“To have the righteousness of faith, and to teach that to the children God gives to us, that, my friends, is the greatest joy in life, and the most fervent prayer of every Christian parent, whether with one child or a dozen, is that God will keep our children trusting in the merits of Jesus until they die in peace.” Rolf Preus And God Blessed Them
It’s no secret around here, I really like ordering our days by the church calendar. But because my life is so full with just keeping everyone fed, clothed and clean I have been simplifying our commemorations and celebrations.
I still enjoy doing little crafts, making food appropriate to the day a couple years ago I was able to do much more, but I’m finding that these days sometimes all I can work in is telling my children that “Today is fill in the blank, this is why we remember this saint or why we celebrate this event, talk amongst yourselves.”
And that’s fine. Because we can have the most beautiful feasts but if we fail to teach our children, then we have truly failed.
Teaching our children the Faith, that is our most important job as parents.
More important than music lessons, dance lessons, softball practice, chores or even how to brush their teeth.
I want these things for my babies, especially well brushed teeth, but what I want more, is for them to “have the righteousness of faith” and trust “in the merits of Jesus until they die in peace.”
The church calendar is a good tool to use with children. With the help of the church calendar I can make a plan of what we’ll be teaching at different times of the year based on the theme of each season. The church calendar also helps me to put more emphasis on the eternal perspective I want our family to have instead of a temporal, secular focus.
I also want to fill our home with good church music. I wrote earlier this year about missing music and had so many kind replies. It’s true that I’ve had to put aside my participation in music, no choir, not much time to tinker on my guitar, but I still keep music in our home through online radio programs like Lutheran Public Radio which plays wonderful selections of church music that fit the current season. I also use the many great playlists I’ve found on Youtube with church music, here, here and here. And we sing hymns with our children.
“Christian doctrine is never cold, dry, or irrelevant. It is life giving. This is why we love the great hymns of Ambrose of Milan, Martin Luther, Paul Gerhardt, Thomas Kingo, and others who saw the poetry of the hymn as always serving the purpose of confessing and teaching the pure and saving gospel. By the way, little children love to learn the Lutheran chorales. It is a myth that they cannot. But adults who have learned to love them must teach the children. That requires pastors to promote them. When these children are old, they will derive precious little comfort from the lyrics of “If I Were a Butterfly.” But any Christian, young or old, can gladly die with the words of “On My Heart Imprint Thine Image” on his lips.” Rolf Preus Lutheran Worship Wars
I’m also married to a very good man who takes the time to recite the Lutheran Catechism with our babies. Children have incredible memories. Repetition, repetition, repetition and they’re learning it, the Commandments and what each means. Right now they don’t completely understand but what they are hiding in their hearts at such tender ages will always be with them, ready to be understood as they grow in years and in faith.
Teaching Christ to our children can be a natural part of the home life. There is a comfort in the passive ways we can teach our children. Our very lives teach our children. For example, our family goes to church every Sunday, this teaches our children that church is important. The liturgy of our home life is always teaching something.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, elaborate or complicated. Teaching the faith can happen in passing conversation, in structured family time, a part of bedtime, before meals, through traditions, however and whenever you can squeeze it in.
Resources for teaching children:
Follow and Do Series – Teaching “the Six Chief Parts of the Christian faith, combining the teachings in the catechism with practical application for all aspects of daily life.” cph
Sing the Faith – Luther’s Small Catechism set to music to aid memorization.
My First Hymnal
Hymns of the Church Year
Hosanna, Loud Hosanna – an illustrated hymnal for children with discussion questions about each hymn included, also available are free coloring pages
What a great post. You are inspiring me. I used to be so much better about teaching the kids and lately it seems like we’ve not been doing as well. Like you said, the days are busy keeping everyone clean and fed. I love the church year.
I know Rebekah, certain times of the year the teaching comes easier for me, then nothing for a while, then I get back to it over and over. But thanks be to God for Church and in our case, Sunday School! 🙂
The “Follow and Do” catechism series is a favorite in our household. I also love that your home is filled with visual reminders of Christ and His redeeming work for us. Your children see that EVERY SINGLE DAY, and they learn from it. Way to go, Mama.