Belonging and Becoming: Creating a Thriving Family Culture

by Mark Scandrette, Lisa Scandrette

Overview

Renew your imagination for what family life can be.Many of us feel overwhelmed about the prospect of raising children in our high-performance, rapid-pace culture. Reflecting on difficulties from our own families of origin can increase our doubt and insecurity about being a good parent. Positive examples of family life can seem few and far between.

Mark and Lisa Scandrette understand these challenges, and in Belonging and Becoming they cast a compelling vision of what the family can be. They offer wisdom from the joys and struggles of their own life, and practical guidance for creating a healthy and deeply rooted family culture. Whether you've been a parent for some time, you're just starting out, or you're only starting to think about it, this book will inspire you to take new steps toward family thriving.

Now more than ever, we need a new vision for family that is creative, intentional, soulful, and globally aware. Whatever the make up of your household, your family can be a space of belonging, where each person feels safe, loved, cherished and cared for, and a place of becoming, where each person is supported to to develop who they are for the good of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830844890
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	09/27/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Mark Scandrette is an author, teacher, activist, and networker among innovative Christian leaders. As the founding director of ReIMAGINE, a center for integral Christian practice based in San Francisco, he leads an annual series of retreats, learning labs, conversations, and projects designed to help participants integrate the teachings of Christ into every aspect of life through shared practices and community experiments. Mark is the author of FREE: Spending Your Time and Money on What Matters Most, Practicing the Way of Jesus, and Soul Graffiti.A sought after voice for creative, radical, and embodied Christian practice, Mark speaks nationally and internationally at universities, conferences, and churches, and offers training and coaching to leaders and organizations. He assisted in the development of CONSP!RE Magazine and has contributed to publications like Leadership Journal and Conversations Journal and books such as An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Community of Kindness, and The Relevant Church. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Fuller Seminary, and his work has been profiled in books that include The Shaping of Things to Come by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost, Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger, I.AM.RELEVANT by the Relevant Media group, and The New Conspirators by Tom Sine. Mark and his wife Lisa and their three children live in the Mission District of San Francisco. He enjoys running, biking, cooking, dumpster diving, home coffee roasting, long city walks, going on dates with Lisa, and watching T.V. and films with their kids.

Lisa Scandrette has devoted herself to a life of care, hospitality, and teaching. She regularly facilitates workshops and provides administrative support for ReIMAGINE, a center for integral Christian practice with a mission to help people become more fully human through engagement with the life and teachings of Jesus. She makes a life in the Mission District of San Francisco with her husband Mark and their three children, and she is coauthor of FREE: Spending Your Time and Money on What Matters Most.

Table of Contents

1. A Thriving Family Lives from a Vision
2. A Thriving Family Carries Out Its Purpose
3. A Thriving Family Finds Its Rhythm
4. A Thriving Family Discovers a Common Story
5. A Thriving Family Fosters Connection
6. A Thriving Family Nurtures Growth
7. A Thriving Family Celebrates Abundance
8. A Thriving Family Supports Productivity
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Group Learning Guide
Shared Learning Contract
Group Prayer for Family Thriving
Notes

What People are Saying About This

David M. Csinos

"For the past two decades, Mark and Lisa Scandrette have been at the leading edge of creative faith practices and community engagement, all while nurturing a family life that models the way of Jesus. At last they have put these passions together in a book that's sure to be a go-to resource for families of all kinds seeking to grow one another up into wise, engaged, and faith-filled disciples. By sharing their best family practices and providing tools to help readers create their own, the Scandrettes have created a resource that's sure to evoke deep refection and thoughtful practices for a family life of faith."

Shauna Niequist

"Mark and Lisa's vision for family life is both challenging and inspiring, and Aaron and I are so thankful to have learned from their example over the years of our friendship. This book is a gift: intelligent and brave, prophetic and grounded. I recommend it for any parent who wants to be wiser, more soulful, and more imaginative in their parenting—which is all of us, right?"

Andi Ashworth and Charlie Peacock

"So unique is their life, if only one percent of our citizenry would live with the imagination and intentionality that Mark and Lisa Scandrette do, the world would be a demonstrably better place. With Belonging and Becoming, the Scandrettes build on the bedrock of their twenty-five year marriage and their winsome, faithful work of caring for people and place. We cannot endorse this couple too highly. They represent a way of being and doing that exceeds admirable, landing at 'Wow!'"

Nate Ernsberger

"Mark and Lisa Scandrette understand that thriving families are born of gracious intentionality. I know as you read these pages you'll find both intention and grace: practical wisdom and insights along with the encouragement to live with forgiveness, empathy, compassion, and a will to keep trying."

