One of my favorite things to do is watch parents literally drag young children through museums. If you are new to this experience, let me enlighten you. Young children generally do not find walking through one of the largest buildings they have ever seen with room after large room of paintings, sculptures and random objects fun. Sure, a few will catch their attention. Trust me though if you are on day three of a touring vacation or your child is tired and hungry, it can be painful.
If you persevere through the whining and complaints… If you make enough bargains of “let’s just treasure hunt to see if we can find this painting” or “just look at this one gallery”, you most likely will raise a child who appreciates museums. You may even find your children ask you at some point to take them to a particular exhibit or museum.
Family devotionals are tough. We all have the best of intentions, but it seems like most of us accomplish family devotionals sporadically at best. One of the problems is keeping it interesting for kids and easy for parents. So, I’m always on the lookout for family devotional resources to help.
Have you ever thought about why Jesus used parables at times to teach people? Perhaps it was because he was trying to help the people understand concepts that were difficult to understand or entirely new to them. Jesus knew that by comparing them to relatable things and circumstances, they could better understand the lessons he wanted them to learn.
God’s love for us is at the very root of Christianity. I’m sure you are teaching your kids to love others. Love is complicated though. It’s not just butterflies in your stomach or finding a friend who enjoys the same things you do. True agape love is loving people even when you have nothing in common with them. It’s the ability to love people even if you don’t particularly like them at the moment. It’s even what makes it possible to love our enemies.
One of the most important gifts you can give your children is the ability to see God is alive and working in our world today. Some parents struggle with how best to show God to their kids. They get wrapped up in the difficulties of explaining God when He isn’t visible in the room. Sometimes their children will grow up to reject God because no one ever taught them where to look for Him.