As previously posted, infants to 2 year olds experience Undifferentiated Faith. When they see parents and teachers love on them and offer security and attention, they experience biblical teachings through relationships with persons who live the Bible message.

3 year old preschoolers then experience Intuitive-Projective Faith when the Bible becomes a very special book that tells about God and Jesus.

4 and 5 year olds through 11-12 go through the Mythic-Literal Faith stage which the Bible becomes very important. It’s like God wired these little disciples to be naturally drawn to hear Bible stories about persons who tried to live as God wanted. And they realize that the most important stories in the Bible are about Jesus. They like to handle bibles, say and sing bible verses, and thoroughly enjoy watching older persons using the Bible.

Robert J. Keely in Helping Our Children Grow In Faith (2008) stated, “We need to take advantage of this developmental readiness to share these stores with them in a way that allows children to live inside of the stories.” Children entering this stage are greatly influenced by the stories of faith, the stories of the faith of people around him/her, his/her own stories of faith, and biblical accounts of faith. Kids begin to connect these stories together , but don’t yet see them as one large story that starts, “In the beginning God” and ends with “Amen” which truly begins in the middle school years.

Story is important to all of us in our faith formation, but is is especially important at this stage, because it grabs their attention when they are not equipped to be taught through abstract reasoning. The bible stories help provide a standard of what is right and what is wrong.

These bible stories give children a sense of who they are and what it means to be the people of God. These are family stories and they are important at this stage in faith development. Like sitting at the table of a family reunion and hearing the stories of the family. We need to tell them often and we need to tell them well.

The language of preschoolers is activity, so we take the time to act out Bible stories and imagine what it might have been like to actually be there. In the story.  These stores are rich and deep and should not use them as a way to teach a moral lesson.  If we do this we will be merely giving children a checklist of dos and don’t s instead of introducing them to the stories of God and His people.  God introduces Himself to us in these stories and they help us know Him and know ourselves.

It is also at this stage of early and middle elementary years when miracles are entirely credible to these young minds.  No problem is too big for God and they can pray in complete confidence.  There is much for adults to learn when they are a part of the prayer life of such a young disciple.

These students of faith also enjoy hearing the same stories, singing the same songs, enjoying the same activities over and over again.  This dependability builds trust.  And since you, the teacher, are trustworthy and you speak of God as trustworthy, the child says, “I can trust God because I trust my teacher, and my teacher tells me God loves me.”

Our goal is to teach our kids that the Bible is exciting and relevant for them.  That’s why, when we finish a story, we want to ask the question, “What is the lesson learned here?” which is how an older preschooler through older elementary can make the biblical application to their lives.

What are you doing to more effectively share these family stories?

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.” 1 Corinthians 13:11

I talked like a child…SONGS help us express our faith in God. Pairing words with actions helps them learn the songs more quickly. Sing songs about Jesus, God, church, and children. Songs like Jesus Loves Me, God is So Good, Deep & Wide, I’ve Got Peace Like A River/Joy Like a Fountain/Love like the Ocean teach our students how to praise the LORD!

Psalm 150:6 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” In fact the whole psalm is a fun one for kids to act out in order to demonstrate praise. It talks of using stringed instruments, cymbals, a tambourine, and dance. Music helps children learn as music is located near the same area associated with long term memory in the brain. It doesn’t matter if you sing well or not. Songs of praise imbedded in a child’s long term memory…glorious!

I thought like a child…Children learn their first prayers very early.  are they learning the attitude of prayer and the places of prayer?  With frequency, Junior will soon learn that prayer is simply talking to God.  Tell them:  “You are a child of God.  God made you.  Jesus loves you.  You are important to God.”  4- and 5-year-olds can make up their own prayers and it is a joy for any listener.

I reasoned like a child…Preschoolers are at a great age to start memorizing Bible verses.  Don’t underestimate what a preschooler can accomplish mentally.  Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”   Set a goal of memorizing one verse a month – not only is it good spiritual training, but memorization is good for brain development and for strengthening intelligence.  To help a child memorize a Bible verse, take it apart into phrases and help your child learn the  pieces before putting it altogether as a whole.  Remember that those who take longer to memorize a verse usually retain it longer, as well.

Some great bible verses for little/all disciples to memorize include … Genesis 1:1, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 4:32, Psalm 34:14, Proverbs 20:11, Isaiah 41:10, 1 John 4:8, Exodus 20:12, John 11:35, Psalm 34:13, John 13:34-35, Psalm 66:1, Hebrews 13:5, Psalm 119:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  Post it notes are great, dry-erase markers on a mirror or window, chalk on a chalkboard-spray-painted sign are decorative and practical to get these in our own hearts and minds.

