NPR did a story on preparing children for literacy last week. Librarians are providing space for parents and children to TALK, SING, READ, WRITE, and PLAY. That seems way more fun to me than diet and workout resolutions. So for the next five days...some connections between these five practices and the nurture of faith literacy.
Today...TALK.
This is super simple for little ones. Talk about your faith. More importantly, ask about theirs. Listen. Ask questions. Don't feel like you need to correct them. Let them practice articulating their spiritual experiences. It also challenges us to articulate ours...because they are likely to mimic the practice and ask us questions right back. (Don't panic...answers are far less important than talking together. Saying "I don't know" is perfectly fine...they'll probably teach you the answer.) Some good starter questions might include:
- Did you see God at work today? when? where? how?
- Did you do some work for God today? when? where? how?
- Did you learn anything about God today? (same follow ups...)
- Insert your question here...the really fun thing about little ones is they don't think this is weird at all...Enjoy it. Your kids will think you weird soon enough.
Bring God into other conversation, especially with little ones who have not yet mastered the eye roll. We love the little toes that God made. We see the dogs/cats/squirrels that God made and watch how creation works together. We help each other because God helps us....possibilities are simply endless. Even washing dishes or cleaning house provides examples of God's blessing or creation to talk about.
If you establish this pattern when children are young and faith/God/practice conversations are common, it is easy to transition as your kids get older. My youngest was asked to write "What I did at Thanksgiving" at some point in her middle school years and her essay ended with, "and then we talked about God...because we always talk about God." Her teacher thought she made it up. "No one does that," the teacher insisted.
Eye roll. "We do," says my child.
If you haven't established the practice, don't give up before you start. Just begin with you, not them.
- "I really felt the presence of God during ___ in worship today. It surprised me."
- "I saw homeless people eating out of trashcans today. I wondered what God thinks of us that we live like this."
- "God seems pretty distant to me this week. I wish God was more easily accessible sometimes."
They may not respond at first. Remember, these are invitations to conversation. Mealtimes are good. Car drives are great. (There's something about you keeping your eyes on the road that encourages conversation.) Seeing something as you drive that starts the God conversation works well. (It also keeps God's work and ways in our heads as we carpool. When's the last time that happened?!) Connecting their complaints/joys to their faith journey in brief ways is also good. Make a comparison with a Bible story, or ask how God might expect us to behave and the challenges that brings.
And know this. The lack of a verbal response doesn't mean they are not thinking about what you said. They are. Even if they are thinking that is the stupidest thing you ever said, they suddenly find themselves considering God's role in their immediate world...and that's the point, right?
TALK...remember you don't have to have answers. You only have to talk and listen to them talk. If there's an unanswered question, explore it with others. Make it a game. "You ask your friends, I'll ask mine...meet you back here next week at this time." Encourage them to ask a pastor. I would be ecstatic to get a call or visit from a family struggling to articulate faith. Sometimes we can help...sometimes we are inarticulate together. Always the conversations strengthen us.
Talk...talk...talk. Avoid one thing. Judgment. It's easy to fall into discussing how God wouldn't like this or that, how we are better than those or them, how others should change or improve. Recognize God at work transforming, reconciling, drawing the world to God. Be challenged to find our call in that transformative and redemptive work. But leave the judgment to God.
There's a great old spiritual titled "Who Will Be a Witness For My Lord?" We won't SING it...that's tomorrow's post. Being a witness is not the five point plan or some other annoying approach to the stranger behind the doorbell. It is, simply, talk. And, though we've talked about kids...this works for adults as well. It's a really cheap app that you don't even need a smart phone for.
Go for it.
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