Category: Faith Development

Fun Family Devotional Under the Stars

The weather is still comfortable enough in most places to be outdoors right after dark. There is a fun family devotional you can do to take advantage of it.

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot is celebrated on October 16 this year. It may sound a bit strange for a Christian parenting blog to suggest your family should celebrate a Jewish holiday, but there is actually a lot we can learn from them (not to mention Jesus and the Apostles celebrated them).

Sukkot may be more familiar to you as the Festival of Booths. It involves building a booth of usually three walls using natural materials. The wall of a building can be one of the walls, but the “roof” of your booth should be natural materials. Spaces between branches is nice, because it makes it easier to see the moon and stars.

Bring out some blankets and get comfortable inside your booth. Historically families sat in their booths as the children were told the stories of the Torah and how God protected the Israelites. For Christians, it points to Jesus – especially through the story of that first Passover in Exodus. Ask your children for the parallels as you tell them the story.

Sukkot actually lasts several nights. Modern Jews have specific readings from the Torah (first five books of our Old Testament) and Ecclesiastes. If you want to cover them all with your children, you can find lists of the scriptures online. As you read the various passages, ask your children how God cared for the Israelites then how Jesus cared for the world in his day and how God/Jesus cares for us today.

While there are no specific foods eaten during Sukkot, many families have traditions of eating stuffed peppers or cabbage, challah bread, kugel, tzimmes, kreplach and fava bean soup. You can find recipes online and take your feast to eat outside, too.

Have fun with it, but take advantage of the opportunity to teach your children some important scriptures and how God continues to care for us today.

Fun Ways to Help Your Kids Remember to Thank God

As a Christian parent, you have probably prayed with your children since they were babies. At some point, you will need to begin to transition them to a personal prayer life. You will still pray with them at times, but you need to encourage them to pray regularly when they aren’t with you, too.

Part of that process is establishing habits of praying to God about certain things. The Bible mentions multiple times that we should be grateful to God for His many blessings. There is a fun way to get your kids in the habit of thanking God daily when they pray.

Call your kids together and tell them the story of the ten lepers found in Luke 17:11-19. Ask them how Jesus must have felt when the one leper came back and thanked him for healing him. Then ask them how Jesus must have felt when the other nine did not show gratitude. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Ask them why they think it is important to thank God for our blessings.

Give each child a large sheet of paper and have them draw a giant heart on it. Point out that expressing gratitude is one way of showing God we love and appreciate Him. Ask your children how often they think God blesses them. Hopefully, they realize he blesses them daily. If not, take some time helping them think of blessings that God gives them every day as well as some special blessings He gives them from time to time, like healing them when they are sick.

Have your children write or draw on their hearts blessings God gives them every day. After they are finished, have them pray to God thanking Him for those blessings. Then help them place their hearts where they will see them every day. At dinner time or bedtime every day, take a moment and have each child write or draw three things they were grateful to God for that day. Encourage them to thank God for them in prayer then as well as for all of His blessings throughout the day. Talk about visual reminders they may see that remind them of a gift from God. Encourage them when they see those things to take a few seconds and thank God in the moment.

Habits take time to develop, so you may need to do the activity together for a few weeks and gradually transition them to doing it independently. Create new heart drawings when one gets filled, but save previous ones so your kids have reminders of God’s blessings in their lives. Eventually, your kids may not need the physical reminders any more, but even adults can benefit at times from reminders to be grateful to God.

Family Game Night For Fun and Faith

I’m a big fan of family game nights. We enjoyed them when our daughter was little and still love playing games when she and her husband come visit for a week. Playing board games with your kids can build relationships and create fun family memories. They can help ease the pain when they are having issues with friends. They can teach skills, like problem solving and time management, that strengthen resilience. Did you also know that you can use games to strengthen their Bible knowledge and build on their faith foundation?

Our game chest has always been filled with a mixture of secular and Bible games. Unfortunately, when our daughter was young, there weren’t a ton of options. In a quick scan through Amazon, I found that even some popular secular games like Cranium look like they now have official Bible versions.

Be aware though that not all Bible games have equal value. Some probably aren’t any more helpful than secular games for increasing Bible knowledge or comprehension. I would suggest thinking through any purchases of Bible games. Trivia decks are fun to have in the car for road trips. If you have a secular version of the game they love, then see if you can purchase just the question decks from the Bible version and use the same game board.

Or you might want to buy an entirely new Bible game. Also think about the underlying messages it may be sending your kids. I saw one that advertised making hysterically funny drawings for Bible verses. I can see a game like that either reinforcing Bible memory work or creating a disrespect for scripture depending upon how it is structured. Sometimes youth groups and children’s ministries own Bible games and you can look through them to see if they are something you want to purchase for home use. Or a Christian you know may already own the game and can tell you about it.

Just because a game is advertised as “Christian” or “Bible” doesn’t mean it will help your kids grow spiritually. Don’t forget, your kids can also learn character lessons by playing any games – even secular ones. The important thing is to have regular game nights. If you need a new game, consider a Bible one. It may add another dimension to the fun.

5 Reasons Your Kids Need Fewer Activities in Their Lives

If you are like many families, you rarely see your children during the school year. It’s not just school itself, but all of the activities in which your children participate. There are classes, practices, rehearsals, games and performances. Most young people have to squeeze in homework and sleep in the very few hours that remain in their days.

The truth is that many children and teens have far busier schedules than many adults. Perhaps you think they enjoy being in scheduled activities, and they probably do to some extent. They may enjoy the things they are doing and spending time with friends. Or perhaps they enjoy the social clout that comes from participating in certain groups. There is no question that there are some good things that can be gotten from organized activities. The question is, are there better things that could come from having more unscheduled time in their days and weeks?

