“It’s not as fun until you share it!”
This comment was made by my daughter o
n the afternoon of Christmas. The morning had been filled with opening gifts, eating Jesus’ birthday cake, playing with new toys, watching new videos, and being with the family. PJs were worn all day, the house was a hot Christmas mess, and our food consisted of nothing but snacks and sweets.
In the middle of this moment, after the second movie had been watched, my daughter decides it would be a great time to invite people over and to gather her friends into our home.
Normally, I have an open-door policy for friends coming over and I am the first to invite people into our space. But all I could think was, “This place is wrecked and I have to pack for our trip to PA tomorrow; there’s no way we can have people over right now.” She must have read the expression on my face before I could say anything because then next thing she said is, “Please Mom, Christmas presents aren’t as much fun until you share them!”
Her words gave me pause. Because I’ve been given a wonderful present.
I’ve been given Emmanuel, God with us. I’m talking about a faith that is an anchor to my soul and mercies that are new every morning. I’ve been given unconditional love, unmistakable grace and unbelievable peace..
And that’s all wonderful but its not meant to be mine alone. Even these gifts which are so intimately personal to me are best enjoyed when shared with others.
If you desire for faith to grow in your children, invite them into your journey, even when it is a mess.
Bring them along as you see God work in your life. Share with them when you experience answered prayer. Let them serve beside you as you reach out to others. Welcome them into your realizations of who God is and how much He loves you.
Because it is much more fun when it is shared. And because your kids will gain so much life from sharing your spiritual life with you.
Our Christmas evening with shared with another family. We showed our opened gifts, ate what was left of Jesus’ birthday cake, played with new toys, watched new videos, and enjoyed sharing our Christmas chaos with our friends. And my daughter was right, it was more fun when shared it.
Share your faith with your kids; as often as you can our as John Wesley put it,
Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as you ever can.”
Share life – it’s more fun that way!
For more information about
- Kids in Worship
- Determining which Type of Family Ministry model works best for your church
- Encouraging the continued conversation through Practical Discipleship at Home
- And much more!
Check out to ReFocus Ministry or “like” our Facebook page. Join our conversation at theReFocus Family and Intergen Ministry group on Facebook.
About the author
Christina Embree is wife to Pastor Luke, mom to three wonderful kids, and family minister at Nicholasville UMC. She is passionate about seeing churches partnering with families to encourage faith formation at home and equipping parents to disciple their kids in the faith. Currently studying Family, Youth and Children’s Ministry at Wesley Seminary, she also blogs at www.refocusministry.org and is a contributing blogger at D6 Family, Seedbed, and ChildrensMinistryBlog.com.
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Christina Embree
Reblogged this on r e F o c u s and commented:
Sharing a post from a few years ago as a reminder that even if December 25 is past, Christmas is never truly over. God is always with us. And our faithful journey through Advent was only a part of our journey with Christ. Let’s invite our kids into our lifelong celebration. Let’s make discipleship our way of celebrating Christmas, God with Us, all year long!