With two young kids and one on the way, I’m especially interested in what Craig has to say about parenting in his new book Weird. With six kids, he has three times the experience I do 🙂 I found the following excerpt a very practical way we can bring God into our everyday lives as we parent:
The best thing you can do for your kids is to show them God working in you on a daily basis. I love the practical teaching of Deuteronomy 6:6 - 9: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
You can do all these things God’s Word encourages us to do. They can become a part of how you do life — in fact, they are only really effective if they’re a consistent part of everyday life. Kids are quick to pick up on our real feelings and motives, so the only way to be a truly weird, life-changing parent is to express your faith organically.
Talk about God with your kids in the morning on the way to school, let them know when you pray for them during their day, and share a meaningful truth from Scripture on the way home from dance. Put a favorite Bible verse on the wall alongside Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. Let them know the hardest part of your day, as appropriate for their age, and how you connect it back to your trust in God. Make spiritual conversations a part of how you do life.
Transparency is something I strive for, so I like the idea of leveraging that in parenting our kids.
Weird has lots of practical ideas like the above. You can get it in print or download it from:
