Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Tie them (His commandments) as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.“

Holidays are some of the easiest ways to share your faith with your family. Check these out:

1. Spiritual Birthdays – pray that your kids will accept Jesus as their LORD and Savior at a young age. Make it your mission to be the one that is blessed to lead them to the LORD. Then have a date to celebrate – donut holes, balloons, lunch box, gifts, CDS, crown of thorns, ring, 1st diamond, something that is round because God’s love has no beginning and no end, He is love. Now to receive the Spiritual Birthday gift, they have to share what God has showed them this last year, what has she learned about God this year, and set new spiritual goals for the next year. Each one also verbally recalls the events of their salvation moment and their current testimony.
2. Christmas is the easy holiday to give Him honor and glory, but let me just add that you might not put the Baby Jesus out until Christmas Eve , but be sure you put out a nativity the kids can handle. Another dear friend shares that each family member receives 3 gifts each as 3 gifts were what Jesus received from the wise men. “ If 3 gifts were good enough for the Savior of the world, it’s good enough for us.”
3. Participate in Lent as a family or even individually. They will follow your example. Ever thought of fasting from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve from anything sweet . . . remembering that advent is the season prior to His coming, if He came back during that season, would He find me overindulging or remembering the reason He came in the first place?
4. Set New Year’s Resolutions in 3 areas: recreational, physical, and spiritual and have the kids write it in the covers of their bibles with the dates. When #1 Son and Baby Girl were in high school, we became claiming personal scripture for ourselves for the whole year. Mine was Luke 1:37 “For nothing is impossible with God. “ When we came up with this idea, Baby Girl said she didn’t know what to pick. #1 Son immediately piped up and said, “Honor thy father and mother.” Needless to say, Christine accused him of sucking up and left the table. But to her credit and just to let you know, she’s always wanted to read the bible all the way through and made a resolution for 5 years before actually fulfilling it.
5. We had a jar of chores to do around the house, and when the children were tweeners, they were required to pull a chore when they mouthed off or disobeyed. That way, I didn’t get angry and a chore was done that I didn’t have to do. In that jar were items like “write a letter to your Grandparents”, “sweep the porch”, “wipe down the window sills”, “clean out the refrigerator”, “collect the hangers in all the closets,” etc. I recall a time when Baby Girl really pushed my buttons to the point I was fit to be tied, and I told her to pull from the jar. The next thing I knew, she was jumping up and down, hooting and hollering…come to find out, she pulled the one slip of paper among the 50 that read, “Grace. You are forgiven.” She learned forgiveness and I learned to keep my sense of humor.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Tie them (His commandments) as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.“

This sounds like decorating, a party, and celebration time to me!

Another tool to share your faith with your family is to establish specific Spiritual Milestones. Spiritual Milestones are events that are preceded by a season of instruction. These events will celebrate spiritual developmental points in a child’s life. I’ll share just a few that have made a huge impact on our lives:

1. As told in an article in the Cherokee Tribune, Debbie Boling wanted her 2 children to understand the value of the Bible, so she handwrote two copies of the New Testament – one each for her son and daughter – and presented it to them when they graduated from high school. Each copy contained about 6,000 handwritten pages. Her daughter’s response? “It is just something that I believe she really wanted to do for both of us, to show how important the word is and how much she loves us.”

2. The son of one of my prayer partners went away to college and was living in an apartment. She asked a bunch of us to send him a recipe of 5 ingredients or less and a word of encouragement from scripture. He was blown away that he actually got mail, but information he could definitely use as he was away from home for the very first time.

3. First day of school – spray Mom’s perfume on the back of one hand and Daddy’s cologne on the back of the other so that when junior is missing Mommy & Daddy, he can smell his hands and know that Mommy & Daddy are praying for him AND Jesus is right there with them because He loves them so much.  Our prayers are God’s favorite smell anyway (see Psalm 141:2)

4. Those times when YOU drink from the well of living water . . . each time my man or I come home from a retreat, my man shares with #1 son, and I share with Baby Girl. It’s our post-retreat share time. It’s awesome!

