Celebrate Spiritual Milestones
Marking children’s physical “firsts,” such as first steps and first words, is an exciting and memorable part of parenting. Just as important, and just as worthy of celebration, are spiritual firsts, or faith milestones.
These milestones, or rites, help children know they’re growing up as Christians and continually reconnecting to their faith family. Milestones also allow churches and parents to partner together to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus.
Spiritual occasions that warrant family celebrations include:
Baptism or Dedication—Because children are a gift from God, we “give” them back to God by committing their lives to him. By witnessing a baptism or dedication, fellow church members agree to partner with parents to help raise children in the Christian faith.
Receiving a First Bible—When children receive God’s Word, it’s like their very own special love letter from God. He wants us to read the Bible and apply it to our lives. Making a “big deal” out of getting a Bible shows kids how important the book is to our faith and its growth.
Transitioning to the Preteen Years—Leaving behind elementary school symbolizes that preteens are beginning to “own” their faith. Somewhere along their spiritual journey, they’ll decide whether to draw closer to God or reject him. The great thing is that God is always there, waiting for young people to find him. And he’s always there for parents, too, guiding us as we lead our children through faith milestones.
Teachable Moments
1. Celebrate Baptisms—After seeing a baptism, talk to your children about their own baptisms—or their desire to be baptized. Tell them God washes away our sins. As a family, make handmade cards for newly baptized people.
2. Make the Bible Relevant—Show children how God’s Word applies to their lives. Talk about biblical heroes and how they both stumbled and grew in faith. Tie Bible verses into kids’ interests, from music or poetry to travel or adventure.
3. Model Lifelong Learning—Preteens often feel as if they’ve outgrown Sunday school. Provide age-appropriate Bibles and devotionals for preteens who are forming their identity in Christ. Also help them anticipate the future rather than be anxious about it.
Get your children thinking about their own faith milestones by asking these discussion-starter questions:
1. What times or events in your walk with God stand out the most to you, and why?
2. As you grow up as a Christian, what occasions would you like to celebrate, and how?
3. In what ways has your faith changed since you were younger?
4. What can I do to help your faith grow even stronger?
Good Intentions Don’t Always Pan Out
• In a Barna Group survey, 85% of parents said they believe they have the primary responsibility for teaching their children about religious beliefs and spiritual matters.
• But in another Barna study, fewer than 10% of parents who regularly attend church have consistent family time with God.
Ask God:
1. To help you nurture your children’s developing faith.
2. To show your children how he’s with them as they grow.
3. To help you make faith milestones important.
Parenting Insights
In Shift (Group), Brian Haynes discusses the value of at-home “Faith Talks” for leading kids spiritually:
1. Faith Talks should occur regularly and be age-appropriate. Each week, set aside time to focus on biblical truth in a relational way.
2. Faith Talks should focus on God’s Word. Read the Bible together, celebrate it, and adjust your lives accordingly.
3. Faith Talks don’t have to be difficult or formal. Make them fun; for example, go outside on a hot day and compare standing in the sun and shade. Then read and discuss Psalm 121:5.
4. Faith Talks are a priority. They shouldn’t depend on children’s choices or attitudes. God instructs parents to be intentional about leading their children spiritually.
Family Experience: Journeys With Jesus
Use these activities to celebrate your family’s past and future.
• Family Timelines—You’ll need a 6-foot piece of butcher paper, markers, masking tape, and a Bible. Tape the butcher paper to a wall. Together, create a timeline of your family’s journey with God using words, drawings, and Bible verses. Include marriages, birthdays, and milestones, such as when a child entered preschool or when you moved. Add fun memories and difficult times that affected everyone (illnesses or injuries, vacations, job or school changes, and so on).
Afterward, discuss these questions: “What are our best memories? What difficult events have we overcome? How did those events make us closer? How have you seen God moving in our family through the years? How have we experienced God’s faithfulness? What are our future dreams for our family?”
• God’s Path—You’ll need a map of your hometown, a highlighter, a Bible, and a red marker. Mark important spots on the map, such as your home, school, church, friends’ houses, and more. Highlight the roads your family uses most often. Read aloud Psalm 139:1-3. Say: “God always knows where we are, what we’re doing, and where we’re going. He has big plans for us as we grow and get to know him better. God loves us and will always be with us.” With a red marker, draw a large heart around all the map sites you’ve highlighted. Hang up the map as a reminder of God’s promises.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Make Faith-Friendly Resolutions
The beginning of a new year offers the promise of a fresh start. Many people celebrate by resolving to make changes, often related to how they care for their bodies.
This year, take time to reflect on what you can do differently in your home to strengthen your family—and each member’s faith in God. Use these ideas to transform your family in 2011:
***Begin the day with music. Mornings are hectic in most houses. Play some soft Christian music to wake everyone up and to set the tone for a calm, God-directed day.
