These posts are all about incorporating our teaching our children about God in the normal routines and rhythms of life. That is to say - outside of organized church meetings.
It has become fairly common for families to decided to maintain a belief in God and a love for God, but forego the church part of things. I lot of churches are set up to cater to the young family of yesteryear and there is a lot that can be done to make "church" better. Ultimately, if you are in that situation you can try to help makes things better, or... not.
Change can happen from the top-down or from the bottom-up.
Change can be in big sweeping motions or it can come from several micro-adjustments.
We can wait for the things around us to change, or we can change our hearts and minds about what is around us.
Someone once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."
So, as you go to church, if your church is boring, I have good news for you. You can change that.
Certainly, a typical church service is harder for children to sit through. There are a lot of words being said that they don't understand or relate to. They know that they are not the primary audience. They are being asked to sit (mostly) and be quiet (relatively) so that other people can do their thing. The rest of their lives are mostly filled with running, jumping, shouting, or being entertained with screens that change scenes every couple of seconds.
Years ago Cassie read through a little book called, Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman and it had a suggestion to personalize the public prayer time for the kids.
Essentially, when someone gets up to pray for whatever, you put your child on your lap and fold/hold hands with them. Then everything that the person up-front says, you echo, but you use words and phrases that will connect with your little one.
Behold! You have the power to transform some part of the church from irrelevant to engaging. You took something that was otherwise boring and made it a connecting point and a teaching moment.
This is just one way we can take initiative and live out being the ones responsible for teaching our children about God - whether home, on the road, or in the church's building.
What are some other things you have done or seen others do that help young minds engage in the worship times that might not be geared toward them?
