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TELL ME ABOUT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

My name is Kathryn, wife to my husband Daniel of 16 years, and mom to three beautiful kids ages 12, 10, and 8. We have had a journey that has been different from others. My husband is a pilot, and I have been both a public educator and a homeschool mom. I taught the foundations of learning for kids in their formative years and received my masters in curriculum and instruction during this time. For a time, I was called back to the classroom to love on the community of students and am now a homeschool mom. We live in Houston, Texas and travel often because we love to see new places, adventuring, hiking, and eating new foods. 

HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE YOUR KIDS TO KNOW AND LOVE THE LORD?

My husband Daniel and I believe that God is and should be embedded in all of one’s life. One way that we encourage our kids to love and know the Lord is to be an example for them in our own walks with God and inviting our children to be a part of that. We prioritize time in Scripture —dissecting the Word, speaking the Word, and allowing it to be used when facing fears, anxiety, joy, and all of life. When the kids have had fears or need strength, we memorize a verse to speak life into those situations. We also teach them to wrestle with Scripture in healthy ways, to decipher the meaning, understand the context, and meditate on what God is trying to reveal to His people then and now. 

Another way that we encourage the kids to love and know God is through worship. Our family loves music. We are constantly singing, playing some kind of instrument, and dancing. This is our expression of our love for the Lord in many ways. It is an overflow of what is in our hearts. 

Discipleship of our kids begins in the home, so it is important for them to see it modeled and to walk with them through what it means to know God and be known by Him. As they see us come to the Lord with everything, in every season, it has encouraged them to know they can come to Him as well. Knowing God and loving God is a way of life and a process, so we invite them to observe that process in our lives and help them through that process in their own lives as well.

WHAT RESOURCES HAVE YOU FOUND HELPFUL IN THIS AREA?

We believe that God desires to know us intimately and desires for us to be known by Him in our identity as our children of God, which is why we make it a part of everything.  Loving the Lord is not a “doing” but a “being.” So, even though we love trying new devotionals and using resources to encourage us in our faith, we also feel that loving the Lord is a way of life. 

With that being said, most of the resources that we have used have been more to help us as parents to disciple and teach them. One resource that I have loved is the book Mama Bear Apologetics by Hillary Morgan Ferrer. This book and the associated podcast teach how to nurture and protect your kids against cultural lies. 

It is a good start to teaching kids to… 

1. Understand the message that is being sent by cultural decisions and media around us

2.  Discern what doesn’t line up with God’s design and desire

3.  Speak boldly for their faith

We as parents can reinforce these concepts by discussing and processing it together. This has helped us not walk in fear but rather in understanding and approach messages and people with both grace and truth. 

Another resource that has been beneficial for me as a parent has been Talking with Your Kids about God by Natasha Crain.  This book has been helpful when talking with my children through the big questions of science, faith, and those components of scripture that are hard to wrestle with.

HOW DO YOU TRAIN YOUR KIDS IN GODLY CHARACTER?

Character is a huge component of living and learning in our home.

We value honest communication and integrity —that we are peacemakers, not peacekeepers. So, the truth needs to be spoken in love. We are instilling within our kids that the truth is not always something that makes us feel good, but rather a way for us to grow. Being a kind person is honest because it speaks the truth even when it is hard. We value both the giving and the receiving of healthy feedback.

Since we are a home that values honesty and integrity in our everyday lives, we often apologize as parents because we, too, mess up and are in need of truth and grace. It is always humbling but necessary. It is, in fact, God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.

We also allow space for our kids to feel what they need to feel but remind them that although feelings are real, they are not truth. We talk through what they feel (both big and small) and then remind ourselves of the truth within the process.

Another way we work on training our children in Godly character is by teaching the importance of listening to others from a place of understanding —that grace and truth go hand in hand. We know the truth, and we speak the truth and respond with grace. 

WHAT RESOURCES HAVE YOU FOUND HELPFUL IN THIS AREA?

A resource that has been helpful is Boundaries for Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. This resource helps define boundaries for kids in a healthy manner. We want our kids to feel free to choose, however that also means the law of sowing and reaping. With every choice there is a ripple effect, both life-giving and not. It is a wonderful resource to help value respect, responsibility, motivation, and more. 

Other than this resource, we focus on…

1. Helping our kids understand responsibility

2. Building trust

3. Speaking with confidence and expressing one’s need

4. Understanding others’ needs

This is done through relationships, so we value time of connection and quality time together, individually and as a family.

Due to my own love for literature, we also utilize a lot of books to determine character struggles and motivations to help us learn values in our own lives. 

HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE YOUR KIDS/FAMILY TO SHARE GOD’S LOVE WITH OTHERS?

My husband and I value genuine community, missions, and generosity.

One way we try to share the love of God is by being in a genuine community with fellow believers to laugh, cry, and share struggles and joys together. Our home is a place where we love to host others, and we try to invite them into our daily lives. 

Missions has always been a huge passion of ours as well. Coming from a household that struggled to provide, I always desire to teach the kids gratitude for everything. I remember going to many backpack drives, food drives, and being that kid on the Christmas tree that needed someone else to buy gifts for them. My family just didn’t have the means. So, we make ourselves a part of that process in our local church and local ministries as much as we can.  A part of loving others and sharing your faith is supplying basic needs and being there for life.  There is so much power in just building relationships with people in a community and being there for them intentionally and consistently. We currently love serving with Lighthouse Community Outreach in the Five Oaks community. We also have been giving to kids in need through Compassion for the entirety of our marriage and make our kids a part of their progress.  We also give to our friends and family that are missionaries for different causes. 

We value relationships with others and being bold in our faith. The kids always amaze me with their boldness to share and desire to make God known. 

Thank you, Kathryn, for sharing with us how you and your husband disciple your kids.  I love how you are very intentional to process spiritual matters with your kids and lead them by example.  That authenticity in your faith speaks volumes to your kids, and I know will have a great impact on them as they grow into adults.

For more great ideas to encourage family discipleship through family camps, check out the Purtle Family Highlight.