discipleship in the home
a few years ago i surrendered my life completely to Jesus. i’d been a christian before—growing up in a missionary home, then getting truly saved while on the mission field myself in my early twenties. but i’d yet to become a true disciple—renouncing all i was & had to pick up the cross required of me (luke 14:25-33), becoming crucified with Christ (galatians 2:20). this sounds sad & morbid, definitely not like good news, and…not like this will be the most inspiring blog, but it’s been the gateway to true joy for me, as i experienced a new move of the Spirit in my life!
the beauty of discipleship is that once we experience the joy of intimacy with Jesus, we can’t help but share it…thus, discipling others! as a homeschooling mom of five i’ve become accustomed to discipling my own children, but i’ve found this is not always fun or easy for other moms. part of this is because many of us were never truly discipled ourselves, even if we grew up in the church!
a year & a half ago i decided to write a little discipleship curriculum for my older three kids. we’d gather together over tea & candles for three wednesday nights that summer, & i called it summer discipleship school. this began because i’d noticed some worldly appetites creeping into one of my children, & i was about to lay down the law! the new testament has a lot to say about the law, & much of it isn’t actually positive! romans 8 tells us that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin & death. the implications of this are far-reaching, but one of the many things it does is bring us into direct contact with the Spirit, who gives us a new law in our hearts!
in a moment when i was about to restrict my child (that law-laying moment), the Lord whispered, “religion forbids; the Spirit invites!” He was saying, “how ‘bout you invite your daughter into the life of the Spirit—of discerning what I like & don’t like, so that she has ME instead of YOU telling her what pleases or displeases Me?” i invited all three of my older kids into a life led by the Spirit, giving them some practical discernment tools over those weeks, & now it’s a joy to be a discernment partner to each one of them.
i’m working on formalizing some of these materials to share, but in the meantime i wanted a place to share some things the Lord is showing me daily in scripture, experiences, dreams, nature, etc. most of my ongoing discipleship with the kids, especially during our focused morning devotional times that we share together at the start of our homeschool day, comes from my own daily morning quiet time + Bible study with the Lord. He feeds & nourishes me, & i have daily bread to share with my children. this is what spiritual formation has looked like in our family—josh & i simply passing along what we’re learning as the Spirit teaches us. my prayer is that this journal could be an encouragement & help to you as you disciple your own children!
(*wallpaper is “linnea” by sandberg in garden green)
