Telling Them Our Story
Photo by Lina Kivala (Pexels.com)
By Claire McGarry
We do not keep them from our children; we recount them to the next generation. The praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and His strength, the wonders that He performed. Psalm 78:4
I’ve been a huge fan of the devotional Living Faith for years. There’s always some gem in the daily reflections that transforms how I view God and life, in all the right ways.
Recently, it was editor Terence Hegarty’s reflection from September 12th that impacted me deeply. In it, he shared some of his rules for raising his children. Rule #4 was: “Read them stories, especially at bedtime. When they are older, tell them your story.”
It got me questioning how much of my story I’ve told my kids.
When our oldest child was born, my husband and I believed we could keep our same lifestyle and just merge our son into it. Without a second thought, we brought him to bars and events that were “kid-free.” It didn’t take long for us to figure out that wasn’t going to work for long.
Consequently, we swung the pendulum the other way. We shed layer after layer of our own interests and activities until our whole world revolved around our kids. It’s no wonder my kids know very little about who I was before them; I can barely remember her myself.
Now that my kids are older and more independent, I can see the disservice I’ve done to myself, and to them. The events from my past have shaped who I am. The hard-knocks I’ve endured have deepened my faith and reliance on God.
Jesus knew that stories could best illustrate the lessons He needed to teach. Reading those stories in the Bible, we’re able to connect and find something within them that leads us closer to God. Despite being two-thousand years old, those stories are timeless.
But there’s more to God’s story, and it’s how He continues to work in our lives. Not only does sharing our story help our kids see us as real people and not just an extension of them, but it gives them a living example of the wonders God can do with our joys and sorrows when we hand them over to Him. Sharing all this, in an age-appropriate way, can inspire our kids to do the same.
Questions for Reflection:
* Do I share my story with my kids?
* What are the benefits of doing so?
Claire McGarry is the author of the Lenten devotional “With Our Savior,” published by Creative Communications for the Family/Bayard, Inc. Her freelance work has appeared in various Chicken Soup for the Soul books, Focus on the Family magazine, These Days devotional, and the Keys for Kids devotional. She. The founder of MOSAIC of Faith, a ministry with several different programs for mothers and children, she blogs at Shifting My Perspective and contributes to CatholicMom.com.
