Parents...How Do You Do It?
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So often people settle for "church" to happen on "Sundays", which means our spirituality is reduced down to an 1 1/2 hour event on one day of a week.
In my last post, I admitted that we have some major work to do within Threads. At least initially, there seems to be a great disconnect between Sundays and families @ Threads. As I interviewed parents and our Kids Community volunteers, I saw that there was almost no connection from one space/experience to the other.
Parents live with this amazing, but precious opportunity. We have been given the chance to shape the life of a child. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, God lays out His theology for parenting. There God calls parents to the leading spiritual influence in their parents life. However, God says the shaping will take place throughout the everyday...infusing God into the things we do each day.
So parents, how are you doing it? What practices at home are helping to shape your child's heart in the shape of Jesus? Where have you had your best spiritual conversations with your child? What was necessary for that to happen?
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Anne Goodrich on Sep 1, 2007 11:21am
Not having been a part of a church very much before coming to Threads, I didn't realize what a gift it was for a family to be part of a faith community. Once when I expressed my regrets to my grown daughter about that she said, "But Mom, God was always a part of our family." Even though I wish my children had had a place like Threads when they were young, I was so glad to hear my daughter's comment. God was (and is) just a part of our everyday lives, and often a part of our conversation, whether it's to express our gratitude to him or to ask for his guidance and seek his wisdom. For me I think having a strong devotion and love for God naturally results in many conversations with my children being spiritual ones.
Kim Kopec on Sep 4, 2007 8:41am
I had a great spiritual conversation because of a bug. We were in Connecticut and, the kids were warned about playing in our friends' backyard because of the many deer ticks. My daughter was asking about ticks and why God would put bugs on the earth that would harm us. I could have gone into the whole fall of man, or how every creature has it's place in nature, but I felt God gave me the simple words that were meant for those particular 10-year old ears. I basically said that if everything was "perfect" on earth, we wouldn't long for heaven and God wants us to long for heaven. Her response was "I can't wait to get to heaven!" I'm sure her response was more to escape the unpleasantness of things in this world, like ticks. But hey, whatever it takes to get them headed in the right direction is fine by me.