The beginning of each new school year is a bittersweet time in our home. My wife is lamenting the end of the lazy days of summer, relaxing and reading. My kids are saddened by the loss of their free time and ability to ride bikes and scooter all afternoon. I will miss the ability to just pack the car up and a take a spontaneous afternoon family trip to the local splash pad.
Despite our desire for summer break to continue on forever, we know that going “back to school” is a necessity; partly because Megan is our primary breadwinner and carries the family insurance, but also because we value education for our children. Society values education so much that we start our children young with educational toys, send them through at least thirteen years of public or private education and then encourage them to continue their vocation education through trade schools, undergraduate degree programs and sometimes graduate or doctoral programs.
Pastor Lowell’s sermon this past week (August 5, 2018) caused me to think about the amount of value society places on Christian education and faith practices. Right or wrong, in the United States we place increasingly higher and higher value on institutionalized education and competitive sports. My kids spend approximately 45 hours in school each week and another five hours in sports practices and games. There are definitely benefits to those endeavors, but how am I intentionally challenging them to grow in their faith? Other than the hour they spend at church each week, how I am encouraging them to grow into a life of faithful witness to Christ through humility, gentleness, patience, love, and peacemaking (Ephesians 4:1-3)? I’m not proposing that I will take my kids out of school and sports in order to devote their life solely to Biblical instruction, but I am wondering how I can be more intentional to place faith practices into the center of our family life.
Ultimately, it starts with me! As a parent, I am a role model for my child and I need to show my kids humility, gentleness, patience, love and peacemaking through my actions. I also need to let them see me make conscious choices to value my own development in faith through reading my Bible, attending Bible studies, and giving back to people in need throughout our community.
I plan to start simple and implement FAITH5™ (http://www.faith5.org/) practices into our weekly routine at home. “FAITH5™ (Faith Acts In The Home) is a simple, easy-to-implement faith practice, perfect for incorporating into your bedtime routine for five to fifteen minutes a night. When done over time, the FAITH5™ carries the power to enrich communication, deepen understanding, aid sleep, and promote mental, physical and spiritual health. The five steps are: Share, Read, Talk, Pray, and Bless.” FAITH5™ practices are simple and only take about fifteen minutes per day. They can be done by people of all ages and families of all sizes. I’m going to shoot for three days each week and if it goes well, maybe our family can make it a daily spiritual practice.
If you feel called to be more intentional about practicing your faith, I encourage you to join my family in using FAITH5™ throughout the month of August. Let me know how it works for your family by joining our private Facebook group, Lord of Life Lutheran Church - Faith5 Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2361834407377271/), and I will be happy to share our experience with you there as well.
On the journey of faith,
Corey Wagonfield