5. Go through family photos and share ANYTHING their ancestors did that involved the LORD. My Grandmother taught Sunday school in the local Methodist church in Manassas, Virginia in the 1960’s. Don’t you know that when she went home to be the LORD at 95, my cousins sent her flashcards of Jesus and Bible Stories to me?  I used to use them in my preschool classroom, now I use them in most of my workshops/trainings.

6. A Modern Hope Chest – originally called wedding chests, Americans called them hope chests as in a hope that her dreams of marriage will one day come true. What about the hopes for her future as the bride of Christ? Handmade items are usually the most meaningful, but it should include family photos and a family bible to record her own family history with God. Angels, wall hangings, pictures with scriptures, etc.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one… Talk about His commandments when you sit at home…when you lie down, and when you get up . . . “

Let’s go ahead and address a touchy subject . . . the dress of our daughters. Based on the scripture of 1 Timothy 2:9, “women are to dress modestly.”

When Baby Girl helped to lead the 4th-6th grade “Princesses of the King” Sunday School class at our home church, she chose to follow the standards for herself that met the following criteria:
1. If you have trouble putting it on or off, it’s not modest, and
2. If you bring attention to anything other than your face, it’s not modest.

When our daughters are preoccupied with what their bodies look like, they are less able to appreciate what their bodies enable them to do. Our bodies function as the hands and feet of God to give comfort and healing to others. The real value of our body is to be the vessel for the soul. We must remind our girls often that their bodies enable them to serve God.

In continuing this season of blogging about Sharing Your Faith With Your Family, Stormie Omartian, author of The Power of a Praying Parent, and The Power of a Praying Wife, shares that “Things happen when we pray that will not happen when we don’t.” Pray for your family to have a bold and true faith, then good health. Lift up their friends, their enemies, their opportunities, and then their safety. Ask the LORD to pour out self-control, resilience, and a fine sense of humor. And pray for their judgment, their teachers, and wisdom in handling simple and complicated life situations.

Some other ideas about prayer . . .Use a salt or sugar packet on the car dash or over the sink to pray for someone. It always gets my kids asking, “Who’s that for?” . . . pray for your kids’ teachers during the summer that he/she would have the best teacher chosen by God for them specifically and then whoever you get, you’ll know that he/she was hand-picked by God for your child. Invite your kids to pray for their teachers all year long . . . Pray for favor in the eyes of their teachers and that they’d have good communications with them.

My all-time favorite tweener prayer was that God would “put a Holy Spirit alarm in my child that goes off like a loud, flashing siren whenever he/she steps over the line of what is right in your sight, O Lord.”

Catalyst is a conference experience where each large group session has a speaker that presents challenges of leadership, social justice, and intentional discipleship in the “big church.” Worship is intense, laughter is loud, and the atmosphere of creativity is on overload. I love it!

Here is what I learned . . .

1. Don’t be concerned with being fair, be engaged over the long-run. When we try to be fair and do all for everyone, you get jaded and miss out on the success stories we all need to persevere. “Do for one what you WISH you could do for everyone.” (Andy Stanley)

2. Why do some thrive in chaos and others do not? (Jim Collins)
a. The only mistakes you really learn from are the ones you survive.
b. Bad decisions with good intentions are still bad decisions.
c. The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency.
d. Greatness is the result of conscious choice and discipline.

3. An incredible team and a culture of excellence matter (Dave Ramsey)
a. Do not let life move faster than your resources,
b. Never advance beyond your supply lines,
c. Reach toward a high relational IQ because people matter,
d. Tell the truth,
e. Show up on time,
f. Don’t hire “crazy,” and don’t be “crazy,”
g. Do EvErYtHiNg as unto the LORD

4. Do I really know what I have in Jesus? Since when is Jesus not enough? Since when do I have to supplement the Savior? (Judah Smith)

5. Give of my firstfruits and my vats will be filled (a reminder from the holy scriptures by Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes)

