Raising Kids in the Story of God

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book about how parents can raise their kids in the Christian faith. Parenting in general is already an uncertain and challenging task, so throwing in the desire to raise your kids with Christian beliefs and behaviours just adds one more layer of uncertainty and challenge. That's why Christian parenting books like this can be so helpful.

The strength of this book (and what I most appreciated) is that it's suggestions are specific, practical, simple, and doable. As the book title suggests, Justin Earley (the author) makes a big deal about our habits. This is in line with a broader increased interest in our culture with the power of habits, such as James K. A. Smith's influential You Are What You Love in the Christian sphere and James Clear's popular Atomic Habits in the secular sphere. With this book Earley applies this same thinking specifically to the area of families and raising kids in faith.

The broad idea is that the things we do regularly (even small and seemingly insignificant things) shape us over time. Our tendency is to assume that people change most from big dramatic events—either amazing mountain-top experiences or terribly valley-low experiences. And it is true that we can change that way. But it is also true that we change at least as much (arguable more-so) because of the small things we do daily that become habits. Therefore, we can help our kids be formed by the story of God when we have habits in our household based on God's story.

He constructs the chapters of his book around what a typical day with kids would look like. There's a chapter on waking, mealtimes, discipline, screentime, family devotions, marriage, work, play, conversation, and bedtime, respectively. And within each chapter he provides simple and practical ideas for habits that can be done within each sphere. So for example, he says that his family lights a candle and says "Jesus is light" at the beginning of every dinner they eat together. (He is clear that these are just suggestions, not strict rules, so you can disregard or adapt any suggestion he gives.) Such a simple habit may seem insignificant, but over years could slowly shape the way your kids think about dinner, light, Jesus, and family.

For those of us coming from non-liturgical backgrounds (i.e. churches without the "smells and bells" of denominations like the Catholics or Anglicans), we may be slightly nervous or uncomfortable with anything that seems like "ritual". And without a doubt any habit has the potential to deteriorate into a mindless "empty ritual". But the key is that it doesn't have to. If we keep in the forefront of our minds the meaning of the habit, if we occasionally remind our kids of that meaning, and if we model for our kids how to engage these habits whole-heartedly, then these "rituals" can nourish the faith of our families.