I am old enough now to have watched several generations of children grow up. Some things change, while others stay the same. Even within a time period, different families have different priorities. I’ve seen what parents have done and the resulting faith of their children as adults. Certain parenting choices make a huge difference. One of the key things O have learned is that most children and teens need more unstructured time in their days, with parents nearby or engaged with them. Why? Here are five key benefits I think young people will receive from having this extra free and device free time.

  1. They have more time for rest, which often results in better attitudes and behavior. Encourage them to go to bed early or lie on their bed or a comfortable sofa in the afternoon with no electronics. They can read, sketch or write…. or just sit and think. With low lights and a quiet house, those who are tired will quickly fall asleep and get the extra rest they need. If your kids aren’t getting enough sleep, they will struggle with their health and their mental health. Give them some extra time for sleep in their day. It may just make life more pleasant for all of you.
  2. They have more time to actually think through or process everything they are learning about God and the world around them. Good lessons are designed to make kids think. If they don’t have the time to complete a thought, the potential the lesson had to change their hearts and minds is short circuited or lost. Giving them free time with no devices encourages thinking.
  3. They have time to be creative, explore potential gifts and develop ones they have already discovered. They’ll also have time to find ways to serve God with their gifts. Okay, this one does seem to encourage activities. Instead of all of their time being spent in classes perfecting gifts though, have lots of things around your house that encourage creativity. Give your kids space to start something creative and leave it out to work on for a time. Give them free time and encourage them to use it to explore and try new things using the things you have in your home. If they get a great idea, encourage them to try it out and see if it works. Schools can kill creativity, but your kids will need it to live a successful Christian life. Give them the time and space to grow the creativity their school days have lessened.
  4. They will have time to build their faith. Help them create a cozy space for Bible study and prayer. Encourage them to experiment with Bible journaling or scripture art. Give them the time and space to serve God by helping others independently. If their activities have made them miss worship services and Bible classes then they are missing key faith builders. Plus you are teaching them God is only another activity for when there is nothing else better to do. Make time for God to be the top priority in their lives.
  5. They will have time to be loved, supported and coached by you. I know. You are showing your love and support by paying for those activities and attending their events. Not to mention the hours spent shuttling them from activity to activity. All of that is fine, but it does not take the place of spending large amounts of quality time being nurtured by you. Resilience is based in large part on having a strong relationship with loving, nurturing parents. Truly resilient children have spent a lot of one on one time with parents talking about anything and everything, having fun doing something together (interacting as you work together on something or sharing an experience), or working together around your home. The difference may seem subtle, but it’s actually significant.

Sit down with your kids and look at their schedules. What can you cut back or remove entirely? The pressure from the world around you to over schedule your kids is real and overwhelming at times. The argument that it will make things better for your children can be persuasive. As a Christian parent, this is one of those times you will need to be countercultural to do what is actually best for your kids. Give them the free (and device free) time to grow to be who God wants them to be.

Prayer Tips for the Anxious Child

As a Christian parent, you know prayer can calm jangled nerves, because you have experienced it yourself. Part of that calming though is because you have experienced years of God answering prayers and have developed a trust that God will do what is best for you – even if it means saying “no”. While your children’s faith is strong in its own way, it may struggle from lack of experience when times are really tough.

You may have had a conversation when your child expresses anxiety about something. Perhaps you counseled your child to “pray about it”, and your child responded he/she had been praying, but was still worried. Thankfully, there are things you can do that will help your child more quickly gain the trust in prayer that often comes after years of experience.

Here are some of our favorite ideas.

  1. Prayer worry box. Have your child decorate a small container. Whenever a worry arises, have him/her write or draw it on a slip of paper. After praying to God about the concern, place the paper in the container and seal it. Remind your child that worry has been turned over to God to handle and the child can release it fully to God. (Note: Some children may have to do this multiple times at first.)
  2. Praying scripture. Teach your kids how to find Bible verses that express what they want to say to God. Many will be found in Psalms, but they are scattered throughout scripture. Then encourage them to pray these verses as long as they remain applicable to their current situation. This has the added value of helping them memorize scripture and place it in their long term memories for the future.
  3. Prayer journal. Have your kids decorate a journal for the family or a personal one (school notebooks make inexpensive journals). Then have them record their prayer requests and God’s answers as they become clear. Periodically review past requests to see how God worked – especially in situations when God answered “no” and it later became clear that it really was the best answer.
  4. Prayer walks. Two stress reducers in one. Take a long walk with your child, praying out loud or silently as you walk. Encourage your child to have a real conversation with God instead of just listing requests.
  5. Gratitude prayers. Anxiety can be heightened by focusing on the negative – or potentially negative – things that can happen in life. Making an intentional effort to spend time in prayer thanking God for His many blessings can be an important reminder of God’s love and care.
  6. Asking grandparents and trusted Christian adults to pray for them. When our daughter was little, she was convinced that one of my friends from church was an effective prayer warrior. Whenever something was really concerning her, she would make sure “Miss Suzy” was praying about it. Suzy was also great about letting her know she was praying about it and asking her for regular updates until she was convinced the need had passed for that particular request.
  7. Share your prayer stories. Tell your kids about the times you were anxious and prayed to God about it. Explain how it comforted you. Tell them how God answered the prayer – especially if you were initially disappointed with a “no” and then realized God had been protecting you from the answer you wanted. Your kids will catch your faith – or lack of faith – in the power of prayer, so be intentional about setting a good example.

Prayer is a lifelong tool for helping your kids stay close to God. Helping them develop a string prayer life when they are young, will make it much more likely they will turn to prayer rather than less healthy coping techniques when anxious.