Habits of the Household: A Book Review
Is your family life messy and chaotic? Do you want to add a little more structure? Are you looking for more ways to authentically integrate your faith into your daily life. Then Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms by Justin Whitmel Earley is a must-read for you. Keep reading for the rest of my review.
Background
Our church read Habits of the Household as part of our adult discipleship hour. It was a great topic for adult Sunday School. It was discussion-oriented and practical! Not only did I learn a lot from the book, but I also got to learn from other families in the church. I hope to share a small portion of what I learned with all of you!
Home Liturgy
Justin Whitmel Earley defines liturgy as the following:
“A pattern of worship we repeat over and over, hoping that the pattern draws us into worship and forms us in the image of the one we worship.”
He makes the case that not only do we practice liturgies in church, but we all have set liturgies throughout our day. They are small patterns we repeat over and over again (although, many of these are unintentional.) Some of our liturgies point to God such as praying before meals, but some don’t such as yelling at the kids every night to brush their teeth and put their PJ’s on. Earley challenges us to examine the liturgies we actually enact every day. Then he calls us to refocus some of them so that we live more God-centered lives
10 Habits of the Household
Justin focuses on ten habits of the household:
- Waking
- Mealtimes
- Discipline
- Screentime
- Family Devotions
- Marriage
- Work
- Play
- Conversation
- Bedtime
He describes the rhythms he has for each area and suggests practical ways we could make adjustments. Additionally, he gives examples of the struggles he has had in these areas in the past.
Chapter Reflections
At the end of each chapter, he also has a main idea, summaries, tips, and further resources. This is helpful for a quick review or for discussion.
Redefining Normal
“Nothing is normal until it is,” ~Justin Whitmel Earley
The author states that it takes awhile for a routine to stick and become normal and that’s ok. There will be struggles, so we should expect it to be difficult at first. The trick is to persevere. As the new becomes normal it creates heart change—not just in our kids, but in our hearts as well. Instead of having knee-jerk reactions to difficult family-situations, the author explores different practical ways that we can let God’s grace guide us and our family’s hearts. He states that “Our best parenting comes when we think less about being parents of children and more about being children of God.”
My Personal Application
Like all families, my family is stronger in some areas than others. For example, we were already doing family devotions (Although we recently have been neglecting them.). However, we weren’t doing much in the morning to focus on God. In fact, since becoming a parent my morning prayer and Bible reading routines have been infrequent and lackluster. But because of our participation in the class that studied this book, we added two God-centered routines in the morning.
Morning Playlist
We created a morning play list. Each day we start with a Slugs and Bugs Bible verse and a familiar hymn that I want him to know. Every few months we update the list with a couple of new songs. Repetition is key, so my son learns the words and verses. He really likes starting the day with songs, so it’s a win-win for everyone.
Morning Family Prayer
Per recommendation of the author, we gather together for a morning family prayer before my husband leaves for work. This is the prayer we pray. Most of it came from the book, but per another couple’s suggestion we changed the word “study” to “learn.”
“Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank you for this day.
Bless us as we work, learn, and play.
Be present with us in all we do.
May we bring glory and honor to you.”
I still need to get back to having my own consistent personal reading and prayer time in the morning, but at least it’s a start!
Bedtime
We already had developed a nightly ritual around bedtime. Together as a family we read a story, say a prayer, and sing a hymn. Then one of us will take over (while the other cleans the kitchen). We turn off the lights, say some blessings (for others and my son), and make my son’s stuffed animals “talk.”
One of the issues we confronted early on when doing our bedtime routine was a lack of prayer books for young boys. My mom gifted me the Little Golden Book’s Bedtime Prayers. However, the pictures were of sweet innocent children and cuddly animals. My son was more interested in the promotional Tootle the Train on the back cover than any of the prayers inside the book. That of course made prayers a struggle. I scoured Amazon for a prayer book for young boys, but I couldn’t find anything. Therefore, I decided to write one!
Ladder Learns to Pray
My prayer book for young boys is called Ladder Learns to Pray. After much travail, I secured an illustrator: Steliyana Doneva. Check out her work!
The book should be out in Spring 2026!!!! So, if you have a little boy or know of a family with a little boy who would like something like this, be sure to subscribe to my blog! In the next few months, I will be coming out with a pre-order form where you can get a discount on the book. My blog posts will occasionally feature my journey in publishing, so be sure to subscribe to get the latest news and sneak-peaks.
The Purpose of Word & Numbers
I love to teach! I’ve taught math and ELA in both Christian and public schools and was a math consultant and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Additionally, I’ve taught and discipled women and students throughout my life. Now that I’m a stay-at-home-mom I have all these unused resources. I didn’t want them to collect dust on the shelf, so I posted them online and started a blog. I’m still new to the whole blogosphere, so I have a lot to learn. I mostly post lessons (math, STEM and a few ELA), Bible studies, and book reviews—hence the title: Word and Numbers. Follow my blog or subscribe if you are interested in this type of content.
Share and Comment
Share this post with a friend, and do a book study together on Habits of the Household. Help me learn from you! Share your family’s Christian habits (or liturgies) that you intentionally incorporate into your family life.
Another wonderful group of ideas from Annie Cannelongo. Keep up the good work.