It only takes one small thing

Life as a parent is busy right?! Back and forward taxiing for school, clubs and activities, babies needing regular feeding and changing, or teens wanting late night chats when you’re super tired. And that’s on top of piles of washing, dishes and toys to clean up too.

Life is full on as a parent and it can feel like there is no space for yourself let alone God. How can you also fit in a bible study when you can barely slot in the homework due? How can you make time to answer the big questions of life kids ask when it feels you’re constantly rushing out the door? Where amongst the daily routines and added extras are Christian parents supposed to fit in growing faith in their family?

The bible encourages us that faith at home isn’t supposed to be a burden, but a blessing to our everyday family lives. After God had given Moses the ten commandments he encouraged the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 saying,

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

God wants parents, grandparents and friends to pass on and share the joys of knowing Him to their children in the everyday parts of life. This doesn’t mean adding it to the never ending to do list, but doing faith as you go and bringing God into the rhythms of your family life. Weaving the things of God alongside the activities you are already doing; like praying before a school test, praising God for a sunny day, talking about God’s generosity as you go to a party, or playing a worship song during dinner.

Sharing faith at home doesn’t have to be big and scary and take up lots of time. It can be one small thing each day, because even a small thing can have a big impact. Think about the story of the loaves and fish told in Matthew chapter 14, where Jesus takes a small packed lunch and multiplies it to feed 5000 people. God can use a small routine thing in a mundane part of our day to have a big impact, if we just invite him to be a part of it.

Small change. Big impact.

Moving our steering wheel by just one degree can dramatically change the whole direction of our journey. And so it is with sharing faith at home. Adding just one small thing into our daily routines can make a huge impact on our children’s journey of faith, planting seeds and foundations for them to build on as they grow.

So why not give it a go today and be intentional about bringing God into part of your families life today:

• Read Praise God for toast at breakfast.
• Sing a song to him on the way to footy.
• Ask how you need God’s help at dinner or read a psalm at bedtime.

It only takes one small thing and God will do the rest.