Flourishing Families Prepare for the Big Step


by Dave McVety


Dear Parent, I’ve oſten wondered how to implement faith into my home


in more tangible ways. Some might suggest that our conversation and naturally involving and engaging God in our lives and family is enough, but I feel like there are more intentional ways of bring- ing our children into our world of faith. I would like to share with you, in a series of articles, some ideas that we have implemented, some intentionally and some slightly accidentally, in the midst of our exploration and life as a family. My hope is that, even if you don’t feel these things would work in


your family, that they could spur you on to find new ways of engag- ing faith in your home and specifically with your children.


Worshiping Together Although we oſten think of worship in terms of singing, wor-


ship has other elements, too. In this case I have chosen to engage with it related to our typical Sunday worship structure, because we’re familiar with it, and modeling something we are familiar with is easier than starting from scratch. First, I would like to comment on something that I think is a


growing topic of discussion. Tere is incredible untapped value in having our children with us in Sunday morning services. I remember as a child how bored I was in church services. I even remember having naps on my Mom’s lap — but I can’t deny that seeing my father lead the hymns from stage and even hearing my parents engage in discussions applying the content of a message to their lives impacted me. It made it real and opened my ears to the sermons myself. As much as our kids need to learn at their age-appropriate


levels, it is even more important that they see their parents living out their love for God. Seeing parents pray or read Scripture or possibly watching them choose to not take communion (giv- ing the children an opportunity to ask why), provides children with valuable insights into the value of corporate worship. Like language, worship is best learned through experience. Having our children worship with us is vital to instilling in them the value of worshiping together.


Tat said, there have been times in our last seven years that we


have not been able to attend church. We felt the need to engage and intentionally worship as a family, so we started something that our family now calls “Home church.” I pull out my guitar, and we sing together. Our kids can help choose songs. (If you don’t play music, you could sing along with a CD or with worship music from YouTube®.) Ten, either Melissa or I will lead them in a devotional or a discussion of some topic, inviting their thoughts and questions about the topic at hand. We might even watch a video or a full movie that would draw out family discussion. Prayer is a part of this as well — and sharing what we want to pray for is important; discussing what and why we feel the need to ask God for his help is important, too. Our kids actually ask and sometimes almost plead for “Home


Church.” Tere is something special about engaging as a family like this. Although we don’t do this every week, we do embrace the opportunities when they arise. Yes, there are moments in our home when a child will be resis-


tant to either praying or engaging in a spiritual discussion for one reason or another — but this is not the case during our “Home Church” times. Tey gather with hearts ready and prepared, because they are a part of making the service what it is. May your imagination run wild as you consider what family


worship could be for you and yours, and please send me your thoughts, ideas and stories so we can try them too!


Sincerely,


David McVety, Pastor and worship leader to my family


davidmcvety.com doingfamilyright.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24