Savoring Childhood

Help Children Embrace a Slower, Gentler Pace of Life

Imagine being stuck on a crazy merry-go-round that won’t stop. You’re spinning endlessly, unable to focus or catch your breath.

This is the reality for many children today, caught in the frantic pace of life. Forces beyond their control rush them along, moving so fast that there’s little room for God in their thoughts or on their calendars. They’re left struggling to establish roots in community, reliable morals, or any kind of relationship with God.

The good news is it’s possible to help children experience life at a slower pace. You can push back against the demands of our superficial, artificial, automatic, and always-on culture. In Savoring Childhood, Grace Pouch offers small steps you can take to help children experience life at a pace where friendship with God has the time and space to flourish.

Drawn from an average family’s experiments with resisting the rush of life and applying spiritual formation wisdom from voices such as Dallas Willard and Richard Foster, this book presents practical ways to slow things down so that children (and the grown-ups who love them) can experience and savor the world at a soul-sustaining pace.

With Savoring Childhood, you’ll learn how to

resist the formation of spirit-harming habits and appetites,
set a pace that supports freedom, connection, and depth, and
nurture skills for healthy relationships with God and others.

God designed childhood to be abundant. With a little practical guidance, we can reclaim the spaciousness kids need to experience awe, practice patience, exercise creativity, and grow up surrounded by a sense of God’s presence and love. Savoring Childhood is your invitation to slow things down and give your kids the gift of flourishing.

Author Biography

Grace P. Pouch is content manager for Renovaré, where she curates and produces resources for spiritual renewal. She previously served as a seminary professor and Christian education specialist for elementary school children. Grace and her husband, William, live with their two children, Charlotte and Henry, in Greenville, South Carolina.