Be intentional about a child’s spirituality

Seated on a mat, just before we had supper, grandmother led us into singing a hymn and then we said our prayers. I do not remember what she prayed for, but my grandmother ensured we all prayed together every night before we had our evening meal.

Dinner was always steamed in banana leaves and it stayed perfectly warm even as we sang and said our prayers. If there is anything a parent can deposit and leave in their offspring, it is the ability to know, relate and have a personal connection with God. The waters of life can get stormy and unpredictable. Everyone needs a spiritual anchor. We need spiritual guidance and direction.

Who keeps your child when you are away at work? What protects them when they are in school and in spaces you have no idea, control or whereabouts? Who does your child speak to when she is confused about life or when they are discouraged? Who guides your son in life’s day-to-day choices? How about the tough choices such as whether to follow their peers into addictive behaviour or not to indulge at all?

We cannot be there for our children all the time and every moment. Unfortunately, even if we were able to be with them all the time, we are incapable of fending for them perfectly, let alone fend for our own selves.

Who are we to even pretend or presume that we can be all sufficient for our children yet we are not even sufficient for ourselves? We all need divine support and that is why we must be deliberate and intentional about our children’s spiritual health and wellbeing.

Life teaches us that the greatest investment we can give our children is what we deposit in them and not necessarily physical things that we have worked hard for and hope that they will take over and be secure. Physical and material things get sold without a thought for who buys them or what it took to acquire them.

But the things deposited in one’s heart never fade. They will stay with them for life, guiding or misguiding them forever. Do you have a spiritual life as a parent? Is it clear to those around you that you believe and trust in God at all times and in all seasons? Because our children learn best by what they see us do and not what we say. We are their greatest teachers whether we know it or not. What a responsibility!

May we be empowered to be the best to our children regardless of circumstances. May our eyes be opened to the rest and peace that comes from this profound truth.