Adventures in Family Devotions: Wrap-up

This is the final post in our series on Family Devotions. Today is the last day to comment on the Old Story New post to qualify for a free copy of the book. All comments must be in by midnight (EST).

Just like every child is different, every family is different. There is no magic bullet for family devotions. The best practices are the ones that work for your family. If you check out the comments over at the Old Story New post, you will likely find that you are not alone in your struggles. There is some great encouragement there, it's well worth your time to check it out. In conclusion, this week I thought I would share two ideas that have really helped Angie and me.

The first idea has to do with the church calendar. If you come from an independent church background you may not be familiar with the rhythms of the church year. I would recommend any of Robert Webber's resources, especially Ancient-Future Time. The way we do this is through the last song we sing each evening. For each season of the church year, we sing a different song. So for Advent, Lent, Easter, and Kingdomtide we sing O Come, O Come Immanuel, When I survey the Wondrous Cross, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, and the Lord's prayer. During regular time, we sing the Doxology. This rhythm has been very easy to maintain and has lead to some great teaching times.

The second thing our family has learned is to vary things up. If family devotions are the exact same every night, you and your kids will get tired of them. Keep their attention. Change the format, sing first and do Bible reading second. Change the location, do it in the kids rooms or the living room. We even have “upside-down devotions” some nights. However it works, just keep things a surprise.

Above all, the best family devotions are the ones that you do. Don't jump in and expect utopian kids from the get-go. Start small, a couple times a week

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