Growing Faith In My Girls
Photographed by Hello Jude Photography
During my pregnancy last year, I read Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles that Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Trip. It truly was an eye opening book that significantly changed my perspective on my role as a parent. I took 10 pages of notes & have a list of quotes. In short. Highly recommend.
Quote one:
Success is about faithfulness, not results — He simply calls you to be faithful, to do good toward youR children day after day after day, knowing the results are in his powerful hands.
I’m not an expert on parenting. I wouldn’t even consider myself an expert on faith. I love to learn. I always want to make changes. To make it be better. To make it new. Fulfilling my role as a mother & growing faith in my girls matters to me.
I get to speak life. Offer hope. Be a safe place. Raise her in a home centered around Jesus. Fill her mind with truth. Introduce her to eternity. Show her what it looks like to walk with Him. I get to play a part in opening her eyes to Jesus. & Ultimately His love.
What a privilege & honor. I admit, in the day to day, I sometimes forget the big picture of it all. — Thank goodness we have the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things & reminds us of everything we have been told. (John 14:26)
From my home to yours, I’ve put together 10 ways I’m growing faith in my girls:
A note: There are resources for which I’ll provide a link to. I’m not an affiliate. I do not receive any compensation.
MUSIC
My girl loves music. & let me tell you, she’s quite the DJ. She loves songs that are upbeat & fun. A song she can dance to. A song with motions. It really is fun for her. & so we incorporate music during the day. Scriptures put to a tune. Words about God. Words that uplift & bring life. Every night, we sing turn your eyes upon Jesus.
I’m very much in favor of finding music we both can enjoy listening to. Aside from her Disney songs & my worship songs from “various artists”, together we like:
Sing Creation Songs by Ellie Holcomb Perfect while coloring or riding in the car.
Be Held Lullabies by Christy Nockels Perfect for quiet time or calming before sleep.
BOOKS
She loves “story time” & read alouds. We talk about the illustrations. We hunt for letters in words. I could make a list of books we read. (We will save that for another time.) But the two books we use most consistently:
We talk about the stories of Old. Learn about the character of God. & We say Thank you.
PRAY
In our home, we pray before meals & we pray each night at bed time. For her, it’s a starting point. We keep it simple. We “talk to God”. We tell him what we are grateful for.
My favorite 2-year old prayer:
Thank you God for loving us. Thank you God for loving food.
Among other things, these days, she’s grateful for her family (& lists everyone by name), her toothbrush, & “chicken fi-way”.
If we’re having a moment or a hard time, I pull her close, give her a 20 second hug (there’s research behind this) & we pray a simple prayer. We tell him how we feel & we ask him to help us.
In-between, we’re praying over her life, faith, & future too.
GET OUTSIDE
We love to get outside. & when we do, we talk about God’s creation. We live by the beach & every time we’re there, we talk about how God made the blue sky. & The sparkling ocean. The birds that fly high & the fish that swim below. The pretty sunsets. The round moon. It’s really quite sweet.
I think blue is his favorite color. I say.
I think he likes all the colors! She says.
I think you’re right. I tell her.
Outside of our home is a white crepe myrtle tree. I love to tell her about how just days before she was born, the white flower buds bloomed. I tell her how special she is to me. Together we talk about seasons & bugs & the weather & how fun & beautiful growth can be.
God makes things grow. She says.
Right again. I smile.
WHO LOVES YOU?
We play a game & it goes likes this: We ask, Who loves you? What follows is a list of family, family pets, & stuffed animals. It always ends with Jesus. Our goal is for her to never doubt that she is loved. & Most importantly loved by God.
STEWARDSHIP
We take care of our things & each other. It’s a phrase I repeat often. We talk about how God has given us so much. He has given us each other & so we will take care of each other. He has given us a home & food & jobs. With those freedoms & gifts come responsibilities. We have daily chores to keep our home tidy. We play nicely with toys & other people. We speak kindly & truthfully. We water the plants & feed the dog.
My point is that in every situation we try to express care & intention toward maintaining, preserving, & growing all that God has given us.
ONE UNENDING CONVERSATION
I’m determined to have one ongoing conversation & many moments of change. If you haver ever met our three-year-old, you know that she has no problem chatting, & telling, & sharing, & questioning, & improvising, & maintaining a stream of conscious dialogue, longer than this sentence.
All this to say: I consider it nothing less than a total gift to be there for her. I get to be the one she talks to & the one she has the “tough” conversations with. I get to help lead her to the Lord & show her what it looks like to know Jesus & to walk with him.
Practically speaking:
I’m following the order of Genesis. Chapter one starts with the doctrine of God. It moves into the doctrine of man. Then in chapter 3, we get to the doctrine of sin.
After reading, listening, or singing, I ask these 2 questions: What’s true about God? What does that mean is true about you?
I tell her: Mama loves you. Daddy loves you. & Jesus loves you every night.
PEOPLE FIRST.
God cares for & loves his people. & so we love what God loves. We value people & relationships more than things, iPads, toys, commodities, & yes, more than treats.
It’s my job to teach her about healthy relationships, how to read a room, & identify roles. Leader. Friend. Stranger. Teammate. Helper. “Stinker”. Our actions define what it means to be Father & Mother. How to be gentle & kind to a sister. Make Friends. Know the Enemy. Love your Family.
God’s way is the best way & He reminds us to consider the interests of others as more important than yourselves (Philippians 2:3). This isn’t about being passive. It’s about increasing her awareness to the situations & persons around her. The world orbits around a three-year-old. I want to give her perspective & to know we think about others.
MODEL IT. INCLUDE HER.
Each week, I intentionally pick a few days to sit at our dining table with my Bible & notebooks opened so she can see me. I tell her: I’m reading the Bible. I’m learning about Jesus. I’m spending time with him. I’m having a hard time & I need him to help me. This is interesting. This is exciting. My goal: include her in what I’m doing.
One morning, she came downstairs. She said I love you & followed those sweet words with a kiss on my cheek. She then proceeded to ask, Are you reading your Bible?
I am, would you like to join me?
I want to do my Bible study too! — She quickly ran to our craft station & proceeded to pull out her notebook, stickers, & markers. She sat down next to me & scribbled pictures in her notebook.
We’re still learning to write, but I cannot wait to gift her this Write the Word Journal for kids soon! I know she’s going to love it! In the mean time, she can continue using her notebook & coloring in my Choose Joy adult coloring book.
The point is this: They practice what we practice.
MAKE IT FUN.
Kids are attracted to fun. So why not make it fun! We take her to church & she attends Sunday school. She participates weekly in children’s programs like Awana & BSF to learn about God’s word & memorize scripture verses. See if a program like one of these is near you! I’ve downloaded & made an activity binder to teach her the Fruits of the Spirit & the Armor of God. We color pictures. We make crafts. We teach her how to read the Bible. We listen to this Podcast. We do our best to create a love for learning & to create meaningful ways she can serve others.
After creating this list, I realized that nearly all of these ways incorporate talking about God in a genuine way. This led me to remembering the story of Moses standing on a mountain & giving the people of Israel the 10 Commandments. The story follows with these words:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, & with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house & when you walk along the road, when you lie down & when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:5-7
& that’s our cue to keep talking about God’s faithfulness to us. — Because every word we speak over our littles, we are speaking the same truth to ourselves. As we grow their faith, we’re growing our own.
Quote two: