Listening in Church

I joked yesterday about Sunday being a day of rest. I am fully aware that for a minister's family it can be quite stressful. Because of that, Doug and I made an extra effort to teach our children that Sunday's were very special.

We wanted our boys to understand that God wanted to talk to them and teach them. We began to teach them that the message that came from the pulpit (their dad) was a direct message to each of them, from God, Himself. We taught them that this was the way we get our orders for the coming week.

At a very early age we had special crayons, paper and a carrying case that was only used on Sunday. We instructed the boys (before they could read) to listen for a word in the sermon that they could draw a picture of. Example: fish, house, rain, etc. As they got older, (colored pencils or pens) they were to draw as many pictures for as many words that they could remember. Eventually, they learned to write and would write a word, then an outline, then notes.

Around the table at lunch we all took out our notes and shared. Each boy would show his picture and tell what he heard about that picture. Then we would discuss how God wanted us to practice what we learned in the upcoming week.

This was a good practice for all of us. It was amazing at how much the boys could understand at a very young age. They loved looking for ways that God was using what they learned in the following week. We all were surprised at how each of us at times would learn something completely different.

Take time to teach your children how to worship. Teaching them to listen to the sermons and then apply God's Word to their lives will be one of those "forever" disciplines and blessings you give to them.