Family Small Groups

For the last couple of months I have been collecting my thoughts on Family Worship, and how we have decided to teach our children about God. But with three children all under foot these days (which is wonderful), it has taken me longer than usual. So, one day I will post those thoughts, but it is not today.

When I first began attending Intown, our new pastor spent a lot of time talking about the value of worshiping as a family. This seemed to play out in two ways, he pushed for children to be in the worship service at a young age (not sure what that age was since I did not have children at the time, but I think it was 2nd grade), and he pushed for having community groups that were intergenerational.

I promptly joined an intergenerational group, and I am thankful almost everyday for that group, even now 10 years later. In some ways, the group was not truly intergenerational because most of the children were young (I think the oldest was 3), so while there were lots of children around and they participated with us in singing, they did not participate with us in the study. Nonetheless, it was such an important time in my life. I truly believe that I learned how to be a wife and mama from the three main women, Dianne, Jeanie and Kris. I watched them, asked them questions, hung out with them, and spent time with their children. In fact when I went through a really hard time in my life I actually moved in with one of the families and Bif and Kris, along with their children, Alex and Zack were blessings straight from the Lord. It is an amazing thing how the Lord can use children to mend and heal broken hearts. ANd now that I am a Mama myself I still find myself drawn to these women, and call them to ask the random questions, like, how do I get my 3 year old to put her shoes on, and how do I get my one year old to drink from a sippy cup, and what is my family going to look like when HC starts school.

Now as parents Dave and I are responsible to make decisions how we will teach our own children about the Lord. And we have to decide how Intown can help us with that, and what is best and most appropriate for our family. God sets us in families for a reason, and sometimes it is hard to know what our responsibility as parents is, and what church's responsibility is. So two of our most recent, ongoing conversations has been, when is it time for us to let HC come to worship with us, and how can we connect others to our children, so our children can learn from other adults and other children.

Of course, I am a huge fan of "Modern Reformation" magazine, and there is a section in each issue that deals with teaching children the gospel. Here is a link to an article that reviews a small group study that "Children Desiring God" has published. This study is for 1st grade up to adult, so that might be something we look into for our family in a few years. This is also a link to a website that some old family friends just started. They are writing curriculum for family small groups too. Check it out, you might find it interesting...if you like this sort of thing.