Raising young children to grow up in the Lord and to know and love Him is my biggest desire and yet my biggest fear. I want (as I believe most parents do) for my children to KNOW God, who He is and to turn to Him. I want God and His word to be part of their DAILY lives not just part of their lives on Sunday and Wednesday when we are at church. We listen to church music. We have daily devotional time with the kids. We do memory verses with them. However, I know there is more that we could and should be doing. My friend, Melissa, was sparked by a friend's post on her blog. Which, in turned, rekindled my spark on this subject as well. One thing I have LOVED about blogging is the sharing of ideas and concerns from others out there. This is something I think we all worry about and can improve on daily. We should never be set in our ways and not working on doing and learning more. So, what are some ideas you have to make God and His word part of your daily life? Here is what we do already . . . . . .
Glorify God when we see His hand in creation.
Thank God for blessings each day.
Have a prayer list for those who need our prayers.
Talk about what God would want us to do in different situations.
Look at what the Bible says about different situations and how we should deal with it.
Put scriptures in LB's lunch box at school.
Use Bible verses in daily conversations.
What do you do?
5 comments:
We have daily devotions with our sons before we walk the oldest to preschool/kindergarten. It is a great time to do a devotion, read the bible and pray as a family. My husband works a lot a night and so this was a time that worked for our family.
One of the biggest things I think is talking to your kids with undivided attention. It is so important for them. I also read a book "Don't make me Count to Three" and it was EXCELLENT. She talks a lot about how to talk through all issues with your children and how to bring them to the Lord in situations. It opened my eyes to a lot and makes me give extra time and focus to each incident that might happen and then talk through an incident and then role play a better way that would honor God and each other. It was eye opening for me and takes so much time, but so much better for my little ones. I don't always do this...but I try... my eldest loves the role playing and it gives him ideas what to do. It is great.
That is my two cents worth!
thanks, becky (with the awesome name lol!!) i have the book "don't make me count to three" and i completely forgot about it. we have been in a state of 1/2 moving for several months (i boxed up a bunch of stuff i didn't need to cut down on clutter while our house is on the market) and that is in a box. gonna go dig it up! mommyhood is so hard and bringing them up in the Lord is really the only thing i care if i do it right or not! my oldest (luke,5) is getting to the point he should start understanding how we treat people and why certain things may be wrong. and i figure whatever i incorporate with him, seth,3 will catch on. i mean, because of older brother, my 3 year old can already say all his Bible books, the Lord's prayer and several verses and is learning his apostles--we do this at night time prayers and luke thinks he needs to say them all.
we can all just learn together!!
I have always tried to simply incorporate our faith into everyday conversations and daily life. Whenever my daughters are struggling with something, we talk about it from the standpoint about our faith.
We talk about God and religion and Christ and our witness in everyday language. We talk about spiritual things; sometimes it even gets kinda deep, and I really let my kids have their own opinions. I think it needs to just be a regular part of your conversation.
We have a commute to church, so we try to use that time to sing Bible songs. The children have all grown up with us singing all the time, so they don't feel self-conscious to sing out. And singing is such a good way to learn the books of the Bible and Bible facts.
A way we share our faith in the summer is through planning Backyard Bible Adventures. Those take a lot of work, but I think the investment will be worth it.
At 9, Carson is really starting to notice differences in the choices some of his friends make -- and particularly the language they use. I'm trying to calmly explain things to him from a biblical perspective and keep the dialog open so he'll keep confiding in me about the pressures he faces as a pre-teen.
We have prayer and always thank the Lord for providing us with the means of food and family/friend gatherings.
With Cowboy and his special needs, and Itchy with his severe food allergies - we constantly give thanks for the challenges put in our paths. We thank Him for giving us the guidance, strength and determination to find the best path and solution. The boys understand He made them the way they are and He has a larger purpose for them than even I know. If I see them taking their lives or situations for granted or getting upset about their circumstances, I always say two words - BIGGER PICTURE and they know I'm talking about His vision for them and they gain comfort and peace from those two little words.
It's not really easy to show kids the fingerprints and imprints the Lord has on our daily lives until they are older. It's only been until recently that Cowboy (9) is really starting to see it and express it. That's my gauge to see if I truly am doing the right thing.
He will tell me all the time "Maybe the Lord wants me to ....because....". "Perhaps we should pray about it and see if that helps".
Outside of prayer, basic conversations, and typical church attendance....Cowboy goes to a homeschool supplemental program that goes through a 30 min worship and sermon on Tuesday and Thur. They then memorize and study a verse and apply it's values through their school work.
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