and unrealistic to be used by most families. I found myself getting annoyed at much of the simplistic ideas and anecdotes. One cannot ignore the impact of society on others but you must embrace it positively - not all impact from modern culture is negative. ( )

This book comes with a set of discussion cards and is a wonderful book to read as a family during meals. My family has had deep heart-to-heart talks based on such discussion questions. I would recommend this book for any family seeking ways to reconnect or improve their interpersonal realtionships with each other. ( )

I didn't read the entire book, but I read through a good chunk of it. Good advice for communicating better within the family. I didn't quite feel inspired to work through all the exercises, though. ( )