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Did you know that your home life helps faith grow?
We’ve discovered in our research that a warm, affirming family where children feel safe, loved and accepted gives a secure foundation for their faith to grow.
That sounds great in theory! But in practice we know that life is rarely that simple, and we all have days where it is hard to have patience. There are times when our children just seem to make a million bad choices, decide not to listen to anything we say and we spend the day pulling our hair out. Plus there are our own hard days, where we seem to snap at everything and feel guilty for shouting or just need a break from the whining.
That’s completely normal! If we’re laying a regular foundation of love and support for our children, then even in those difficult times our children will feel secure. And we can start afresh each day.
Remember that just by feeding our children every day and meeting their basic needs, we are sending a powerful message that they can trust us – and that makes it easier for them to trust in God too. By putting boundaries in place they feel safe, and even after a rough time, that hug at the end of the day emphasises our love for them.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
As we care for our children and build that sense of belonging in our family through the little everyday things we do together, we are gradually building a firm foundation for their lives.
And that foundation is a wonderful starting place for faith to take root and grow.
You can do this!
Becky and the Kitchen Table Project team
Top tips for parents
Try some simple things this week to help you in your parenting:
1. Tell your children you love them.
2. Catch them doing something right, and praise them for it.
3. Find an opportunity to give your child your full attention and play with them or chat about their day.
For more ideas have a look at our Top Tips for Parents leaflets that are all free to download.
Brand new book
Parentalk DVD Course
Want to find out more about developing great parenting skills?
Have a look at Parentalk, ready-to-run six week DVD courses that you can do with the parents you know.
Find out what parents who have done the course thought in this week’s blog.
Please send us your stories of inspiring faith at home – good and bad – we know it’s a rollercoaster! We’d love to include them in our emails and on the blog.
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Website: kitchentable.org.uk
