Treasuring God in Our Traditions

I actually finished reading Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper several months ago. Like, right before Beckett was born if I'm remembering correctly.

Well, Easter rolls around and I have to pull that baby back off the bookshelf. Or the shelf in the closet in our case (space is at a minimum in the Duty house and Beckett took over our study).

Anyhoo...

Noel does a great job explaining not only the "why" but the "how" of using traditions in our families. The "why" of having traditions, even as simple as every day teaching, is actually very convicting. A tradition can be as simple as daily teaching, instructing and storing up His Word in our hearts and helping our children to do the same.

"We can only give what we already have. If God's words are not in our hearts and souls, we can't teach them to anyone else."

Her point: The example we are to our children has profound implications and our parenting must point them back to Him . We must value the Word enough to store it up in our hearts so that we will know how to answer our children because it's a given that every question will eventually be asked, every struggle will arise and His every promise will be kept. Let's be quick to quote scripture instead of quick to give our opinion. Let's give our children a legacy that will continue, a heritage that's rooted in the Word for generations to come.

Easter, Christmas and other special occasions are addressed as she goes through weddings, funerals, "gotcha" (adoption) days, and so on. This year my family actually used her idea for an Easter Mountain. We baked playdoh, colored it (that was by far Taylor's favorite part), made the people and colored them, and then enacted the story with her throughout Easter week, letting an event happen each day so that she might understand it better. I think next year there will be more understanding as to what is happening, but it certainly contributed to our Easter, helping us to focus more on the resurrection and Jesus.

The great thing about all of her ideas is that they are just that...ideas. You can take them and run with them, doing what works for your family and the ages of your children. I recommend reading this book and making an effort to plan traditions for your family, whether everyday or for special occasions that will point your family to Christ.