A New Year

Starting a new year off right

There is something about beginning a brand new year that makes us reflect on the past and contemplate the future.   We get drawn into thinking about what we could do different to help us live better lives.  When we think about our families there is always a long list of things we want to change.    Just like everything else in life we want to change many things about the way we parent or the way we run our households but it always seems so difficult to stick to them. There are some things in our families that we can let slide but there are other things that we must fight for.

-       One of the things I hear parents say all the time is that they wish they could stick to a family devotion time each day but with the busyness of kids and parents schedules it seems so difficult to stick this daily.   These times are incredibly important as a family and I would say a very small minority of Christian families even attempts this.   This is worth fighting for.   If your family can only find the time to get together even 3-4 times a week to spend 20 minutes of spiritual conversation the spiritual benefit on your family and kids would be massive.  Make it a priority to spend time during your busy week to invest in your kid’s lives spiritually.  There are loads of great resources out there to guide you in this process.

-       As your kids grow older and enter the teen years it seems that the lines of communication get muddied and unclear.  Kids want their independence and begin to confide more in their friends than you.  Don’t take this too personally, its part of the maturing process.  They used to come to you for everything and now its like pulling teeth to get them to say anything of importance to you!   Take time everyday to have a conversation with your kids.   It’s all about just showing them that your interested in their everyday lives and that you love them.  It’s important to get them to put down the XBOX controller, pull out their Ipod earphones and engage in conversation with you for a few minutes about their day.   These very simple and short conversations keep the door open for deeper conversations down the road.  It’s important to approach these conversations not as a top down authority figure but out of love and care for their lives.

As we enter a brand new year spend a few minutes evaluating your family situation and begin to think of ways you can invest into your kids life.

Ask yourself these questions:
How can I invest in my kids spiritually this year?
How can I take time each day this year to show my kids I care about them?
How can I create space this year to allow my kid to continue to mature but continue to keep the lines of communication open?