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18 Comments

  1. Laura Huff says:

    I LOVE these ideas. This post truly moved me. Our children are blessed to attend a private Christian school, and so I know that their days are filled with the bible and His word, but these are good reminders of things/activities we can do at home. Thank you, Monica, for being amazing and for sharing this!

  2. Leonora Found says:

    ‘Intentional’ . That’s the word I love best in this post. It speaks directly to me! xx

  3. Thank you for sharing! I think the printables you mentioned at the end of the article would be amazing!!!

  4. Jill Winters says:

    We have family scripture study before school every morning, and family prayer twice a day. The spirit of love in our home is different (not as good) when we fail to do these things. It is such a high priority for us that we do our very best to be consistent and diligent in this. But we emphasize to our children that the most important thing they can do to develop their relationship with God is their private religious observance – – personal scripture study, private prayer, journaling. Like your son, these are the things that they carry with them as they leave the home. I was both stand and pleased and grateful the day that I realized that my oldest child had a relationship with Jesus that did not involve me. They will carry with them as they leave the home. I was stunned, but also pleased and grateful on the day that I realized that my oldest child had a relationship with Jesus that did not involve me. We worship every Sunday at church, and several times a month in the temple. We also emphasize service to our neighbors (friends at school, neighbors close to home, neighbors around the world) as an important part of living a Christian life.

    1. Jill Winters says:

      **stunned and please and grateful

  5. Hi Monica, fellow WriterMom of four boys (and I have a girl too I think you know ❤️)— great post and something I’ve written (and am currently) writing about as well! -you have some excellent ideas here! I’m just a little bit ahead of you in this Boy Mom journey as my youngest son is 15 — having our kids love the Lord is huge and we too are very intentional in how we raise all of our kids- we echo what you are doing – ACTS is something my husband and I learned from our involvement in CRU- in fact so much of our raising our boys we’ve learned from CRU like devotions etc! – And you asked for our ideas on raising kids to love Jesus, I’d add the social part – helping our kids make strong Christian friends -.. I love your heart and energy! – Cornelia

  6. Elisabeth says:

    Would love to know when new book launches! Thank you (from another “boy mom of 4 sons)

    1. Thank you Elisabeth! Awesome, if you click over to that page I linked to you can be on the first-to-know list. Yay for 4-boy moms — we need each other!! 🙂 Much aloha

  7. Monica, I recently found your blog, and I love it more than I can say. Especially this post! Humble, practical, so inspiring. Thank you, please keep writing! I’m a Connecticut mom to two, who are out of VeggieTales but headed toward FCA type resources. Maybe you’ll do a devotional for middle schoolers when this manuscript is done? 🙂

    Sending East Coast love and support.

    1. Thank you so much Liz!! I totally get that stage you are in…(and there is definitely a gap in the devo-realm for that age, so not a bad idea. :)) Blessings to you and thanks again. XO

  8. Sheena Carnie says:

    Thanks for that, Monica, good reminders for me too! I love your SOAP acronym and think I should adopt that for my own “devotions”. Raising kids to love God can be really hard, especially if your spouse doesn’t share your faith. My husband is not a believer but my elder son (20) is fully on fire for God and really does put him first. In fact I have to rein him in from getting involved in too many church activities and from reading his bible or other Christian books when it’s time to study! My younger son (16) has not wanted to attend church with his brother and I for the last two or three years. I’ve had fights with him about it but figured out that wasn’t a good way to handle it and have backed off. HOWEVER, he watches his older brother and I and our love for God, and I was in tears in a shopping mall recently when the older son and I were out shopping and the younger son texted to say “Please buy me a bible while you’re out.” He’d had one before but somewhere along the line the elder brother had adopted it. The two of us spent ages choosing the right one for him, and I’m thrilled to see the bookmark moving, so he’s obviously reading it. He’s also been unwell lately, and although I’ve been praying for him one night he was really battling and deliberately went to ask his brother to pray for him. All that does my heart the world of good and I know God’s got him! Then last week my elder son was watching Passion of the Christ in the same room where the younger one was studying for exams. I’m pretty sure very little studying got done, BUT more importantly my elder son later told me that his younger brother was asking lots of questions about the movie and Jesus etc. All encouragement for a mother’s heart. As you said, you can only teach them what you believe and show them that it’s real, and then trust that God will speak to their hearts in a personal way. Much love to you.

    1. You’re right that having an unbelieving spouse can make things challenging, but it sure sounds like you’ve done a great job with what you have! Love those stories so so much!! Thank you for sharing. God is clearly at work! 😉 Keep it up and do keep me posted about that younger son…I have a good feeling! xo

  9. Thank you for this article! When your kids were younger – when did you do devotions? Now that some are older – what time of day do the ones still at home do their devotions?

    1. Well because we homeschool our days vary a lot, but the general rule is devotions happen pretty much first thing. My youngest son might eat breakfast while we do devotions or we’ll curl up on the couch straight out of bed. The older boys will have a cup of coffee (like mom does :)) and do devotions very early, sometimes before I am even up! I’ve pretty much taught them the habit of reading their Bible first thing. If schedules are challenging (like my son who surfs, often straight out of bed!) I have also suggested it is not a bad option to do devotions right before bed. I personally find early morning better, but again — it’s not about rules it’s about relationship! Hope that helps.

  10. Hi Monica! Love your blog and today’s post hit home. Thank you so much for posting on this topic. This is something my husband and I currently struggle with as our 9 and 12 year old boys get older. Your advice and devotional links are a huge help.

    1. Yay, thank you Faith! So glad to hear that! 🙂 blessings and keep up the good work! aloha-

    1. aw, thank you Antoinette! Just make sure you have clicked on that link in my post to put your name in the box so you’re on my list! I’m looking forward to it!! 🙂