This book combines the research on spiritual ministering with the practice of counseling families. It examines such topics as how to prepare for marriage, how to keep a marriage divorce proof, and how parents influence children, and vice versa. In its quest to discover what makes families thrive, the book addresses and compares best parenting practices and describes interventions that help the development of family ties over a large span of the life-course. It offers guidance to families through several stages of family life: Pre-marital, marital, and raising children and adolescents. It makes clear that what constitutes an effective parent changes over the life course.