***Reclaim mealtime. Eat together as often as possible. Research points to all kinds of child-development benefits from this practice. But family meals also help you get to know one another better—and provide opportunities for faith growth. For example, ask specific, open-ended questions, such as “What’s the best thing that happened to you today? the worst?”
***Make devotions fun and active. Bible reading should be a social, bonding opportunity, not a dry discipline devoid of purpose. Use resources such as the “Family Night Tool Chest” series by Jim Weidmann and others (Chariot Victor), the “Not-So-Quiet Times” devotion series by Tracy Harrast (Standard), and 52 Fun Family Devotions by Mike and Amy Nappa (Augsburg Fortress).
***Develop a family mission statement. As a family, pinpoint your worthy purposes, worthy visions, and worthy values. A mission statement will unite you because everyone gives input into your family’s “big picture.” And God will be placed at the center of your home on purpose, not by chance.
__________________________________________________________
Start a Parenting Revolution
According to research by the Barna Group, fewer than 10 percent of parents who regularly attend church have consistent family time with God. George Barna’s book Revolutionary Parenting applies modern-day research to show that parents who faithfully apply God’s instructions for family life raise spiritual champions. Unfortunately, most people parent “by default” or use “trial-and-error parenting,” according to Barna.
Ask God:
1. To bless and guide your family during the year ahead.
2. To help you all embrace new habits so you grow closer to God and each other.
3. To grow each family member’s faith this year.
_______________________________________________
Parenting Insights
Thom Schultz, president of Group Publishing, offers these tips for helping children’s faith take root:
1. See the sacred in the ordinary. Attach "God thoughts" to daily activities. Bathing a child can remind you of baptism, and talking with one another can remind you of the gift of prayer.
2. Be alert to teachable moments. Put up your “God antennae.” For example, use the media as a teaching tool that sparks discussions.
3. Just “be” with your kids. Simply be present without an agenda. When you stop trying so hard, it’s freeing—and you’ll actually relate better.
4. Realize your family doesn’t have to be perfect. Read the Bible together to see that God’s grace was—and still is— sufficient for imperfect people.
“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:17
Jesus offers us a fresh start not only on New Year’s but each and every day. By paying the price for our sins, Jesus made each of his children a new creation.
_______________________________________________________
Teachable Moments
1. Keep It Short—You can make a big impact even when you’re short on time. For example, read aloud one Bible verse at the breakfast table to start the day. At bedtime, tell a Bible story in your own words. Remember: “Short passages for short people.”
2. Take a Pause—Your family doesn’t always need to be on the go. This year, make it a priority to step away from some commitments and shorten your to-do list. Use the extra time to regroup, reconnect, and recharge.
3. Be Peacemakers—If one of your goals is less sibling conflict, help redirect tension by focusing on positive qualities. Whenever one family member is mean-spirited to another, have the offender say or write three things he or she appreciates about the other person. This will make your family more tenderhearted and thankful for one another.
********************************************************************
Begin a conversation with your children about the new year by asking them these questions:
1. What excites you the most about the new year, and why? What are you the most uncertain about, and why?
2. What are some things you want to do differently or change in the upcoming year?
3. What types of goals do you think our family should set, and how can we work together to meet them?
4. What are your suggestions for a family mission statement? What best describes who we are and what we want to do?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Family Experience: A Fresh Start
Celebrate new beginnings with these Bible-based activities:
• Goal Tenders. Hold up an empty bowl and say, “This bowl reminds me of a new year, ready to be filled with new experiences and people.” Hand each family some buttons and say, “Let’s pretend these represent all those fun things. Your goal is to toss the buttons into the empty bowl from three feet away.”
After everyone has a turn, say, “A new year is a good time to set goals, but achieving them takes persistence. God gives us each a special goal to strive for every day, week, month, and year.” Read aloud Philippians 3:12-14 and discuss the goal of becoming what God wants us to be—and how we can pursue it. Close by having family members each toss one button into the bowl while thinking of a way to become what God wants them to be (for example, praying more often, being kind to others, etc.).
• Presto Chango!—Mix two parts glue with one part liquid starch. Stir well. Continue adding starch one spoonful at a time, using your fingers to work the mixture into a smooth putty. Press the putty onto a colored comic picture and then pull it off. Say, “This putty was plain, but it changed when it came into contact with the picture.” Read aloud 2 Corinthians 5:17. Say, “When we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in us and changes us. He helps us meet our goal of becoming more like Jesus.” Close in prayer, thanking God for the gift of a new year and for giving us new life in him.
The beginning of a new year offers the promise of a fresh start. Many people celebrate by resolving to make changes, often related to how they care for their bodies.
