Aren't they lovely when they're asleep?

Much excitement abounds this week at the imminent arrival of a new royal baby. William and Kate (if I may be so informal) have prepared themselves for this life-changing event in the limelight and glare of the media frenzy that surrounds the royal family.

The rest of us look on probably with a little envy at the plethora of royal helpers who have no doubt created the perfect nursery, who will help out with “chores” around the rather larger-than-average home, and may even take the baby off to give the tired royal couple some time to themselves.

New and not so new parents (and maybe grandparents too) will know that bringing your first child home is more than a little daunting. I remember sitting in our lounge and saying to my wife “So what do we do now?” as we looked at the little bundle in the car seat on the floor. There is no “parenting manual” and even if there were, each child is so different that I’m not sure it would be much help. Parenting can be very much trial and error - we (not the royal we) don’t listen when help or advice is offered, often thinking we know what’s best for our own children and so we struggle on.

As our children grow, the problems and challenges don’t go away (sorry those who haven’t got there yet!), they just change. Even when our children grow into adults there remains a parental concern about how they are doing and what they are up to. Well so my mother tells me (quite often).

But whatever position or situation we find ourselves in, we know we have the example of the ultimate parent in our loving and gracious God. Whatever we go through, much help can be found in his Word, the Bible. But how can we pull all that Godly advice together?

Ann Benton in Aren’t they lovely when they’re asleep? does just that, helping us learn six key parenting concepts from a biblical perspective and with a God’s-eye view of ourselves. Find out more here and pick up a copy for just £5 using the code asleep13 at the checkout.