Seeing God's presence....
As part of my research of Generation NeXt Parenting, I sent out surveys on various topics on child-rearing and family life. One of the questions I asked was how do you help your children see God's presence in day to day life?And here's what the respondents had to say...
Tiffany: I always try to speak of things in light of God. If there is a need [whether it is healing or toilet paper] I encourage the kids that God cares about them all and when we ask him for things and obey his instructions he always provides. When we don't now an answer and don't know how to find it we ask God for wisdom. I have verses taped up all over my house so no matter where you go there is the word of God and every night they fall asleep listening to worship music on a CD.
Lisa: Since my daughter is only 15 months right now just talking to her, showing her things God makes when we go on walks.
Shannon: I try to appreciate the little things in life and give God the credit and praise. I try to have an active, "any moment" type of prayer life and let my children see and join in this.
Michelle H: I try to relate scripture and Biblical principles in everything we become involved in (relationships, schoolwork, issues with classmates, decisions we need to make....) I try to relay to my kids that there is a purpose in all they do and that God has a plan for each of them. I remind them daily how loved they are by God and how much He wants to bless them. When we pray, I confess and repent. We pray for others when they are in need. We read scripture and discuss how it applies to us. We enjoy hiking to enjoy the beauty in nature that is not only for us to enjoy but is so much a description of God himself. Now that I have God in my life, it seems so empty without him. It seems so pointless to live it without him, so we try to include Him in everything from music, to TV, discipline, and even in our mistakes.
Michelle D: We pray. In front of my child. All the time. I'm not talking about before meals, or as a family devotion time. I'm really talking about when we get in the car, before we go to the store. Or when we can't find a missing toy. We try to help her understand the truth of Psalm 139 - that we are always in the presence of God and we can go to Him at any time, and with any concern, no matter how small.
Rene: We talk a lot to the kids about God. But what we're realizing is that they learn more from seeing God work in our lives than us talking to them about how God is going to work in their lives. When writing novels, they always teach you "show don't tell" and we're seeing this is a good motto in life, too. The kids are watching how God is working in our lives, and that is more powerful than words alone.
Julie: We try to find teachable moments...Some days they are frequent and other days they are scarce. We try and use music, movies, scripture verses for Sunday school and Awana and any learning opportunity possible.
Labels: children, god's presence, prayer, scripture, teaching
posted by Tricia Goyer @ 8:05 AM
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