Nancy Ortberg

"So happy this book was written, so mad it wasn't written thirty years ago! I know that Mark and Lisa did not just write this book, but they have also lived it. And in the living of it, they make room for various expressions of the values-based, thoughtful approach to parenting that we all aspire to. Our world, our neighborhoods, and our souls will be the richer for the reading and practice of these pages."

Kelley Nikondeha

"Mark and Lisa Scandrette offer tangible hope for families by both their example and their wise instruction in Belonging and Becoming. They articulate ways families can live toward God's justice and goodness in the world as well as support one another in mutual thriving. They embrace the internal and external call of each family to love one another and be a blessing to the entire neighborhood. As a parent and practitioner, I appreciate the rich vocabulary they've given us with this book!"

Editorial Reviews

"So happy this book was written, so mad it wasn't written thirty years ago! I know that Mark and Lisa did not just write this book, but they have also lived it. And in the living of it, they make room for various expressions of the values-based, thoughtful approach to parenting that we all aspire to. Our world, our neighborhoods, and our souls will be the richer for the reading and practice of these pages."

Nancy Ortberg

"Mark and Lisa Scandrette understand that thriving families are born of gracious intentionality. I know as you read these pages you'll find both intention and grace: practical wisdom and insights along with the encouragement to live with forgiveness, empathy, compassion, and a will to keep trying."

Nate Ernsberger

"For the past two decades, Mark and Lisa Scandrette have been at the leading edge of creative faith practices and community engagement, all while nurturing a family life that models the way of Jesus. At last they have put these passions together in a book that's sure to be a go-to resource for families of all kinds seeking to grow one another up into wise, engaged, and faith-filled disciples. By sharing their best family practices and providing tools to help readers create their own, the Scandrettes have created a resource that's sure to evoke deep refection and thoughtful practices for a family life of faith."

David M. Csinos

"Mark and Lisa Scandrette offer tangible hope for families by both their example and their wise instruction in Belonging and Becoming. They articulate ways families can live toward God's justice and goodness in the world as well as support one another in mutual thriving. They embrace the internal and external call of each family to love one another and be a blessing to the entire neighborhood. As a parent and practitioner, I appreciate the rich vocabulary they've given us with this book!"

Kelley Nikondeha

"So unique is their life, if only one percent of our citizenry would live with the imagination and intentionality that Mark and Lisa Scandrette do, the world would be a demonstrably better place. With Belonging and Becoming, the Scandrettes build on the bedrock of their twenty-five year marriage and their winsome, faithful work of caring for people and place. We cannot endorse this couple too highly. They represent a way of being and doing that exceeds admirable, landing at 'Wow!'"

Andi Ashworth and Charlie Peacock

"Mark and Lisa Scandrette . . . understand the challenges and cast a vision of what the family can be in Belonging and Becoming. They offer wisdom from the joys and struggles of their own experiences as parents in the ministry and practical guidance for creating a healthy and deeply rooted family culture."

Facts Trends

"Mark and Lisa's vision for family life is both challenging and inspiring, and Aaron and I are so thankful to have learned from their example over the years of our friendship. This book is a gift: intelligent and brave, prophetic and grounded. I recommend it for any parent who wants to be wiser, more soulful, and more imaginative in their parenting—which is all of us, right?"

Shauna Niequist

"Mark and Lisa Scandrette offer tangible hope for families by both their example and their wise instruction in Belonging and Becoming. They articulate ways families can live toward God's justice and goodness in the world as well as support one another in mutual thriving. They embrace the internal and external call of each family to love one another and be a blessing to the entire neighborhood. As a parent and practitioner, I appreciate the rich vocabulary they've given us with this book!"

--Kelley Nikondeha, Communities of Hope, Burundi

"Mark and Lisa Scandrette . . . understand the challenges and cast a vision of what the family can be in Belonging and Becoming. They offer wisdom from the joys and struggles of their own experiences as parents in the ministry and practical guidance for creating a healthy and deeply rooted family culture."

--Facts Trends, Fall 2016

"So unique is their life, if only one percent of our citizenry would live with the imagination and intentionality that Mark and Lisa Scandrette do, the world would be a demonstrably better place. With Belonging and Becoming, the Scandrettes build on the bedrock of their twenty-five year marriage and their winsome, faithful work of caring for people and place. We cannot endorse this couple too highly. They represent a way of being and doing that exceeds admirable, landing at 'Wow!'"

--Andi Ashworth and Charlie Peacock, writer and record producer, cofounders of Art House America

From the Publisher

"Mark and Lisa Scandrette . . . understand the challenges and cast a vision of what the family can be in Belonging and Becoming. They offer wisdom from the joys and struggles of their own experiences as parents in the ministry and practical guidance for creating a healthy and deeply rooted family culture."

Facts & Trends