4 Reasons Why We Wrote Tying Their Shoes

A Word from the Faith Bible Seminary Team: Pastor Rob Green (Chair of FBS’ MABC) and Stephanie Green co-authored the recently-released New Growth Press book, Tying Their Shoes: A Christ-Centered Approach to Preparing for Parenting. We asked Rob and Stephanie to share with us—and with you—why they wrote Tying Their Shoes. 

Tying Their Shoes seeks to provide encouragement and help as couples transition from life without children to life with them. As the “parents” in Proverbs 1-9 attempt to equip the “son” for various issues before he faces them directly, so we have want to equip couples in the church with preparations for major life changes. We wrote Tying Their Shoes for 4 reasons.

#1: Focusing on Parental Heart Issues 

First, like many expecting parents, we wanted to be as prepared as possible for the arrival of our child. We knew that there would be many lessons that we would have to learn after our child was born. After all, children are different. However, we also believed that there were some things we could do and could learn to help us prepare. We did the best we knew at the time, but never found a resource that we thought would help us address the issues of our hearts. Tying Their Shoes is our attempt to provide a resource that speaks about various heart issues in growing a family.

#2: Providing Pre-Parental Training—Like Pre-Marital Counseling 

Second, this resource is a continuation to the book Tying the Knot (you can read a review of Tying the Knot here). The writing is similar and there are similar themes. Many young couples, pastors, and biblical counselors have told us that the pre-marriage resource has been helpful to them personally and in their ministries. As a result, we thought that preparing for parenting might be an encouragement to those same couples.

#3: Life, Children, and Parents Are Dynamic 

Third, although the audience is clearly first-time parents, we believe that parents who are expecting number two, three, or six could still gain value from the resource. We would say that we knew more about labor and delivery the second time, but that does not mean that all the heart issues were gone. We may have experienced an infant already, but again, that does not mean the second child will be the same as the first. In other words, life and people are dynamic. As we change and have other experiences, we still need our feet firmly planted on the Lord and His Word.

#4: The Scriptures Are Full of Wisdom for Family Life

Finally, we love preparation. We believe that the Scriptures are full of wisdom and counsel before we experience something. The Lord offers scholarships for life. Experience will be one of our teachers, but it does not have to be our primary one. We can learn from our Creator how we work, function, and make decisions. We find great joy in watching couples seek the Lord first, rely on His guidance, and avoid the consequences of foolishness. Suffering will come, but it is possible to minimize the suffering we bring upon ourselves.

We trust that this resource will direct expecting and new parents to Christ.

About Rob and Stephanie 

Rob Green, M.Div, Ph.D., is the Pastor of Counseling and Seminary Ministries at Faith Church, Lafayette, Indiana. Rob wrote Tying the Knot and several smaller works on marriage and family issues. Rob and his wife, Stephanie, have three children.

Stephanie Green, RN, is a homemaker and heavily involved in mentoring women at Faith Church, Lafayette, Indiana. She is the author of the mini-book, Miscarriage: You Are Not Alone and worked as a registered nurse for over a decade primarily in the newborn nursery and postpartum units. Stephanie and her husband, Rob, have three children.

Rob Green
Pastor Rob Green oversees Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. A seasoned counselor, Rob also teaches others how to counsel--through FBCM's training conferences and Faith Bible Seminary's MABC program.