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I never forget to brush my teeth. Every morning I go straight to the sink and scrub them. Every evening before bed I brush them again. It's a rhythm–something I've been doing since I was very small.
I have other rhythms in my life as well. Breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner are at {mostly} set times, using a {mostly} set menu. I can't remember ever having a hamburger and french fries for breakfast. It's not a part of my rhythm.
In raising my children, I want to establish healthy rhythms in their lives. I want them to do what's good for them, like brushing their teeth and eating healthy food on a semi-regular schedule. We recognize the blessing those things are in our lives and thank God for them.
As a parent who loves Jesus and his written Word, I want my kids to learn who God is. I want them to learn to pray. It's my desire that they would recognize God's hand in all things, as well as the blessings in the mundane tasks of their daily lives. I want the pursuit of Jesus to be a part of their daily rhythm. Just as my children look for me each morning, I want them to look for the Master.
I've seen a few articles by pastors lately meant to remind us that family worship and Bible study won't save our kids. I agree. Family worship, Bible study, hymns, and prayer aren't a means of justification. For a Christian, these things are a part of sanctification–the process by which we are made holy, by which we become increasingly more like our Lord.
Children aren't born justified, so including these spiritual practices in their day is a means of pointing them toward Christ, of teaching them truth, and of laying the foundation for sanctification should they come to Christ (and we pray they do!). It's a way of doing the same for ourselves. It's not religious ritual we seek, but a solid foundation built on an understanding of Christ.
We all have different family schedules, so of course our spiritual rhythms will look different. I'll share our weekdays as an example. Remember that when we change habits, it's helpful to focus on adding or subtracting one thing at a time.
- After breakfast on the weekdays the boys and I pray. Then we work on Bible Road Trip, reading two chapters of the Bible and examining them using the discussion questions. The boys use their notebooking journals to record their thoughts and sometimes recount the narrative. I read to them about the Bible from various resources. Sometimes they take notes, and sometimes they just listen.
- In the afternoons the boys work on memorizing one verse. This year, they've been working on memorizing Romans. On Fridays they shore up the paragraph they've been working on that week and run through everything they've memorized so far.
- I do my memorization work in the morning and evening by copying out the verses in my notebook.
- My husband writes his verse for the week on an index card and keeps it in his back pocket. He reads it aloud throughout the day.
- The boys have individual Bible reading to do throughout the week after lunch.
- After dinner, my husband reads a chapter each from two different books of the Bible and we discuss. Afterward we pray together.
- At bedtime, my husband prays over each child.
That looks like a lot written in bullet points, but truly these things have become a rhythm for our family. These are not the only times we discuss the Lord, but they are a way for us to intentionally give him our time and focus.
What spiritual rhythms do you have in your family?
Image: Breakfast II / Morning Mood, 1885, Gustav Wentzel (1859-1927)
