On a daily basis, I recognize that I am being watched. I am setting an example for my children in everything that I do, but sometimes I have to stop and ask myself, “What am I doing to help my children do the important things I do every day?” Maybe the following example will make my question clearer.
My children know that I sit in the big green chair in my bedroom and spend time reading my Bible and praying every morning. It’s common knowledge in our house because they don’t just hear me talk about this “quiet time with God” thing, but they also see it with their own eyes. Often, one of them will curl up in my lap and talk with me as I talk with God. But I began to think to myself, “How am I helping my children develop this same habit?”
I remember my friend, Kendra (from preschoolersandpeace.com), speaking at a MOPS group once and mentioning this. So I dug deep into my brain and retrieved the information about what she does in her home to help with this. It’s something that made sense to me at the time, but my kids were too little then to implement it. Recently, I began the process of helping my children develop the habit of giving God their first each day.
At this point, I have to help them map out the time and remind them to pray and read their Bible. I have to create that time for them in our family schedule, but my goal is that over time, it will become a habit. I want it to be a habit that follows them through life. Right now it’s a basic thing–pray and read. Sometimes I end up helping them read a story, sometimes they just look at the pictures by themselves. Sometimes they pray by themselves, sometimes we pray together. Right now, it’s not about the “meat” of what they are doing, but instead about the “bones”–getting it established. As they grow older, I will take the time to teach them about the daily discipline of spending time with God–what is the purpose and what are some things they can do during that time–because I think it’s one of the most important things in life to do. If I don’t teach them? Who will? I need to help them get into the habit, so why not start now?
Again, I go back to the “training” principle. If I think it is something worth building into my children’s lives, then I need to take the time to teach them and “train” them to do it. I can’t sit back and expect them to just pick up on it and do it. Yes, they might do that, but my thought is that I don’t want to “chance” that my children learn how to start their day with the Lord. I want to purposely parent that. I don’t want my kids to look back and say, “I didn’t really get that ‘spending time with God thing’ because my parents didn’t take the time to teach me that.”
Ask yourself today about your spiritual disciplines (or lack of them) and think through what you would like to pass on to your kids that you’ve done right in that area. Are there any areas that you wish you were better at? How can you change that for your children? How can they learn from your mistakes? Okay, now think…have I intentionally taught my children about that area of life? What are some steps that I can take today to begin the process of passing on my spiritual heritage?
