Tag: faith formation

It’s a difficult time to talk about current events with our kids. Would you agree? Depending on their age, we don’t want to frighten them. We don’t want to mislead them. We’re not really sure how we even feel about what’s going on in our country, and we surely don’t want them going to school and repeating everything we’ve said at home. So in truth, we just don’t talk about it. We leave the news turned off, we answer their questions with limited responses, and we hope each day will be better than the one before it. At least that’s how it is in my home.

But what if we’re missing opportunities for valuable conversations about the kingdom of God? What if we’re missing opportunities to influence our children’s faith development as a result of what they witness in current events? As a mom, I don’t want to miss those opportunities. As a citizen of the United States, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to help my children grow up to be informed voters. As a Jesus-follower, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to help my children live their faith and potentially influence this country for the better.

The truth is that we cannot bury our heads in the sand. Our kids are aware of the tensions in our country. If they are in school, I guarantee they are hearing about it, often in adult words spoken from the mouths of children who overheard their own parents. Our responsibility as parents is to help our kids navigate the world and our responsibility as Christ-followers is to help them do so in a way that brings the kingdom of Heaven here on earth. And that kingdom will look much different than what we currently see on the news and experience in our own lives.

So I’m committed to do better and the commitment I make has nothing to do with my political leanings but rather everything to do with what I read in scripture about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.  In the Carey house, with girls who are 12 and 16, we’re framing conversations around Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, and with special emphasis on the beatitudes as our lens for looking at current events and how we should respond. What does Jesus say about how we should interact with others? What does Jesus say about the power of our words? What does Jesus say about the oppressed? What does Jesus say about material possessions? About judgement? About truth? And how do we see those teachings play out in current events today?

 Another great scriptural guide is Micah 6:8, “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Imagine the fruit of conversation when we define what this means for ourselves and for our family.  My prayer is that these conversations will help our girls recognize the heart of God, identify those situations that break his heart, and in turn be young women who speak and act the truth in love for the kingdom of Heaven.

Truthfully, we didn’t have these kinds of conversations when my girls were younger. It was a different time and I was in a much different place spiritually. But young children need just as much reassurance and context to understand their world. Last week I listened to a great podcast from NPR’s Life Kit called “What to Say to Kids When the News is Scary” and I cannot recommend it strongly enough for guidance especially with younger children.  You can access both the podcast and a brief article here.

Parenting is no joke, and parenting with the goal of discipling our kids to follow Jesus is even more difficult. Be encouraged. We are the men and women for the job. With the help of scripture, the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and one another as support, we can bring up a generation of peacemakers and world changers….but it starts today.

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God, give us the wisdom and the words to lead our children well. Point us to the scritpure, to the life and words of your son Jesus Christ who modeled for us what it means to live in deep relationship with you, to live a servant’s life, to love our neighbor as our selves. God show us how to parent in a way that demonstrates your love for our children and for all children. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

This past Sunday, Pastor Paul asked the question “What does it look like to chase after God?” In sharing the story of the magi who traveled thousands of miles to experience the presence of God in the Christ-child, Pastor Paul pointed out seven actions of the magi that we can follow as we seek to chase God in 2021:

• observe God’s movement
• enter into the presence of God
• bow
• kneel 
• worship first and at all cost
• offer yourself
• obey God’s guidance

As I often do, I walked away from this message considering what it looks like not only to chase after God myself, but also to teach my girls to do the same. We are intentional about raising our girls in a faith-centered home, but it’s challenging and we’re not perfect. I’ve yet to find exactly the right book or podcast or speaker to give me the perfect road map or better yet the perfect words to help my girls, in their very limited experience and thankfully limited heartache, fully understand the magnitude of God’s goodness, mercy and grace. So I fumble my way along. Can you relate?

I want to teach my kids first to observe God’s movement. You might think that since they’ve been raised and active in the church, such observations would be natural for them. But I can tell with full disclosure that is simply not so. We used to ask the question at dinner “How did you see God today?” and we were answered with silence nearly every single time. We did an advent study in 2020 with great scripture readings and devotionals. The girls loved them, but when it came time to apply the reading…silence. And in frustration, I’m tempted to stop asking the questions. Where is the disconnect?

I think the answer is simple: language. It’s no mystery how children acquire language. They speak what they hear. From the time a child is born, parents are intentional to name every action and object to help that child communicate. We look at picture books and imitate animal noises. And we know that children are absolute sponges…to the point that we have to be careful about what we say because it will ultimately be repeated. We know this is true of language acquisition, but do we apply it to faith as well? Do our kids have that language of faith? Have we, as parents, given them the words?

You see, if I want my girls to be able to express how they see God move, I have to give them the words and the only way to do that is to express how I see God move. And it has to be as casual and as frequent as the way I would name objects when they were babies. Talking about God is not reserved for the dinner table or family devotion time. Talking about God is in the car on the way to school, in the line at the grocery store, watching the basketball game from the bleachers.

I’m ready to chase God in 2021 with more devotion than ever before. I want my girls to see it, to hear me talk about it, and to join me in the chase. Will you come along? What if this is the year that we spoke our observations of God out loud, even when it sounds awkward? What if this is the year that our kids learn the language of faith? What if this is the year that we build relationship, not religion, and we invite God into every moment, not just Sunday worship. 

Leave a note in the comments if you’re ready to join me and let’s see what stories we can share of God’s movement in our homes in 2021.