Never Give Up

Can you recall any ‘faith at home’ moments from when you were a child? Did you say grace before a meal, listen to Jesus-songs in the car or read with a grown-up from a children’s Bible?

My dad would get me to memorise Bible verses. A big part of me enjoyed it but another part of me pushed him away and once, when he came to teach me the verse of the week, I hid behind the sofa. Perhaps, looking back, I was experiencing a kind of spiritual warfare or maybe it was simply a childish mood swing. Whatever it was, I wanted him to try again, to press on and not give up on me. Even though I couldn’t have been more than six years old, I was devastated when, after the one time I hid away, he never tried again.

Fast forward twenty-odd years and I’m the one with two small children and very little time to myself. My favourite time to worship God at home was while hanging out the laundry because those were the only few minutes of spare time I could snatch. Even now, I really love hanging out laundry on sunny days.

When my kids were little, any kind of ‘Faith at Home’ activity just seemed like one more chore for a harassed parent to add to their endless ‘to do’ list; until the day my friend Ange gave me a set of ‘Jesus cards’ for Christmas. Ange had an intimate, deep relationship with her Father God and especially missed her quiet times once she started a family. Her solution changed my life.

She told me that she tried to find ways that she and her children could spend time with God together. It wasn’t a chore to her, it was life. She embraced the stage of life she was in and found a way for it to enhance her relationship with God, rather than put it on a back-burner for a day when she had more time. She would use these simple cards to share a story about Jesus – there were actions for the kids to act out on the card and a simple prayer at the end. Then, she said, they’d take turns to choose a song about Jesus and even though it was a kid’s song, she’d worship God with the same enthusiasm as the kids. She encouraged me to do the same.

I tried a few times to use the cards but in the end, I found a different way that worked better for our family – I found an activity-devotion book for kids that we would read and complete after our bedtime story. This book became the inspiration for my app, God for Kids, which is now my full time ministry. Creating faith at home resources has become my passion.

Those Jesus-cards found a new life, ten years later, when Covid struck and we needed something for ‘church at home.’ Ange’s simple model became our lifeline and we’d spend Sunday mornings choosing worship songs on YouTube - from ‘Jesus you’re my super hero’ to ‘Amen’ by For King and Country. Even if the kids didn’t sing along or do all the actions, the simple fact that they chose the song meant something.

For me, Covid gave me the chance to put some ‘faith at home’ habits into place that I’d always wanted, but previously struggled to maintain. Covid lasted so long that the habits have stuck! We have tried lots of different things – books, apps, YouTube videos, simply reading the Bible, memory verses, story books like ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, dinner table talk cards. Some things work better for one kid than another, some things work for a while but then become stale so we change tack. Sometimes the kids engage, sometimes they don’t, sometimes I’m frustrated at their stinking attitude, sometimes I’m glowing at a thoughtful prayer they pray. It’s a really mixed bag.

But instead of trying to find the ‘One Thing’ that will transform our lives, I try to embrace the mess because I am determined not to give up.

Queen Esther risked her life to stand up for her people and we consider her a hero. It is risky, this faith-at-home business. We don’t want to feel like a failure or make our kids hate us - or hate God - or have to put up with the resistance again and again and again. You’re also making yourself incredibly vulnerable. (I once cried because I was trying to worship to my favourite song while my 10-year-old made fun of my choice.) But I believe it’s worth the risk.

Somewhere deep down, even on their bad days and sad days, I believe my kids value these moments of worship or prayer or devotion together or, at the very least, I believe they will value them one day. I am encouraged by the testimony of people like Derek Prince who rejected his religious upbringing only to come back to God in later life and give thanks for the dozens of Bible verses that were ingrained into his brain. Even if it was decades later, those early years of investment from his parents laid a foundation for his life-long ministry as a Bible teacher.

The six-year-old me couldn’t explain why she was hiding behind the sofa instead of learning her memory verses, but she knew she wanted her Dad to try again, to not give up. There is a spiritual battle for our children and it is not for them to recognise that and overcome it when they’re so young – it’s for us as parents and carers to fight for them. Even if fighting means just trying again. (Even Esther took three attempts.) It’s ok if you don’t feel like you ever ‘do it right’ or land on the perfect rhythm, because this is your time as well as their time and it is well worth the risk.

Faith at Home

Never Give Up

Serving God Where We Are

Generation Alpha