Written by Lisa Meyers
One of the hardest things to do when you are in the throes of raising children (diapers, school lunches, soccer practice!) is to take time out to think about and plan meaningful family activities. And yet, family traditions… vacations together to the same beach house or egg hunts at Grandma’s house or fall apple picking… are all occasions children remember long into their adulthood. And the truly important ones get passed on to their children. I know this because it’s happening to me! We have dear friends who we made memories with while experiencing those traditions year after year. We’d laugh and say,” why are we doing this again?” And the answer always came back, “because it’s a tradition!”
Won’t you start a new tradition this Easter season? Children love to be active and can even be active AND thoughtful, if we as parents present them with good material to think about. What better way to engage children this Easter than to have them prepare with you for Resurrection Sunday? At the beginning of each week’s study in the Fellowship Common Life Book, We Would See Jesus, there is a Children’s Study page. It’s actually a short devotion and a simple craft or activity to do together as a family. Older children can help youngers. If there are only little ones in your family, you could pull out your Children’s Storybook Bible and read aloud. We’ve even given you chapter references for the appropriate pages. (If you don’t have a Children’s Storybook Bible, we recommend it! It’s perfect for small children.) We’ve offered this Common Life book as a gift to you – so you can easily start a new family Easter tradition!Traditions are valuable and life-giving. As moms and dads, we ask, “How can we pass on what we treasure to our children?” Better yet asked is “How can we share WHO we treasure with our kids?” Noel Piper, author of Treasuring God in Our Traditions, writes, “The things we do regularly that help us in our deepest being to know and love and want God, the things that help our lives be infiltrated with God – those things are tradition.” Tradition, then, is more than just a series of events we do over again each year, but a way of sharing what and who means most to us with the ones God has entrusted to us.
In Deuteronomy 4:9-10 God reminds us to “take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen… make them known to your children and your children’s children.” God exhorts us to remember that He is faithful, and to pass that memory on to our children.
This April, ask God to show you meaningful ways –more than bunnies and chocolate candy – to share Jesus’ life with the children in your family. Use the Common Life book as a start, or come up with your own ideas! Either way, our children need to know how much Jesus loves them and that He alone is the Living God worthy of all praise.