JUNE: DAILY CHOICES
"Jesus is the center of our faith,
Christ-centered community is the center of our life,
and reconciliation is the center of our work."
Palmer Becker, August 5, 2005
Christ-centered community is the center of our life,
and reconciliation is the center of our work."
Palmer Becker, August 5, 2005
Read It: Proverbs 22:6 (Common English Bible)
Train children in the way they should go;
when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.
Train children in the way they should go;
when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.
Concept: Reconciliation is the center of our work
Reconciliation is the center of our work - and that work doesn’t begin when we’re adults. Living a peacemaker life is something we cultivate in our homes. This month’s scripture might carry a little baggage for some of us. So…take a deep breath. We’re not talking about authoritarian parenting here, but rather about ways that we as parents can create an environment that nurtures our children in the way of Jesus. Remember: We do what we can, and we do our best! We help our children grow roots. And…parenting is a long, slow release. Our children are their own people, and they will make their own choices in life. The proverb is helpful - but maybe a little simplistic!
This month we talk about ways that we can walk with our children down helpful paths through our daily choices. These daily choices can help them continue to walk with Jesus as they get older (and are making their own choices!).
(Photo by Peyman Ahmadi on Unsplash)
Reconciliation is the center of our work - and that work doesn’t begin when we’re adults. Living a peacemaker life is something we cultivate in our homes. This month’s scripture might carry a little baggage for some of us. So…take a deep breath. We’re not talking about authoritarian parenting here, but rather about ways that we as parents can create an environment that nurtures our children in the way of Jesus. Remember: We do what we can, and we do our best! We help our children grow roots. And…parenting is a long, slow release. Our children are their own people, and they will make their own choices in life. The proverb is helpful - but maybe a little simplistic!
This month we talk about ways that we can walk with our children down helpful paths through our daily choices. These daily choices can help them continue to walk with Jesus as they get older (and are making their own choices!).
(Photo by Peyman Ahmadi on Unsplash)
Pray It:
God, guide us as we guide our children. We entrust them to your care. Amen *This is a prayer parents/caregivers can say for themselves - and it’s great for children to hear us asking God for guidance as we parent them!
God, guide us as we guide our children. We entrust them to your care. Amen *This is a prayer parents/caregivers can say for themselves - and it’s great for children to hear us asking God for guidance as we parent them!
Do It:
- Create a household covenant: A covenant is an agreement of how we live together to be in right relationship with each other. In other words - here’s how we will love each other well.
- Decide what is most important in your family, write those things down, and then form them into a covenant. Remember that this is a multidirectional covenant - it’s about mutuality!
- Some ideas: Mutual respect, recognizing people’s boundaries and honoring them, trust and truthfulness, inclusion, The Golden Rule, listen well, everyone pitches in on the work of the household…
- Create a poster and put it in your family’s central gathering place. Review it regularly!
- Decide what is most important in your family, write those things down, and then form them into a covenant. Remember that this is a multidirectional covenant - it’s about mutuality!
- Decide what your family practices will be around how we talk about and to others. Will you complain about other people? Will you assume the worst or assume the best in others? How much “poking fun” feels okay to you, and where does it cross the line into bullying?
- One thing our family has found to be transformational is the phrase, “Suspend judgment and exercise curiosity.” When we disagree with what someone is doing, we begin by asking them why they are doing it. This has helped our relationships with others and increased empathy toward the world.
- Perform a toy and screen inventory: Take a look at toys and screen activities, and decide together if these align with following Jesus. Examples:
- A lot of old cartoons are fun and nostalgic - but when we really look at them, they have racist and/or sexist undertones. So maybe these aren’t what we want to introduce to our children.
- If we profess to be peacemakers but play war games, there’s a disconnect. And the thing that we are doing forms us far more than the thing we say we believe.
- If you haven’t yet, have the hard conversations with your child-rearing partners about whether you will be allowing your child to play with guns as weapons against other humans, what you’ll do with video games, and how you’ll handle things like having their own electronic devices. There’s not a right and wrong way to handle these things. But it’s good to be thoughtful and intentional.
- Interact with the diverse humanity around you. No matter where your household is located, there is diversity! Of ethnicity, story, language, economic status, viewpoints, religion… Find ways to interact with people who are different from you. It will increase empathy - which is crucial to resilience and to reconciliation.
Explore It: A Note from Tami
Some of our suggestions here have focused on parenting older children who are able to articulate thoughts. Though we can start to talk about and plan our family practices with children when they are quite young, we actually begin laying the foundation for how we will parent and relate within our families from the time that they are small infants.
Janet Lansbury’s website is an excellent source for helping us gain understanding as well as skills to establish mutual respect, trust, and connections between parents and children. Explore her website: /https://www.janetlansbury.com/ for articles and podcasts regarding relating with children of a variety of ages.
Two specific articles you might find helpful are: (Photo by Christian Bowen in Unsplash)
Some of our suggestions here have focused on parenting older children who are able to articulate thoughts. Though we can start to talk about and plan our family practices with children when they are quite young, we actually begin laying the foundation for how we will parent and relate within our families from the time that they are small infants.
Janet Lansbury’s website is an excellent source for helping us gain understanding as well as skills to establish mutual respect, trust, and connections between parents and children. Explore her website: /https://www.janetlansbury.com/ for articles and podcasts regarding relating with children of a variety of ages.
Two specific articles you might find helpful are: (Photo by Christian Bowen in Unsplash)
