A Lifetime of Discipleship

This post is by Tami Rodriguez.

Helping our kids create a morning God Time habit can sometimes feel like an overwhelming challenge. As a mom of five kids ranging in ages from 11 to 23, the oldest now married, I’ve had many years to flesh this out. What I’ve discovered is true to life with children always: there is not a one size fits all answer. Children are always changing! Right when we think we have it figured out they move on to the next stage of growing up. 

All throughout my children’s lives I have desired to create a God first mentality in our home. I wanted them to be amazed that WE get to talk to God! We get to hear what He has to say and He wants to hear from us. This is not a checklist task. This is an amazing opportunity to spend time with the Creator of our world! While I don’t believe morning is the only time for that, it is an easy way to create habits and patterns in our days. Here are some ways I have built that habit from baby to young adult in our home...

When my kids were “littles,” one of my favorite things to do was a book called High Chair Devotions. It was a board book that would hold up to sticky fingers and clumsy hands. It was incredibly short and sweet with little rhymes and prayers. This took no time at all but brought lots of smiles, claps, and over time, it also brought expectation. Even at a very young age they knew what to expect at breakfast time.  As they got older I found similar books full of rhymes and prayers that were simple and sweet.  We would do them at breakfast or snuggled up on the couch before we started to play. Once my kids started to read, we purchased beginning reader Bibles and devotionals. As they improved reading skills they also got to learn more about our Lord.

By the time they could read well on their own, they had also been around long enough to see me sitting in the Word most mornings. The habit was not only grown in them but demonstrated for them as well. I think this is one of the most important things. If we tell them it’s important but we are not doing it, it will fall on deaf ears. These growing years are also when some flexibility needs to be embraced. We embrace flexibility in our house when we listen to an audio Bible while Dad exercises or Mom gets ready for the day or when we play sermons while driving or during meal prep. My kids have run with those examples and slowly found their own ways. You can find them listening to their Bible while doing morning chores, using a Bible app reading plan on their phone, or just sitting on the couch with their Bibles open on a quiet morning. Let me tell you, as a Mama that’s quite a joy to see! 

We also help reinforce that a morning reading is not the end to our time with God, but the beginning of a day spent with Him by sitting together to read the Proverb for that day of the month and discussing our favorite parts. We also dive deep in discussions with the whole family on hot topics that are happening in our world and what God has to say about them throughout the day.

Remember the purpose of a God Time habit is a relationship with The King. The King!! Mama’s don’t lose your amazement over that. There’s a lot of truth in the old saying, “faith is caught not taught”. While I hope these ideas give you some guidance and inspiration, remember your passion and love for God is what will have the biggest influence on you kids. Seek Him wholeheartedly and He will guide you as you lead your own “littles”...and bigs.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth (3 John 1:4).

Tami Rodriguez has been married to her high school sweetheart for 27 years and has 5 children plus a lovely daughter in law. She has homeschooled for 17 years and still has 6 more to go...send coffee! Tami is a lifelong learner who loves to study God’s Word and share with others whenever given the opportunity.  You can find her living life as “just a mom who likes to write” over on instagram @rodfamily007.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash