Susan Merrill, blogger and director of the parenting website iMom.com, didn’t set out to write a book, but she was looking for answers as she and her husband, Mark, parented their five children ranging in age from 16 to 22.
“We have five incredibly different children, biological and adopted, strong-willed and compliant, creative and analytical, introverted and extroverted,” says Merrill. “I’ve spent a lot of time looking for an overall approach to parenting that would help me to know if I am getting it right as a mom. I found an amazing amount of information about personality, age and environment, but nothing that would give me confidence that I was doing a good job.”
Surprisingly, Merrill found the answers to her parenting questions in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.
“Nehemiah realized he could not control the outcome of a situation, but he could control his own performance,” she says. “He loved his people and knew they needed a wall to protect them and provide them with hope for the future. Our kids don’t need literal walls, but they do need protection, provision and hope for the future.”
From her study of Nehemiah, a book for moms was born, “The Passionate Mom: Dare to Parent in Today’s World.” While Nehemiah used bricks and mortar to build the wall and gate, Merrill introduces “10 P’s” that she believes are the “bricks” for effective parenting: perception, pondering, passion, prayer, patience, preparation, purpose, planning, problem solving and perseverance. The mortar is your character, made up of qualities such as love, humility, discernment, determination and self-control.