This year, take time to reflect on what you can do differently in your home to strengthen your family—and each member’s faith in God. Use these ideas to transform your family in 2011:
***Begin the day with music. Mornings are hectic in most houses. Play some soft Christian music to wake everyone up and to set the tone for a calm, God-directed day.
***Reclaim mealtime. Eat together as often as possible. Research points to all kinds of child-development benefits from this practice. But family meals also help you get to know one another better—and provide opportunities for faith growth. For example, ask specific, open-ended questions, such as “What’s the best thing that happened to you today? the worst?”
***Make devotions fun and active. Bible reading should be a social, bonding opportunity, not a dry discipline devoid of purpose. Use resources such as the “Family Night Tool Chest” series by Jim Weidmann and others (Chariot Victor), the “Not-So-Quiet Times” devotion series by Tracy Harrast (Standard), and 52 Fun Family Devotions by Mike and Amy Nappa (Augsburg Fortress).
***Develop a family mission statement. As a family, pinpoint your worthy purposes, worthy visions, and worthy values. A mission statement will unite you because everyone gives input into your family’s “big picture.” And God will be placed at the center of your home on purpose, not by chance.
__________________________________________________________
Start a Parenting Revolution
According to research by the Barna Group, fewer than 10 percent of parents who regularly attend church have consistent family time with God. George Barna’s book Revolutionary Parenting applies modern-day research to show that parents who faithfully apply God’s instructions for family life raise spiritual champions. Unfortunately, most people parent “by default” or use “trial-and-error parenting,” according to Barna.
Ask God:
1. To bless and guide your family during the year ahead.
2. To help you all embrace new habits so you grow closer to God and each other.
3. To grow each family member’s faith this year.
_______________________________________________
Parenting Insights
Thom Schultz, president of Group Publishing, offers these tips for helping children’s faith take root:
1. See the sacred in the ordinary. Attach "God thoughts" to daily activities. Bathing a child can remind you of baptism, and talking with one another can remind you of the gift of prayer.
2. Be alert to teachable moments. Put up your “God antennae.” For example, use the media as a teaching tool that sparks discussions.
3. Just “be” with your kids. Simply be present without an agenda. When you stop trying so hard, it’s freeing—and you’ll actually relate better.
4. Realize your family doesn’t have to be perfect. Read the Bible together to see that God’s grace was—and still is— sufficient for imperfect people.
“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:17
Jesus offers us a fresh start not only on New Year’s but each and every day. By paying the price for our sins, Jesus made each of his children a new creation.
_______________________________________________________
Teachable Moments
1. Keep It Short—You can make a big impact even when you’re short on time. For example, read aloud one Bible verse at the breakfast table to start the day. At bedtime, tell a Bible story in your own words. Remember: “Short passages for short people.”
2. Take a Pause—Your family doesn’t always need to be on the go. This year, make it a priority to step away from some commitments and shorten your to-do list. Use the extra time to regroup, reconnect, and recharge.
3. Be Peacemakers—If one of your goals is less sibling conflict, help redirect tension by focusing on positive qualities. Whenever one family member is mean-spirited to another, have the offender say or write three things he or she appreciates about the other person. This will make your family more tenderhearted and thankful for one another.
********************************************************************
Begin a conversation with your children about the new year by asking them these questions:
1. What excites you the most about the new year, and why? What are you the most uncertain about, and why?
2. What are some things you want to do differently or change in the upcoming year?
3. What types of goals do you think our family should set, and how can we work together to meet them?
4. What are your suggestions for a family mission statement? What best describes who we are and what we want to do?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Family Experience: A Fresh Start
Celebrate new beginnings with these Bible-based activities:
• Goal Tenders. Hold up an empty bowl and say, “This bowl reminds me of a new year, ready to be filled with new experiences and people.” Hand each family some buttons and say, “Let’s pretend these represent all those fun things. Your goal is to toss the buttons into the empty bowl from three feet away.”
After everyone has a turn, say, “A new year is a good time to set goals, but achieving them takes persistence. God gives us each a special goal to strive for every day, week, month, and year.” Read aloud Philippians 3:12-14 and discuss the goal of becoming what God wants us to be—and how we can pursue it. Close by having family members each toss one button into the bowl while thinking of a way to become what God wants them to be (for example, praying more often, being kind to others, etc.).
• Presto Chango!—Mix two parts glue with one part liquid starch. Stir well. Continue adding starch one spoonful at a time, using your fingers to work the mixture into a smooth putty. Press the putty onto a colored comic picture and then pull it off. Say, “This putty was plain, but it changed when it came into contact with the picture.” Read aloud 2 Corinthians 5:17. Say, “When we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in us and changes us. He helps us meet our goal of becoming more like Jesus.” Close in prayer, thanking God for the gift of a new year and for giving us new life in him.
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