We’re continuing our conversation about the 1st Key to Keeping Your Children Engaged in Church: Intentional Spiritual Training at Home.
Last week I answered the question, What does Intentional Spiritual Training at Home include?
And I expanded on each area of discipleship except the last one, so today, we’ll focus on that together.
Talking about everyday life in light of Scripture
This is the “teachable moments” part of our training.
What does it look like to explain what Scripture has to say about bickering among siblings, heartbreak, getting good grades, and being a good sport?
I’m glad you asked!
Teachable Moments masquerade as object lessons, deep spiritual questions our children ask, and any other moment that whispers… “don’t pass over this one. Carpe Diem. Seize the Moment.”
These moments epitomize the Deuteronomy 6:6-9 moments.
And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Talk about Them when you are at Home
Sidenote: I work and write with a ministry called Family Time Training. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about them before. If once/week of my devotional blogs isn’t enough for you (the ones you find on my blog or through the weekly emails), you can find 2 more of my devotional blogs each month on Family Time Training’s website! They’re original for their ministry so there’s other wisdom there I rarely share here. Don’t miss out.
Ok, so, Family Time Training provides awesome training for parents about how to make intentional spiritual training times super fun! They have amazing resources you can get on their website to help you plan these times together (I’ve had the privilege to write a handful of them).
The goal is to set aside about 20 minutes each week to do a fun distraction-free Family Time Activity and there are SO many ways to do that, so please go check out their website to learn more! I am also available to come to your church in-person or virtually to do a training to explain how it works and get you and your church families prepped to start having these intentional times with your families!
These intentional weekly times should supplement the daily training and conversations you’re already having with your children. If you’ve not gotten into the habit of having these conversations daily, the weekly times together are a great way to start. They’re super practical and help children understand what’s happening in everyday life from a biblical perspective.
…and when you are on the road…
One of my favorite times to have spiritual conversations is in the car on the way to school with my kiddos. This year, we spend our time practicing memorizing Scripture verses (I write them out on 3×5 cards so we can take them with us), praying for each child and someone from their class or their teachers, and talking about what each person read in their Bible and what stuck out to them or sharing something that stuck out to me from my Quiet Time.
Sometimes our children bring up hard questions on their way home from school, as well. It’s a great time to chat and connect.
…when you are going to bed…
We have a family prayer time just before bed each night. We’ve included this in our bedtime routine since they were tiny.
When each of our children turned 5, my amazing husband started reading the Bible with them each night after (or before) prayer time then they’d talk about what they read. When they became stronger readers, he encouraged them to start reading the Bible on their own “like Mommy and I do”. The transition into reading their Bibles on their own was organic.
…and when you are getting up.
Each of our children read their Bibles before they start their days. It flowed from their reading time with Daddy I just mentioned. I check in with each of them at different times during the week to see what they’re reading in the Bible and what they think God is teaching them. It’s inspiring to hear them talk about what they’re learning and what they’re praying about.
On the way to school today, I shared a cool thing that happened in my husband’s work with our youngest and he said, “God DOES answer prayer! I prayed about that for Daddy and God answered it! I know God heals people and stuff, it’s just cool to hear that God answered THIS prayer.”
Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
Different families do this different ways. When my children started kindergarten, I sewed a patch in their backpacks to remind them that they were at school to learn and to be a missionary. I’ve moved the patches to different backpacks through the years.
Some children wear necklaces, bracelets, or shirts to remind them of their faith as they go throughout their days.
Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
We have Scripture hanging in different rooms of our house. Some of the rooms have reminders all over them! I figure I can use my creativity to remind my family that God loves them and is with them and when other people are in our home, they’ll feel God’s love and presence, too.
My parents used to have a Scripture verse actually hung over our front door based on this verse. It was pretty cool.
Let’s boil this one down a bit. Whenever you get the chance to talk to your children about spiritual things, do it. Wherever you are, whoever you’re with. You never know which of those teachable moments will stick and be that conversation topic, “Remember when we… and you told me…”
That’s the key, friends. Making the decision to intentionally spiritually train your children and putting in the work to make it fun then being attentive for those special moments to help faith sink deeper in your children’s hearts!
Next week we’ll move on to the 2nd Key to Keeping your Children Engaged in Church and we’ll walk through the doors of the church do to it! See you then!
Things to Ponder
- Which of these times of the day/situations can you utilize to have deeper spiritual conversations with your children?
- What challenges you most about Intentional Spiritual Training at Home?
Train Your Child 