Busyness is a real obstacle. Lack of time may be a genuine reason. Too many important priorities to arrange can be challenging. Multi-tasking can be an option. Killing two birds with one stone can be the solution.
Want to develop your personal faith? But no time?
Want your children’s faith to grow as well? But don’t know how?
Go for a church organised class for the first and send the kids for a similar class for the second? That could be an answer.
But are you learning? Are your kids learning? Are you all in sync? Do you know what they know? Do they know what you know? As a family, are you having the same understanding of your faith? Are you living the same faith together?
Are the 1-2 hour weekly classes in church the only source of learning and faith development you and your children have? Is that enough?
How about the other 166-167 hours of the week? Any more faith development happening? Application of faith into daily living happening?
Since my two elder children were in primary school (6-12 years), nightly pre-sleeping conversations (approx 1 hour) were precious and tough but worth the time and effort. All kinds of questions came up. Genuine heartfelt questions:
1. How can an unseen God be real?
2. Why is there so much wrong in the world when there is a supposedly good God?
3. If heaven is so real and the world is so bad, shouldn’t we all just end it all and go to heaven?
4. Aren’t we selfish if we believe just to go to heaven?
5. How about the many that aren’t believers? They can be better people than believers.
Looking back fondly, I panicked when I first was asked those questions. The easy answers I learnt when I was younger do not seem so easy to answer, now. They don’t seem complete or even reasonable at times.
Over time I realised:
1. I don’t have the answers myself, at least not all the answers, and those I thought I had, need to be re-thought.
2. What I learnt in my early years, need to be built upon.
3. I need to know the answers.
4. My kids also.
5. We can learn the answers together.
So on top of the classes at church, for the past 4-5 years:
1. I read more, I studied more.
2. I conversed with the kids often.
3. I listened, I learned what concerned them.
4. I taught them, and they taught me in return.
5. I prayed for them and with them, and we prayed for others.
6. They wanted to better understand an invisible Father in heaven, I tried my utmost to represent him to them on earth.
7. They wanted to know how God loves them, I strive daily to love them as He loves me.
8. They ask why I forgive them when they mess up, I tell them God forgives me when I mess up.
Wanna save time, grow in faith and have your kids grow in faith as well in this busy world? Grow with them.
It’s time consuming. It takes effort. But as a parent, there is no other greater investment than investing in the faith of your family. There is no greater teacher for your children than you.
Parents. God parents. It is not too late to start.
Start today.
Note: Some of the BLC kids have been using the book Growing as God’s People in their studies. A great resource for parents as well as a primer or starting point.
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