Baby Steps: Beginning Family Devotions
Having a regular family devotional time is important. Finding and/or making time for it? That's not so easy. Everybody’s schedule screams for priority, and when you add in life events, cleaning, repairs, work, sleep, school, extended family and friends, church, hobbies....Well, it's exhausting just writing about it!
To make matters worse there are a ton of wonderful resources on the market for devotions. Which one is right for you?
Here are a few ideas to help you get started:
Keep It Short
Gauge your devotional time to the ages and stages of your family. Keeping your time brief will help you to fit it in your schedule.
Keep it Simple (at least at first)
The simplicity can help your family remember the point. Start with stories or ideas that you and/or your family already know.
Repeat
Messages and lessons about God are not heard much in our media hyped world. Repeat them often, or they will get lost in the chaos of the other messages that life sends us.
Make it Personal
There are several ways to do this. You can invite other family members to share Bible stories, and or lessons that have impacted them. You can ask other members to share comments, ideas or questions that relate to your devotional message. Help members of your family invest in the process, the lesson, and in the application of that lesson. How does what you have heard impact or help you in your life today? Tomorrow? In the future?
Be Committed
Make regular time for your family, and don’t give up. If you miss a time or two, don’t get discouraged! Just begin again. This will look different for every family - experiment until you find what works for you!
Pray
Always stop to invite God into this time with your family and help you understand what God wants you to learn.
Next month I will review some devotional tools that you can use as a family. Enjoy your time together this week!
Blessings!
- Lori
Lori Ferguson serves as Children's Director at Navarre UMC, and has been at the church since 2015. When she's not planning or teaching, she enjoys spending time with her grandkids. Read more about Lori here.
