Raise Them Right

Every parent understands the feeling. You look at your child and sense the weight of it — the responsibility, the love, and the fear that you might make mistakes. Blake Crawford experienced it too. Raising three daughters in Naples, Florida, he was drifting on cruise control toward the teen years with no real plan. Then a conversation with a school administrator changed everything. "If you raise them right," the man told him, "the teen years will be the best years." That was all Blake needed to hear. He went home with one clear conviction: it was time to parent with intention.

Raise Them Right: A Biblical Roadmap for Raising Children Who Know, Love, and Follow Christ emerges from that conviction — lived out, tested, and refined over decades of raising three daughters who are now thriving young women of faith. This is not just another parenting guide packed with behavior strategies or feel-good advice. It is a discipleship roadmap for the most important relationship you will ever steward. It starts with God's mandate for the family, turns the lens on the parent's own walk with the Lord — because the faith you live out will always outpreach the faith you simply speak — and culminates in the ultimate goal of intentional parenting: Raising Them Right itself.

Parents who commit to this journey don't just raise children who know about God; they raise children who know God. In the process, they find themselves drawn closer to Him as well.

Raise Them Right is for anyone who has ever held a child and felt the weight of that responsibility. Whether you're married or single, raising your biological children or stepping into a blended family, parenting for the first time or navigating decades of it — if you desire to raise your children according to the ways of the Lord, this book is for you.

It isn't written for the perfect parent. It's written for the parent who wants to remain faithful — who senses that there's a more intentional, more biblical way to shepherd the heart of a child, and who is willing to walk that path even when it's difficult. And it's not just for parents — grandparents, mentors, and anyone invested in a child's spiritual growth will find this roadmap just as meaningful.

Parenting doesn't have a finish line. Raise Them Right offers a guide for those on the road.

Raise Them Right is divided into five sections, each building on the one before — guiding you from the importance of biblical parenting to practical steps for living it out, one intentional move at a time.

Part One: The Parental Mandate begins with an honest look at the world in which we're raising children — and what God has always expected of parents in that world. From the very start, God never meant for parents to figure this out on their own. Long before parenting books or cultural experts weighed in, He laid out a clear mandate: train your children, teach them in wisdom, lead and encourage them, and protect them. This isn't a burden — it's a gift. It means you're not left guessing. God has already told you what He expects, and He has promised to equip every parent who seeks Him.

Part Two: Parenting Starts with You is where many books skip ahead too quickly. Not this one. Before you can shepherd your child's heart, you need to tend to your own — because you can't parent from an empty well. This part explores the personal disciplines that shape a parent: God's Word, prayer, journaling, and what it means to live your faith out loud in front of your family. It also covers two of the most vital yet often overlooked topics: how your own wounds quietly affect your parenting, and why your marriage is one of the most powerful tools you have in parenting. The overarching theme is the same — your children need to see the Lord alive in you.

Part Three: The Guiding Principles outlines the core beliefs that underpin everything else. Just as steering currents influence the course of a storm, something will always guide your parenting. The question isn't whether. The question is what. This section covers three fundamental principles: children are gifts to be stewarded, you are their primary teacher, and the environment you create at home matters more than you might realize. Get these right, and everything else will start to fall into place.

Part Four: The Parenting Toolbox is the most comprehensive section in the book — and for good reason. Real parenting occurs in the details. Twelve practical chapters equip you with tools for everyday challenges, including obedience, communication, the heart, God's design for gender and marriage, blended families, teen dating, and how to handle your own parenting mistakes. Tools don't make the craftsman, but no craftsman goes far without them.

Part Five: Project 13 is where everything comes together — and it's the heart of everything this book is about. After building the foundation through the first four parts, you are now ready for the framework itself.

Project 13 revolves around three intentional trips — meaningful, dedicated experiences taken with your child at three key stages: before middle school, before high school, and before college. Each trip lasts three days and two nights — days filled with fun and bonding, and evenings reserved for deeper connection. On the first night, you start the conversation with a guided Questions & Answers session designed to go beyond the surface — creating a safe, unhurried space for your child to share their heart: their struggles, doubts, dreams, and faith. On the second night, you walk together through the Stepping Stones.

The 31 Stepping Stones form the foundation of Project 13 — biblical principles divided into three categories: Foundational Beliefs, Character Formation, and Practical Application. Each one serves as a marker on the journey, a truth to be shared from your life to theirs, brought to life not only through Scripture but also through your personal story.

More than just a program to finish, Project 13 is a rite of passage — a parent telling his child: you matter, your soul matters, and I am committed to walking with you. While it starts with the Trips, the aim is that it never truly ends. Project 13 becomes a lifestyle — transforming discipleship from a curriculum into a continuous conversation.

Raise Them Right isn't just something you read — it's something you live. When you close this book, you'll walk away with more than good intentions. You'll have a framework.

You'll gain a clear, biblical understanding of your calling as a parent — not just what to do, but why it matters and who entrusted you with the task. You'll receive practical tools for real challenges: difficult conversations, broken moments, and topics most parents avoid. You'll have a plan for shepherding your child's heart through every stage — from early childhood to the threshold of adulthood.

And you'll have Project 13 — a clear roadmap for three of the most meaningful experiences you'll share with your child. The Trips. The Stepping Stones. The conversations that could mark them for life.

Most of all, you'll walk away with something harder to name but impossible to miss: a renewed sense of purpose. A reminder that the years are not wasted, the prayers are not in vain, and the faithful parent — imperfect as they are — is exactly who God had in mind for the child sitting across from you.