cover image When Our Parents Need Us Most

When Our Parents Need Us Most

David L. McKenna. Shaw Books, $12.99 (128pp) ISBN 978-0-87788-902-1

``Honor thy father and thy mother.'' A challenging commandment at any time, but more particularly so as parents age and their needs become the responsibility of their adult children. McKenna, president of Asbury Seminary in Kentucky, has drawn upon his experiences caring for his own parents and in-laws to create a sensitive guide for readers who are facing similar situations. The author explores every facet of caring for aging parents, and his faith is a source of both hope and reality. For Christians, age should bring with it wisdom and honor, and death is not an end but an entry into the presence of Christ. So, for the believer, a parent's spiritual well-being is as critical as his or her physical health. Blending practical information with compassion, McKenna offers insight into this and the many other issues that accompany aging. He punctuates his text with valuable checklists such as 15 steps to determining if a parent should live with an adult child, 14 questions to be answered about financial and legal matters and the rights and responsibilities of the Christian caregiver. Readers are also given focused guidelines and pastoral encouragement for working through these complex issues. (July)