Having Faith Conversations with Your Kids

The questions are getting harder and harder that our kids are faced with in this world. Which also means the questions we have to answer as parents are tougher. How do you get truth through to their hearts and minds?

The key to talking to kids is to make it part of your daily routine. Something they are comfortable with and look forward to. The biggest opportunities are in the car, meals, and bedtime. As you listen, they feel safe to share their inner, hidden lives and what is swirling around in their thoughts, hearts, and minds. Predictable, consistent, conversations lead to deep, holy, conversations.

As I look at Scriptures for daily conversation practices for our families, Deuteronomy 6 talks about all of these practices with our children.

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Faith5 has a great bedtime routine that establishes these practices:

1. Share highs and lows of the day with each other.
2. Read a Bible Verse or Bible Story
3. Talk about how that verse/story relates to your highs and lows of the day.
4. Pray for the highs and lows. (This encourages empathy as they pray for yours too, This also
   helps then put into their own words their joys, sorrows and their journey towards God)
5. Bless One Another (Let them bless you too!) God loves you and so do I. Rest well,
   beloved child of God.—-then they say it over you too. Kisses and hugs.

Science says what we think about before bedtime has a key role in our dreaming and how we process the day. How cool is it to send them to bed with a blessing and contemplating their day through the word of God!

For the big uncomfortable conversations, pick a time during one of your family routines. No phones/electronics and look them in the eye when you listen. (However sometimes hard conversations go deeper when you can’t look at each other like in the car). Maybe Saturday pancake breakfast, a walk alone with them, car ride alone, or somewhere they are comfortable. Start with sharing how you have wondered about things and worried about things and is there anything they have questions of worries about? If you are going for a certain tough topic, then bring up the topic and see what questions they have. Do not be afraid if you get a tough question you cannot answer to say—-I will get back to you on that answer. You can google what scriptures says about it. Remember God is on your side as you teach your children. You have such a vital role in their lives! Keep Praying! Keep Talking! Keep Listening!

-Katie Jones
Former Children’s Director