6. Fear is vision without hope. (Mark Driscoll)
a. Fear is not always rational, but it is always powerful,
b. Fear is getting what you do NOT want,
c. Fear preaches a false gospel, lifts up a false savior, and offers a false heaven,
d. Fear turns us all in to false prophets

7. We are who we are because someone loved us. (Dr. Cornell West)

8. Folks are leaving the church because (David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group):
a. They see the church as taking no risks (overprotective)…oh the stories of the apostles and the martyrs
b. They see the church as being anti-science (disconnected)

9. Something’s wrong when I’m in the presence of God and I am doing all the talking. (Priscilla Shirer)
a. There is not near enough space here to share how her presentation challenged and lit a fire under me – I’d have to do lunch with you to even touch the surface.

10. Dont’ work alone (Andy Stanley)
a. I am not responsible to fill someone else’s cup, but rather to empty my own to whomever is around.
b. I am responsible for passing along what I know to somebody else (the act of apprenticing).

I also learn alot about the group I am honored to attend with. These are folks ranging in ages this year from a Junior in high school (who was once in my preschool class, I might add) to a couple of us in our, let’s just say, our 50s. Insightful conversation, loving acceptance, and gracious hospitality.  My cup is filled and ready to be emptied.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down . . . “

Nighttime is an awesome time to share your faith with your family. When my babies were little, the first song I sung to them at night was “Jesus loves you.” Then I took some old time spirituals like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and would sing them to bed at night. I had a deep desire for them to be familiar with the tunes and words of the old spirituals. These writings of the saints of old brought peace in the trying times of my life and I wanted that power of old spiritual music to be available to them, as well. It’s been my experience that every situation calls for praise, but every situation doesn’t call for praise music.

I didn’t pray out loud until I had kids. I made a conscious decision that I would not pass on my fear of praying out loud onto them. So I practiced praying out loud at night with each one. We would begin the night we got their big girl/big boy bed because then, we could kneel beside our beds and pray. I taught them to pray with rhymes at first, but at 5 or 6 years old, I chose to teach them to “tag along” their rhymes and just talk as if God was sitting on the bed.

If you are fearful of praying out loud, I encourage you to make it a matter of prayer and get over it. You are missing out on blessing others in a mighty way.

As you continue to try to get over your fear and find yourself in a group of adults, offer to pray first. Then you don’t have to follow anybody. Just be sure, you pray out loud. And practice with your kids. Let them hear you. There is no truer voice than the one lifted to our Maker.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road . . . “

As you’re on the road, think on (and do) these things and involve your kids in service to the LORD and His people:

– As a group, call some friends and go clean a new home just before someone moves into it (great way to meet your new pastor, new staff member, or new neighbor)
– Co-teach a Sunday school class every Sunday, then worship together as a family (Baby Girl started teaching 4th graders with me when she was in 9th grade)
– Make MUST summer lunches together
– When I started my preschool year and would bleach my classroom tables, chairs, and walls, I would bring them with me, the more the merrier.
– Volunteer as a travel guide or a leader in VBS together (let them take the lead)
– Whatever your current ministry, have them minister with you until they find their own ministry (Know that this will take time – years even and that’s OK – we are raising adults who will serve and love their LORD and His people)
– Bake a cake, bring ice cream and cones (no dishes for anyone to wash), just because someone they know needs a pick-me-up
– Pick fruit at a local orchard, make a pie/cake/bread and share it with whomever THEY choose
– Be a Secret Encourager (Matthew 6:4 & 6 “Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”) Encourage them to take in the trash can, scrape ice off the neighbor’s car windows, bring up the newspaper, push in a friend’s chair in Sunday school, you get the picture. Practicing secret encouragement leads them to be more likely to serve without self glorification.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road . . . “

My first Prayer Partner, a fabulous woman of faith, shared with me that her favorite time with her kids was when they were in the car. The kids would read a simple devotion out loud on the way to school and they prayed together when they arrived in the parking lot.

On the drive home from church activities, she would ask questions what the kids got out of Sunday school.

