(By Teresa Armor - with references to the book Sacred Parenting by Gary L. Thomas)

One of the most important responsibilities we have as parents, yet might take lightly, is that of raising our children to know, love, and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But just telling them about God, or even regularly attending worship isn’t enough. The Bible tells parents that we should, “[R]aise [our children] with Christian discipline and instruction.” (Ephesians 6:4). When each of my kids were baptized, some of the promises I made were to faithfully bring them to church, have them attend Sunday School, and eventually get confirmed. Until recently, I often felt overwhelmed (even frustrated) when I thought about this huge responsibility. Because of this, there were many times when I would avoid weekly worship services and some of the ministries I enjoyed.

It’s possible many of you reading this article may have felt something similar at one time or another. Maybe you also chose to sleep in on a Sunday morning, in lieu of going to worship. Maybe you have also sat bleary-eyed and oblivious to the lesson of the day in a church pew while your pastor sermonized. Maybe you have also watched other families who seem to have their act together on a Sunday morning and have prayed for the day when that might be you someday.
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