Spiritual Formation for Families

Spiritual Formation is all about becoming more like Christ by spending time with Him–getting to know Him through His Word, prayer and times of reflection. So how can we help the young people in our lives on their own journey of growing more Christlike, become better reflections of God’s love to the world? Lacy Finn Borgo says:

“Children have a spirit, a body, a soul and a social context. These parts of their small but equally important person can be gently directed into a life with God. We are certainly not in charge of this directing…our job as their parents, teachers, and pastors is to open the space for relationship with the living God.”

Here we have gathered a few resources to help you as parents, teachers, pastors of young ones to find ways to open that “space for relationship with the living God”.

There are several resources linked in our Family Day With God Organizer. This guide is designed to help families plan a time set aside to focus on God, but the links included could be used in other contexts as well. Take some time to explore those as well as these other sites and recommended resources to find something that fits the needs and personalities in your family, whether biological or spiritual.

BOOKS:

• Habits of a Child’s Heart by Valerie E. Hess. Includes ideas on how to engage various age ranges.
• Praying in Color: Kids Edition by Sybil MacBeth.
• Psalms for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval.

WEBSITES:

• Good Dirt Ministries, includes a blog, videos, and other resources.
• At Home With God
• Spiritual Disciplines for Real Families

ARTICLES:

• Families as Small Monastic Communities by Lacy Finn Borgo.
• 6 Tips on Practicing Sabbath With a Family by Amy Seiffert.