Celebrating Big Moments in the Life of Your Kids

Let’s start by asking you to tap into your personal memory banks about the meaningful, big moments of your life. Assuming you aren’t in the .001% (a number totally made up) that can remember being born, what are the events that come to mind? In my life, I can easily recall big moments like my kindergarten graduation, my first football game in full pads, being baptized, and graduating high school

I can also remember the moment I got my driver’s license, but that story turns this into an insurance blog post REAL quick! 

So using this D6 blog post as a springboard for thought, encouragement, and challenge, let’s start with a question: Do you take advantage of the opportunities presented when your family has a big moment to celebrate? When we consider the lives of busy families today, it’s easy to celebrate by stopping for ice cream on the way home or giving a gift, and then it’s on to the next item on the calendar! I’ve been there too, so don’t feel bad if this hits close to home. I encourage you to begin to have a vision for the easy ways to add a spiritual component to these moments.

These opportunities are known as milestones.

A milestone is an ancient Roman method for measuring the distance between two points. As parents, your kids are on the road to adulthood, and every year of their lives is marked by chronological milestones at each birthday. These milestones seem to approach with more and more speed as they get older. There is also a definition of milestones that has to do with the development of their spiritual lives with God through Jesus!

Yearly milestones at birthdays are easy to recognize and easy to celebrate, but the spiritual milestones require an intentional effort from dads and moms. I challenge you to raise your game and be prepared to capitalize on the next milestone in your kids’ lives. 

The challenge begins with calling attention to your most important job as a parent. The Lord has commanded us to impress and teach our kids to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 

We are commanded to make the spiritual work of leading our kids to become people who know, love, and obey the Lord our highest priority as parents There’s nothing in there about producing doctors, lawyers, or athletes. 

There’s nothing wrong with our kids becoming whatever they would like to do, but our number one job is to lead them to Jesus and help them keep Him in first place over everything in their lives, including what they choose to do for a career. 

Using moments of celebration as a touchpoint for spiritual impact may be something new for you, and that’s ok. We are all on a journey, and our progress looks different from everyone else, but progress is required if we’re to do the job well. 

If you’d like to begin to take advantage of these opportunities, I think it would be helpful for you to see a list of some of the milestone moments many parents are choosing to take advantage in a more intentional way. 

Milestone Moments (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Dedication of a child to the Lord
• Graduation from Preschool or Kindergarten—Check out our new resources for this milestone!
• Gift of first full Bible
• Salvation and baptism
• Preparing for adolescence
• High School graduation
• College graduation
• Marriage

You may feel overwhelmed by that list, or possibly feel guilty for missing out on your chance to make the most of some of these moments that have already passed you by, but I encourage you to view this as a pursuit you can begin today. Forget the past, except to remind you to make the most of the next one. God redeems mistakes and missteps and converts them to victory when we trust in Him.

Remember this: Each milestone moment will look different because they will occur from the earliest weeks of life all the way into your kids becoming full-fledged adults. Though different, there are similarities to how you can approach each one that I share with you. 

1. Consider your children as belonging to the Lord. Parents are blessed by God with the presence of children, but we must remember we’ve been entrusted with the responsibility of stewarding these amazing kids for God’s use both now and in the future. 
2. Devote time to prayer. Spend time every day asking the Lord for His blessing over your family. Pray for His wisdom over every part of your life, specifically asking how to make the most of these milestones.
3. Study the Bible. Lifeway Research shows that only 27% of Christians read their Bibles outside of church more than three times a year. We need God’s Word in our daily lives to learn what He is like, to be more tuned in to what He wants, and to begin seeing our kids and families through His eyes.
4. Remember you cannot lead your kids where you haven’t been yourself. This goes hand in hand with your personal Bible study. God has to be the King of Kings in your life. If He isn’t, your kids will see the truth of your devotion to Him and in most cases will not rise to a higher level of discipleship than you do. 

The stakes are high, but with God’s help and your earnest effort, the milestone moments in your

kids’ lives can be full of spiritual impact that will propel them forward in their lives with God.

You can do it! We’re praying for you!

Source: Splink