Always after a movie, she would discuss with them what they could apply to their spiritual growth from the negative and positive viewpoint. She has her kids thinking through a spiritual growth filter all the time.  Note:  “Courageous” came out this weekend – I’ve seen it twice and recommend it highly to everyone.

There are also some great resources out there, “JOY RIDE: Faithfilled Fun & Games for Drive Time, Heritagebuilders.com, Focus on the Family, and Mealtime Moments that are great conversation starters in the car.

And don’t forget the radio station. When Baby Girl and #1 Son were younger, Christian radio was a dream and a thought. Our favorite family cassettes were of Sandi Patty, Amy Grant, and Wayne Watson.  As they got older, our favorite CDs were NewSong, Phillips Craig & Dean, and Carmen.  Now, there are several options in most metorpolitan areas. Even Pandora can be heard through the television or your cell phone. Check them out and let me know your favorites.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 reads ““Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home . . . “

We value our faith, not for what it can give us, but for the One it connects us to. I wanted my kids to connect to the God who is greater than all their fears, greater than all my fears, and the God who still performs miracles.

Have you ever considered fasting a meal a week for your kids? Fasting a meal and praying for their present troubles and those who influence them? Fasting a meal a week and praying for their future ministry and their future spouses?

Musician Wayne Watson wrote a song years ago called, “Somewhere in the World Today.” The lyrics challenged me when #1 Son was 5 years old and accepted the Lord as his Savior. The lyrics went something like this: “Somewhere in the world today, a little girl will go out to play, all dressed up in Mama’s clothes, at least the way that I suppose it goes. Somewhere in the world tonight, before she reaches to turn out the light, she’s praying from a tender heart, simple prayers that’s a work of art. And I don’t even know her name, but I’m praying for her just the same, that the LORD would write His name upon her heart. Because somewhere in the course of this life, my little boy will need a Godly wife. So hold on to Jesus baby, wherever you are. Hold on to Jesus, baby, wherever you are.”

Many of the books I have read over the years, written by Christian parents, shared that they fasted one meal a week, for their children. How precious for them to realize as young people that their parents gave up a simple something to focus on prayers for them.

On the day Baby Girl was married to #2 Son, I told that young man through tears that glistened with great love,  “Welcome to our family . . . We have been praying for you ever since you were a very little boy.”

“Take Mark, and bring him with thee” 2 Timothy 4:11b

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 reads ““Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home . . . “

We’ve gone a step further when we sit at home . . . we regularly prayed through our kid’s bedrooms. This is not a superstitious little ritual. This is a powerful claiming of your home, your children, and all aspects of their lives for the LORD. It’s standing up and proclaiming, “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15) Stormie Omartian, author of Power of a Praying Parent, is quoted as saying, “Everyone’s house needs a spiritual housecleaning from time to time, especially in the rooms where our children sleep and play.”

A holy housecleaning was done periodically as a matter of principle, but definitely whenever we felt troubled by something in our child(ren). If he/she is becoming fearful, rebellious, angry, depressed, distant, strange, a disciplinary problem, or having bad dreams and nightmares, sometimes simply praying through the room can change things quickly. I have seen a change in spirit in my children after every time I have done so. My prayer always started, “LORD, if there’s anything in this room that shouldn’t be here, show me.”

As we entered the teen years, I explained that for his/her own peace and blessing, we would clean the room of anything that was not of the LORD. Did he like it? No. Did we have to remove anything from his room? Yes. We removed anything that promoted drug or alcohol use, violence, or any kind of blasphemy.

We found that music was the most common item of removal because kids trade and copy. So, no headphones, no tvs, nor computers were ever allowed in their bedrooms. That way I could hear what was being sung and I would ask God for the discernment of what battles to pick.

And when I still struggled through this season, I enlisted the help of his/her small group leaders, my prayer group (who could pray for my children when I was in such distress I couldn’t pray beyond, “Help me!”), and their youth pastor. Their spiritual leaders maintained their loyalty to my kids and I never did anything that would harm their need for confidentiality. But youth culture and children’s issues are what they dealt with daily and they were our greatest resource. These folks are here to help us be the godly parents God intended.