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Progress not Perfection: Building a Powerful Marriage While Raising Challenging Children

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Married for forty-one years, the Thompsons reflect over their child rearing and marriage experiences and have completed what their children's psychiatrists long recommended. They've put into writing their story of faithfulness to each other, to their children and to God. Having adopted three apparently normal children, they discovered quickly the emotional, behavioral and educational challenges that faced Heather, Dylan and Molly. The Thompsons delineate the choices they made to solidify their marriage, choices of Trust, Commitment, Resilience, Health and Optimism. They worked to pass these values to their children as they matured. They share the conflicts experienced by their children in the school system, in the community and even within their immediate families where outsiders judge yet never know the depth of problems they faced. This is a story of love and commitment to each other. It teaches a lesson of determination and of seeing the positive and funny in times of crisis. The lessons demonstrate the flexibility and tenacity that too often is sacrificed in marriages. It encourages the reader to stay the course, to look far into the future, and to focus on progress not perfection in all aspects of life. This is a marriage book that offers parenting guidance, openly embraces their faith and will be helpful to a young couple, a couple with years of marriage and couples with or without children whether adopted or not and without regard for special needs.

258 pages, Paperback

Published May 7, 2020

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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for kayvictory.
1 review1 follower
July 5, 2020
What a wonderful gift!

Do you know a couple about to embark in the journey of parenting? This book would be a marvelous gift to get them started!..Their understanding of respect, trust, love, dedication, to their marriage and their shared ideas and planning for the rearing of their children written in the pages of this book is unimaginable for many of us. The stories, the humor, the problems they faced head on, kept me reading late into the night! A must read in starting a family. Thank you Roy and Margrey for your honesty and perseverance in telling your story!

Kay Victory

....Heather's nanny from 2 weeks old to 5 years old
Profile Image for Fred Halfpap.
1 review1 follower
July 8, 2020
Helpful

I liked how clear and sensible the authors' advice was. It was easy to read and understand .They have educated and informed me though their own personal trials, errors, and studies. I would definitely recommend this book to friends.
Profile Image for Pearl.
537 reviews9 followers
August 20, 2020
This is one of the most sensible books I have read. In this book Progress not Perfection: Building a Powerful Marriage While Raising Challenging Children by Roy Thompson, the author shared his life as a husband and as a father for children that require special needs. We get a real picture of his family aspect and how challeging it is to raise a child with a special need and at the same time, remaining a responsible and a good spouse.

I am single but I plan to get married and settle down one day so by reading this book, I imagine what lies ahead and all the possibilities. It won't be as easy as one two three and I know it can get really difficult and challenging, but this book explained that it's normal and you still can get things right if you know how to handle it. I loved how the book was well-written and carefully thought-out. It especially suggested how you can build a toolbox on how to manage it. A good job in this book! It is especially helpful for all the parents in general as well.
2 reviews
June 23, 2021
Actionable, Real-World Advice From Those Who Have Successfully Walked the Path

Roy and Margrey are amazing people and we would all be wise to emulate them… especially those of us with challenging children! In this book, they share their playbook of time-proven principles and practices that will help you chart a course to purposeful living, happiness, and making a difference in your family and the world. I can’t thank them enough for taking the time to share their wisdom!
My wife and I have a son with autism who just graduated from high school, and I definitely wish this book could have come into our lives about 18 years ago. I would have had better ideas and tools and conducted myself differently in terms of contributions made raising our son. Too often I left my wife to go it alone managing him on a daily basis, going through IEP meetings, taking him to speech therapy, etc.

The good news is, the Thompsons are a fantastic example of having faith and moving forward, and I know I can follow their lead and press on from where I'm at.
Profile Image for Karyn H.
568 reviews10 followers
August 19, 2020
Progressive Perfection.

Raising special kids is challenging, especially today where there are many scares that parents have to be vigilant about. With the pandemic, caregivers or daycares are basically closed to assisting parents for a couple hours during the day.

Now, this is stressful. the social distancing and being coupled up indoors gives way to parents being stressed and "unrelated". What a helpful guide! I think the author Roy Thompson outdid himself with this edition.
The Bible of an edition, helps both kids and parents to remain healthy while being the best parent and spouse you can be.

The chapters of this book will educate many parents about special kids care. So much strength and inspiration can be drawn from the writings.

Thank you Mr. Roy Thompson!
Profile Image for Tammy  Harvey, MS CCC-SLP.
1 review
July 13, 2020
A wonderful encouragement to married couples embarking on a journey with uniquely abled children. With humor, honesty, and encouragement bound by a deeply rooted faith, Roy and Margrey share their journey raising their three beautiful and unique children. Their book is a great resource and encouragement to anyone in a similar situation. Roy and Margrey began with the end in mind and kept their eye on the prize, loving each other and raising happy productive adults. An excellent source to help one remember, “Progress not Perfection” during challenging times.
Profile Image for Zack Carden.
2 reviews4 followers
August 2, 2020
What a delightful book! I realize it was written with the concept of raising challenging children in mind. But it is much more than that. It inculcates the concepts of how important organization and strict scheduling can be ... and not for challenging kids only by for everyone.
I particularly enjoyed the presentation as virtual discourse. I felt I was in Margrey and Roy's midst as they shared their ideas and joy of raising challenging kids. This book is straight-up with no agendas. A pleasure to read! I highly recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews