Free Not Alone: Trusting God to Help You Raise Godly Kids in a Spiritually Mismatched Home by Lynn Donovan, Dineen Miller

Bible, and let them catch me on my knees in prayer. Help me to share Your wisdom from Your holy Word and to give them the ability to use their sword to fight for justice, for love and for Your kingdom. I ask, Father, that prayer would be my children’s first thought in the morning, that my children would talk with You throughout their day, and that they would end every night in conversation with You. Lord, it’s this kind of relationship that will prosper them throughout their entire lives.
    Lord, from this day forward make me keenly aware of teachable moments when they arrive. In those precious minutes I ask that You speak Your truth through me in a way that impacts my children for their good and Your glory. Create in our home a place where the Bible is treasured and read. Lord, let our prayers move Your heart, and lead us to live a life in Your presence.
    Lord, I ask that through the years I have of sharing the Bible and praying with my kids, You will help me make it a grand adventure for them. Let my kids and me marvel at Your Word as it comes to life, and let answered prayer be commonplace in our home. Let the practical living of faith be so second nature that it lasts a lifetime. Finally, Lord, let my children’s faith become the faith of their children. May the prayers and efforts of this ordinary mom be of lasting consequence for generations to come. I ask all these things in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
    Respecting Dad
    Sharing the Bible and praying can become a tricky matter if Dad objects to our faith or is even hostile to it. However, carving out moments with our kids that don’t directly confront Dad can be easily achieved. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 tells us to share God’s precepts with our children when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up. I think that is all we need do. Just talk about God’s Word as it comes up in daily living, whether you’re sitting at home or traveling in the car. Model prayer and Bible reading in the morning and before bedtime. This kind of living out your faith in front of little eyes is powerful, and it’s respectful of Dad.
    I also believe that the prayers of little ones asking for Daddy to know Jesus are greatly honored in heaven. The faith of a child can move mountains.
    Note
    1. Resurrection Eggs can be purchased through the ministry of Family Life at www.familylife.com .

Churched Kids
    Yes Church, No Church,
We All Don’t Want to Go to Church
    Lynn
    And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward
love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some
are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—
and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
    HEBREWS 10:24-25
    Woo-hoo! It’s Sunday morning!
    Opening my eyes early on a Sunday morning after a night’s rest often brings a smile to my face. My soul fills with excitement, or perhaps even relief, knowing that I will find myself seated in church that day. For me, worship and fellowship with my church community was and still is a lifeline. In the early years of my marriage, I frequently felt alone in my faith. Therefore, Sunday morning church became critical to my spirit. I walked into the worship center, and my soul recharged just from knowing that I was surrounded by like-minded people who love God.
    But getting to church was often quite another story. Shrugging on my robe on any given Sunday morning, I would leave my sleeping husband in bed and shuffle to the coffee pot in the kitchen. As I watched the coffee brewing, this tired feeling of dread would begin to rise up inside. That’s when my woo-hoo-it’s-Sunday-morning happy face quickly turned into a boo-hoo-it’s-Sunday-morning frown.
    As much as I loved going to church, I hated the conflict that came with it. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had a fight with my husband or my children or all of them on a Sunday morning while the kids and I dressed for church. Standing in the bathroom