Family Time with God April 27, 2013

We started a new family tradition in our home recently. At the end of every week we gather together to have a time of thanksgiving and communion as a family. It is a wonderful way to recap our week as we go around and say what we are thankful for from the week. We take turns saying one thing we are thankful for and then going around the circle again and again until we run out of things to say. We then thank God and remember what Jesus did on the cross for us in communion. We conclude by lifting the coming week in prayer. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite times of the week.

How much do we expect Ellie to join in our time? I mean, she’s only 2. On the days when she isn’t interested or full of energy, we ask her to start with us and then call her back for each successive part. A screaming, whining, or otherwise distracting child really isn’t conducive to offering thanksgiving. It’s hard to be thankful at those moments. But Andy and I want to have family rhythms of spiritual times built into lives, into the fabric of our family. To do this, we need to start these patterns, these traditions, now, even before Ellie fully gets what we are doing, or so we thought.

The last time we gathered for our time of thanksgiving, Ellie surprised us. We started by asking what are we thankful for, and Ellie named off 3 or 4 different things and listened as we shared one by one. Ellie briefly scampered away as we did communion and then sat back down for prayer time. As we talked about what to pray for, Ellie offered her own prayer requests. Andy or I would pray about that issue and then Ellie would ask to pray more, and more, and more. We sat as a family for over 20 minutes talking and praying. And we thought she was too young to fully understand.

God continues to remind me that we need to be intentional to disciple Ellie. We can’t think that we won’t include her until a set time, as she is ready now for something. I don’t want to force it, but I want to immerse Ellie in it. I want to make it so much a part of our lives that Ellie wants to join in for herself.

How do/did you include your children in times of spiritual things?

A Toddler’s Worship March 24, 2013

Before coming to Thailand, I served in our church as the children’s pastor. It is an honor to bring God’s word and truths to children and help them understand in ways that make sense to them. This meant different things to different ages. So in the nursery we would want to play worship music softly and pray over the children. At the toddler and preschool ages we would incorporate the Biblical theme into play and crafts. As the children got older, we would engage them more and more in ever deepening conversations and activities relating to God. Focusing on the children in ways they understand is a great thing.

Here in Thailand, though, we don’t have child centered activities on Sunday mornings at the moment. We used to have lessons geared for school aged children (ages 3 and up), but they have moved to Saturdays for the time being. This means that Ellie hasn’t ever gone to children’s classes (except when we visit churches in the States). At times it can be distracting, very distracting, for others but mostly for myself. But I’m finding that including her in the service is a very special thing indeed.

We worship God as a family. To help Ellie stay focused, Andy or I hold her during worship time. There are times that she tries to wiggle away or play games, but we work on helping her know that worshipping God is important and not a play time. She watches us raise our hands, clap, close our eyes to focus on God. She is learning what it means to worship God.

Keeping busy during the sermon

Recently, Ellie has started singing with us. She closes her eyes and then sings wordless songs. It melts my heart to watch her enter into worship in her own way. I’ve also “caught” her worshipping away at home when she thinks I’m busy doing something else. The difference between her worship and singing other songs is the volume and her eyes open or closed. Watching her worship is another reminder to me that it is never to early to introduce children to God and all that it means to serve and worship him.
I am humbled to think that Ellie worships and follows after God in the way that Andy and I model. It presses me to want to live a life that honors God in all that I do that one day Ellie would desire to follow God with all of her heart.

I’m always looking for ways to better incorporate raising up my child to be a disciple. What ways  work well for you?

Discipleship: Toddler Style October 31, 2012

I’ve been thinking a lot about discipling my toddler since my last post. At what age is it best to start talking about spiritual things? How much of what we talk about concerning spirituality does Ellie understand?

On the one side, Ellie knows when we are praying and will finish a prayer (or if someone is praying long, try to help finish) with a resounding A-Men. We also talk about God throughout the day.

On the other side, I don’t think that Ellie fully understands that the stories Daddy tells at night are different than the stories we tell during the day. That a prayer book or Bible with pictures is different than other storybooks. She surely doesn’t get that sometimes music is for fun and sometimes it is to praise God. How do I know that?

When we worship during church service, either Andy or I hold Ellie. We don’t want her to be running around, as well as we want worship to be a time of engagement for us and Ellie, no matter her age. She claps when we clap and even raises her little arms when others do so. She is engaged and learning what worship before God looks like. But later, at home, we might turn on some music and Ellie will clap along and sometimes even raise her hands, just like in worship. Very precious, but I don’t think she understands the difference.

I don’t think there is a perfect time to start. If I wait until Ellie understands everything, then it will feel like a new thing. Like, why didn’t we do this before if it’s so important? So we are laying the groundwork now. We are laying a foundation that prayer and worship and spending time with God are important. Not that Ellie needs to understand the what and the whys, but that she would sense that God is important to us. That our lives revolve around Him.

How do you introduce and teach your children about God? I would love to hear the ways you do it, so I can get more ideas for discipling Ellie.