Responsibility

My mom always said, "You are only responsible for your own actions."

Turns out, she was right.

For the last few years the spiritual formation of my children has weighed heavily on my heart. I'm a generational Christian and for this blessing, I am so very grateful. But, "with great power, comes great responsibility" and with all the church statistics of children leaving the church when they leave home, it's been even more of a burden. We've always prayed when putting the children to bed and attended church and read the Bible (sometimes), but it just doesn't feel like enough. We used those "teachable moments" to talk about God, but we weren't feeling like we were being purposeful in forming our children. It just wasn't enough.

Last year around this time I attended the Conspire Conference at Willowcreek Church outside Chicago, IL. It was amazing. My friend, Heather, went as well. We were inspired and enriched and excited. We were going to change the Children's Ministry at our church from one focused on programs to one focused on families and how to equip them in the spiritual formation of their children. How very noble and inspired and presumptuous of us! It didn't last very long. We were soon frustrated and tired. There wasn't much change in our families.

So this year we went again. I was torn about going because of the "letdown" after last year. But I decided to go anyway and I had an epiphany. Actually, Heather and I both had an epiphany. She wrote about in her own blog (and did it much better, I might add!). We were attending a breakout session on Visionary Parenting and everything the presenter said we looked at each other like, "Yes, that is what I was thinking!" I wished Brad was there to hear this message. I wished all my friends who were parents had been there to hear this message. It spoke to me and we both felt like we were at that conference for that small hour and fifteen minutes. As we discussed it later, we both realized that it had to start with us and our husbands and our children. Maybe we weren't being called to change the Children's Ministry and the church...maybe we were called to disciple our own children. We could not rely on the church to do what God had put (literally) in our hands. We had to be responsible for our own actions! See, I told you my mom was right.

Okay, so what does that look like? What does this mean for my family? What does it mean for my heart and my walk with Him? Heather and I made a commitment to each other and to our families to do something. Even if we are the only ones who feel this burden. We know there are so many good resources out there. We just have to find them and USE THEM! We want our children to have a heart like His and a desire for His Kingdom. I am hoping that this blog will be a place for parents who are already being purposeful in their children's spiritual formation to offer advice and encouragement. I hope it's a place where I can be open and honest about this journey and the failures and successes we encounter. I hope this a place where I can be authentic enough to be accountable. (Don't worry, I won't talk about this all the time...there will still be lots of funny stories and pictures of my children!)

Like Heather, I also ask for prayers for our family. I know that this is what God wants us to do for our family and with Him nothing is impossible...but it's me I worry about! Specifically, I ask for prayers in three parts: 1) that Brad and I stay motivated and "on fire" for this task, 2) that we find other parents here, in the flesh, that want to join us on this journey, and 3) that Brad and I are able to work on our own spiritual formation as we hope to do for our family.

See, already a cute picture of my children. Keep in mind here that the McCall house had a "pajama day" (this picture was taken just before lunch) and Phoebe is in a "no clothes" phase. She spent most of the day completely naked!