Luke 12:35 “Be dressed and ready for service.”

There is some great research to help those of us who take the point in the spiritual journey of little people. In James Fowler’s book, “Stages of Faith,” Fowler considers the faith of little people up to about age 2 a pre-stage referred to as “Undifferentiated Faith.” This is when infants to 2s form their first pre-images of God.

That said, ministry and space provided to these little people should be about the very things that we would expect: Care and Safety.

Key biblical concepts for toddler and twos include “God cares for you” and “God made everything,” so be ready to get on your hands and knees to explore the world with this child! This is what I call “Faith on the Floor.”

The best things we can do at this stage is give them a place where they can be well cared or when their parents are absent and build in regular times for individual attention and hugs. Lots of hugs. Lots of love. Loads of adult attention, praise and encouragement in a safe, secure world of familiar people and routines.

Toddlers will experience God’s love and forgiveness through loving, caring persons, develop a sense of trust, experience prayer, begin to associate the name Jesus with certain pictures and with the Bible. And they can learn that the Bible is a special book.

Fowler refers to the next stage of faith as Intuitive-Projective faith which is found primarily in preschoolers 3 through age 5 is a direct reflection of parental faith.  These preschool disciples will imitate the faith of important adults in his/her life.  They may talk about God in human terms and have a mental image of God based on human characteristics.  They’ll learn from the simple Bible stories of people who choose to do right, to help, and to obey.  They are especially impacted by stories and themes that relate to what he/she experiences and knows in his/her daily life through repetition and ritual like at mealtimes, holidays, songs, and Bible reading from a child’s Bible.

As preschoolers get older, they enter into Mythic-Literal Faith, which lasts until around 11 or 12 years old.  Through sharing life with other people of faith, children learn that the faith they received from their parents is shared by other important people as well; they get a firsthand look at how older Christians live their lives and they see that all of church life – not just the kid’s part- is for them.  They are interested in God’s greatness, power, and supernatural abilities.

As we recognize the way children learn to walk, we can say the general order in which things happen, but we really can’t tell WHEN they are going to happen. The same is true about faith development. Faith is a gift from God and is a result of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives an an amazing outpouring of grace. But these stages are important to acknowledge to be sure we are on point to how little people learn.

I serve alongside an amazing group of ladies who make up our Children’s Council. We typically meet each month. This year the agenda is made up of a chapter in “The Prayer Coach,” evaluation of what we have just finished, evaluation of what we are in the midst of, and the planning of what is coming up on the calendar. We open in prayer and we close in prayer. We go home and I send out minutes the following week.

This month will be different.

On Christmas Eve our pastor announced the theme for our church for 2012 based on 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Let the Spirit of God grow in you.” Understanding that all things of value are measurable, it’s time to evaluate. Personal spiritual evaluation can’t take place in a meeting. So, I have shared below how our October meeting will go.

Good Morning Faithful Servants of Wesley Chapel,

We had a regularly scheduled meeting for this Wednesday. However, unless there is something that we can’t discuss through email, I’d like to take this Wednesday’s meeting time and not meet together in person, but ask that we all take time that day/evening to reflect on the ministry God has called us to at Wesley Chapel.

As our theme this year has been to “Let the Spirit of God grow in you,” please take a few moments on Wednesday and see if that is the case. This time last year, you were “here” regarding your bible reading time, your closeness with Christ, your faithful prayer life, your service experiences, your spiritual relationships. Where are you now, one year later?

As a fellow Mom, I can attest to the adage, “The days may seem to last forever, but the years fly by.” It is as true of the lives of our children, as it is our own spiritual journey.

So, as we will not meet this Wednesday, please take 30 minutes and write it down, journal, meditate on where you are today, where we are today as a council/small group, where your kids are today in comparison to last fall.

Then for the next 30 minutes, prayerfully consider where you’d like to be next fall and set some measurable, intentional spiritual goals. The accountability of writing them down will help to provide some momentum. Sharing this journey with you is a joy and if we can share some accountability among each other, I am all in.

Baby Girl, although she just turned 25 years old on this earth, she will be 19 years old in the Lord on October 18th. We go through this process each year. We talk of how she has grown in her faith. We talk about how she plans to grow in her faith by setting spiritual goals for the next year. And I’ll be looking for a gift that is “round” to mail with her Spiritual Birthday package mid October, because God is all around His people  (Psalm 125:2). #1 Son’s Spiritual Birthday is in April. I  have to take him out to dinner to get his undivided attention. The food is good, but the tradition is even better.

I love you all and can’t wait to hear what God reveals to you,

DeDe

How are you measuring your Spiritual Walk?