Include Them...

You may be like my wife and myself, we are get-the-job-done kind of people. Task-oriented, don't get in my way, don't slow me down, I have a list and I will complete it, kind of people. Well, this is not the way to raise well-rounded, healthy, independent, creative and critical thinking kids. In fact, it creates just the opposite - lazy, dependent and unappreciative kids (perhaps I can give more details more on this subject in a later post). But for now let's just say, it's a flaw we have and we know it.

As our church has just launched a "40 days of prayer" campaign, it would be much easier for us to set aside our prayer time and check that off our list. It would be easier not to include our kids, saying they're too young, too busy, too whatever - BUT WE'RE NOT!. We are making a conscious effort to include our kids in this act of worship and communication with God.

Yes it takes more time, but being a better parent usually does. So let me encourage you to help your kids find a time and a place to talk to God. For instance, I re-drafted the prayer direction our church sent out and made it more kid-friendly. I gave them a list of things to pray about and for. I spoke to them about the importance of spending time with God one-on-one. I helped them find a spot in their rooms. Please realize it will not always go as planned but helping them understand that God cares what they have to say and He has things to say to them is what's important.

For this first session, I asked them to honor God with 5 minutes of silence before they started their prayer time. Afterwords, I asked our youngest if he heard God speak to him during the silent time, to which he replied, "No." I then asked, "What did you hear?," to which he responded, "Air."

Well, it's a start.