Parents, Teach with the Small Things
I have an unofficial minor in marriage and family ministry. At one point I wanted to be the next Dr. James Dobson, then I did my first marital counseling as a pastor. Quickly I decided that wasn’t where I needed to be (I’m sure that couple did as well). I took several classes, read tons of books, and did many research projects on the subject. All of this before having kids of my own. I had lofty goals of how much I was going to teach them about the Bible, how in-depth our nightly family devotionals would be, and all the Bible study we’d do.
You parents know what happened when we actually had children. I lasted a few days into those lofty goals—most of it never happened. Frankly, it didn’t need to. Fortunately, my wife was consistent in reading the Bible with them every night. We lost count of the many times we went through that one-hundred story children’s Bible. Slowly but surely one Bible story at a time, a foundation was being built. Along with that Bible reading, my wife did many small things to lay a foundation of truth in our kids. These little things are the epitome of Deuteronomy 6:6-9.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on 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. – Deuteronomy 6:6-9
I would have never thought to take such short moments and small things to teach consistently with our children. If you’re reading this likely you’re ahead of me and you do these types of things. This is meant to say, “Keep it up!” not be a “How to”.
This past Easter weekend reminded me of these small things.
One of the small acts I actually came up with was on Good Friday we’d count the number of crosses we saw while we drove. When they were younger, we had to actually go for a drive to do that. Again, it seems small, but that allowed for a lengthy conversation about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Every Easter morning my wife makes “Resurrection Rolls”. She bakes cinnamon rolls with a marshmallow inside. When they are pulled out the marshmallow is gone, and it looks like the tomb is empty. Again, just small acts. In the days leading up to Easter, she goes through the “Resurrection Eggs” with them.
As you can see none of these are ground-breaking, but they allow for regular faith conversations.
At Christmas we left out the children’s nativity scene and constantly they would play with it—still do. Baby Jesus was always popping up somewhere in the house. It was annoying when I’d step on the Baby Jesus, but it kept the conversation going all holiday long. One set we had if the baby flipped upside down it looked like the dog had an accident. As you can imagine that created lots of conversation.
I know my few examples aren’t doing the incredible job my wife does in planning very small things that open up much larger conversations. If you follow this blog, you know we promote families carrying out the Feasts of the Lord for these are some of the best teaching tools. And again, with them it’s small gestures and acts that lead to much larger conversations. You likely already do some of these things. If you do, then don’t sell them short for you can teach through small things.
Executive Director of Stand Firm and lead pastor of Epic Church NWA in Springdale, AR and multiple award-winning author, Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Former regular contributor to the Baptist Press and WND News with popular conservative voices such as Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Greg Laurie, Ben Schapiro, Joel Richardson, and others. He now is a weekly contributor for Israel, Islam, and the End Times and Armageddon News. He has authored books such as the, award-winning Spiritual Prepper from WND Books. Award-winning devotional books, Invincibleand For Uncertain Times, he authored the ground-breaking children’s book, Jesus and His White Horse from CrossLink Publishing. He is also a regular guest on national and international radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his weekly live streaming program Talking Stand Firm and weekly podcast Stand Firm Parents.
