AUGUST: WHAT GETS OUR ATTENTION & RESOURCES?
Micah 6:8 (King James Version)
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Read It: Micah 6:8 and Psalm 1
"Blessed is the one .... whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season ...."
The book of Psalms opens up with a call to move through the world with openness to God’s instruction and to be transplanted by a nourishing stream. It’s about life re-orientation, from the well-worn paths that lead to a death-like existence toward a path that leads to spiritual maturity.
"Blessed is the one .... whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season ...."
The book of Psalms opens up with a call to move through the world with openness to God’s instruction and to be transplanted by a nourishing stream. It’s about life re-orientation, from the well-worn paths that lead to a death-like existence toward a path that leads to spiritual maturity.
Concept: Our children will grow up moving through a world that constantly seeks their attention - and by extension, their time and resources. These demands have increased exponentially in the past couple of decades, and that growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Part of the parenting/caregiving task is to approach these demands with awareness and intentionality, and to model that for our children. This month, we look at some ways to begin that awareness, and we take a look at Sabbath-keeping, a practice that helps us to weekly reorient our attention and resources toward God.
Pray It Jesus, we want to walk in your paths. But we get so distracted! Bring our attention back to you. Amen.
Do It:
- Practice Awareness: Some of this intentionality is simply increasing our own awareness of the many things that are competing for our children’s attention (as well as ours!). Notice these things, say something about them, and decide how you will engage. Here are a few to notice, and you’ll soon discover many more.
- Licensed Products: We’re talking about that Elmo toothbrush, the Disney pajamas, the Bluey fruit snacks…
- Product Placement: These are the little ads-that-aren’t-ads in TV shows and movies, like a child eating Lay’s potato chips.
- YouTube Videos and Social Media Influencers: In general, youtubers are seeking to grab attention to point it somewhere. Influencers are paid to promote specific products and build brand awareness - that’s how they earn a living.
- Pop-up Ads in “Free” Education Apps: For apps to be affordable for schools, they often get the free version. That means that there are pop-up ads.
- All the Activities: If your child goes to school or daycare, chances are they come home with a multitude of fliers encouraging them to be part of all the activities happening in your town. Many of these are great! And they are all competing for your family’s time and attention.
- Youth Sports Industry: Organized sports of all kinds are now available for very young children. Take a close look at the opportunities that come your way. How much time do they actually demand? What costs are really involved? Will the timing pull your child and family away from other things that are important to you? Are these teams offered by a larger organization (a toddler team can actually be the beginning of a feeder program for a very expensive youth soccer league, for example)? What are the explicit and implicit goals of the team?
- Lessons: Children can take lessons in all kinds of interesting things! And it’s hard not to just add one more, then one more, until you’re constantly taking your child to lessons and reminding them to practice. Think intentionally about what they want to try, and let it be okay to try something for a season, then move on from it to something new.
- Practice Sabbath. Sabbath-keeping is a commandment that is every bit as important as “Do not murder,” but it is so counter-cultural! Yet, when we put our time and energy into that one set-apart day per week, the rest of our lives tend to fall into perspective. We don’t have to work as hard to choose the path of Jesus throughout the other six days. Here are some Sabbath-keeping ideas:
- Make gathering with the family of God a priority. Going regularly to worship with others really does help everyone in the family feel at home in the family of God. It can be hard to form the habit, but once you form it, there are a lot of other demands on your attention that fall into perspective.
- Gather a small Sabbath community that will do something simple together each week. Maybe that’s Sunday afternoon popcorn, or playing yard games, or going for a walk. Sabbath is much easier to keep when you do it in community. Photo by Marina Lisova on Unsplash
- Follow the earth’s rhythms for the Sabbath, beginning with sundown on Saturday and ending with sundown on Sunday.
- Choose something to “stop” for your Sabbath. For example, no phones, no television, no electric lights, no car use…
- Following Psalm 1, spend your Sabbath “meditating on God’s instruction” in varying ways. Discover God’s instruction in scripture, in nature, in other humans, and within your own thoughts and body. Move through the day with awareness of what God might be revealing to you.
- Develop a rhythm for your Sabbath. Maybe it’s something like this: Welcome sundown on Saturday (this can be a simple word of welcome!), sleep, go to church, eat leftovers, take naps, play a game, say farewell at sundown on Sunday.
- Resource Inventory: This one begins with the parents and caregivers. Take a look at where your time and money are going. If someone looked at only your calendar and your budget or financial statements, what would they deduce about what is important to you? Decide how you feel about that, and whether there are tweaks you want to make to better align your resources with your faith.
- Being real with children about the decisions we make with resources of time and money is an important part of modeling. As they get older, they can be part of making those decisions.
Explore it: A Note from Tami
Summer is almost over and the routines of another year will soon begin. This is a great time to take an inventory of what is emphasized in your family’s attention and resources. You will not regret prioritizing meaningful interactions and positive practices with your children. Here are a few resources that can be useful for helping your children and family experience balance and health.
Summer is almost over and the routines of another year will soon begin. This is a great time to take an inventory of what is emphasized in your family’s attention and resources. You will not regret prioritizing meaningful interactions and positive practices with your children. Here are a few resources that can be useful for helping your children and family experience balance and health.
- Is Your Child Too Busy?
- Create a Calm Family Life
- 5 Signs Your Child is Too Busy and How to Help (Main emphasis is for older children)
- Why Advertising is Bad for Children This resource is long, but contains helpful information